Conflict is a natural component of team activity and a positive sign in a dynamic team. Lack of conflict on a team could indicate a problem. A team without conflict may be experiencing unhealthy agreement, have a controlling boss who stifles all disagreement and discussion, or be carrying out its duties in a normal manner without making an effort to improve how it operates.
Teams frequently do a poor job of handling their conflicts. They occasionally try to ignore or escape their conflicts rather than managing them. “Defensive avoidance” is the term for this. When a dispute arises, everyone stays silent to prevent a fight. A decision-making issue like the Abilene paradox can be partly attributed to the desire to stay out of hot water.
To prevent conflict, team members listen to what the leader has to say. Poor decision-making and future issues for the group are the results. As a team matures, the reasons for conflict on the team shift (Kivlighan & Jauquet, 1990). Due to the team’s efforts to be cordial and understand each other’s viewpoints, there isn’t much disagreement in the early going.
As the team establishes its responsibilities and regulations, disagreements concerning operating procedures and sta- tus concerns arise. Conflicts about how tasks should be carried out start to appear as the team becomes task-oriented. Because team members are focused on carrying out the decisions they have made previously, the last stages of a project frequently involve little controversy.
Instead of discussing conflict resolution, it is more suitable to discuss conflict management. A team’s operations frequently involve disagreement, some of which cannot be entirely addressed. The way a conflict is resolved depends on the kind of conflict it is. An agreement is the answer if the issue is one of tasks.
Usually, once an agreement is formed, it remains in effect. A deal, regular reviews of how well the deal is working, and chances to redefine it are required if the argument is over matters of relationships. This is accurate since agreements regarding relationship-related issues might alter.
