How to resolve conflict in your team

Conflict in teams is an inescapable part of working life. Team conflict can affect morale and productivity but it doesn't have to cause permanent rifts. Here's how Nature can help you rebuild trust, boost collaboration and bring your team back together when there is conflict in your workplace.

Photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels

A team is only as strong as the relationships among its members, and like most connections teams can have their ups and downs like a rollercoaster ride. Even with the best of intentions, sooner or later clashes between team members are inevitable because working life creates conflict by its very nature. Decisions may not have everyone's agreement, projects don’t always run smoothly, people get promoted or passed over. Different personalities bump up against each other and people can be triggered by what seems like the smallest of things. 

This year we’ve been working with various clients at different stages in their life cycles - from startups with ambitious growth plans, to established large organisations that are implementing structural change.  

For many clients, the issue of conflict and how to handle it is a common theme. For one charity, people across the organisation were angry about a restructure and were not holding back on telling leaders.

For another, a startup, it was the opposite. People were avoiding saying what they really thought and were only being nice to each other. Especially when senior leaders were present.

Workplace conflict is a tricky one. It feels uncomfortable and if not handled well, it can cause all sorts of issues - exclusion, scapegoating, communication breakdown. You can get stuck there.

According to Tuckman's forming, storming, norming, performing model - team conflict is a necessary and important stage that teams go through as they work through frustration and individuals establish their own authority - it can be transformative if handled well.

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