by Bruce Johnson

Created on: May 09, 2008

The very word 'conflict' has a negative connotation. The very definition of the word includes nouns such as 'clash', 'battle' and 'war'. You might think that in an environment where teamwork and collaboration are values to be prized, that avoiding conflict would be one of the hallmarks of a good manager.

And you would be wrong.

The problem is that conflict is inevitable. Get two people together and you can guarantee that, eventually, conflict over something will ensue. You see this at work. You see this in your friends. You even see it in your soul-mate. And if there is no way for two people who love each other deeply to avoid conflict, how can you expect to successfully avoid conflict in the business world?

But is conflict a bad thing? Does the fact that conflict arises between team members spell doom for productivity? I would suggest that the answer is 'no'. In fact, when properly managed, conflict is beneficial. There is such a thing as healthy conflict. The very fact that conflict is not shunned on a team means that each member is allowed to 'be real'. To pretend that conflict doesn't exist at all is to deny its intrinsic nature. Team members will feel forced to get along and this can lead to resentment or other pent up emotions.

Conflict on a team can help to identify and deal with problems. Consider this to be a form of 'the squeaky wheel' theory of management. If two people feel strongly about an issue to have conflict occur, this is a sign that a manager's intervention might be required. Instead of having the issue fester, to the long-term detriment of the team, problems are dealt with in an expedient manner.

Also, in many models of group dynamics, conflict is required for the growth of a team. Consider the 'form/storm/norm/perform' model first proposed by Bruce Tuckman. In this model, after the group has formed, they go through a storming phase. In this phase, there is a competition between different ideas that frequently involves different levels of conflict. Depending on the team members and the skills of management, some teams may never leave this stage. But if they do, the team enters a norming phase, where the team members modify their behavior to take the different styles and personalities of the team into consideration. Finally, the team reaches a performing stated where the individuals work together as a well-oiled machine.

From a managerial perspective, the challenge is being able to distinguish between healthy and harmful conflict. In general, you want to avoid conflict that appears to be longer that a momentary flare-up. Continued and/or escalating conflict is usually indicative of deeper problems. Healthy conflict will tend to energize teammates, while harmful conflict results in lower morale and inappropriate behaviors, to the point where productively is negatively impacted. Keeping the lines of communication open with team members is an important part of a manager's role and rarely is it more important than when dealing with conflict.

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