Team Conflict Management

ADVANTAGE SESSION #81

for Kelley School of Business

X420 Class
presented by Richard D. Attiyeh
 Team Conflict Management
Teamwork is essential, but any group effort can
degenerate into argument and anger.
 As a member of the
team, or as a team
leader, the goal is to
avoid or eliminate
conflict.
To do this effectively,
one needs to
understand the root
causes of team
conflict.
 Research shows that the most significant
roadblock to effective teamwork is.
Sometime it just makes sense to inflexibly follow the rules

There are other times when rigid

behavior is unreasonable.
 Research indicates that the major factor in unreasonable
rigidity is
 Among working teams, self esteem is a major fear
factor
Fear, and rigidity in
belief or opinions,
can lead to anger and
conflict.
Fear frequently manifests as angry behavior

Some personalities
may try to bully other
team members to get
their way.

Other personality types may

internalize their anger until they
explode.
 Some team
members simply
turn their backs on
the team effort
altogether..
Basically, people tend to
fall back on rigid
approaches to problem-
solving when other
avenues do not seem to
be available.
The ways in which team conflict
occurs are as varied as the
individuals who make up the teams.
As long as rigidity of thought and
attitude rules the day, there can be
no effective solution.

So, what do you do?.

The solution to creating compatible teams is simple,
but it sure is not EASY.

You must create and support

a team environment of
OPENNESS,
TRUTH,
HONESTY
and SELF-AWARENESS.

SERENITY
OPENNESS
Attitude
Posture
Environment
TRUTH and HONESTY
Words
Deeds
 SELF-AWARENESS
Mental
Physical
 BEWARE!
As the official team leader, or a manager, there are many
ways of committing teamicide. A short list of the most
common teamicide techniques include:

Defensive management
Bureaucracy
Physical separation
Fragmentation of peoples time
Quality reduction of the product
Phony deadlines
 Defensive management
People who feel untrusted
have little inclination to
bond together into a
cooperative team.

NOTE: All quotes taken from Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams,
by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister
 Bureaucracy
Mindless paper pushing is a waste. It cripples
productivity and team spirit.

The only red tape your team

needs is the finish tape.
 Physical separation
When what could be a tightly coherent team is
scattered over floors or in different buildings,
casual interactions are sacrificed. Casual
interaction is essential to team formation.
 Fragmentation of peoples time
Fragmentation is bad for team formation
and bad for efficiency.
 Quality reduction of the teams product
Almost always referred to as a cost-reduced product,
but even when the result is deemed acceptable (less
quality for cheaper and earlier delivery), it can kill a
team.
 Phony deadlines
Tight deadlines can be challenging. Phony ones
are just deadly.
A flexible approach to internal team dynamics or
the hurdles a team faces is essential.

I found out that if you are going to win games, you had better be ready to adapt.
~ Scotty Bowman (Hall of Fame hockey coach)
 Trust builds a team.

Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work.

~ Warren Bennis
 Honesty is essential in
building trust and dealing with team conflicts

Dare to be honest and fear no labor.

~ Robert Burns
Teams made up of dynamic, creative individuals
will almost always
suffer from periods of conflict.
 You can
help overcome team conflict by .

BUILDING A WINNING TEAM

 Team Conflict Management
EVALUATION QUESTIONS

1. I found the presentation material

easy to understand.
USE:
2. This Advantage session increased a. Strongly agree
My knowledge of the subject presented. b. Agree
c. Disagree
3. I will be able to use some of the d. Strongly
disagree
Information from this session in the future.
e. Dont know

4. The presenter was well prepared for this Advantage session.

5. This presentation should be repeated in future semesters.