Conflicts In Teams
Having conflicts in teams is unavoidable. Dealing with it is the crucial part. First, it has to be determined whether or not the conflict is beneficial or malicious. Yes, it is possible to have beneficial conflicts in a group. The trick is to change malicious conflicts into beneficial ones. The way I would go about making that happen is to get the team members to know each other better. If they know each other well, they will know what makes each other tick. Once they know that, they will know what they can and can't say to a specific person to bring them down or pull them out of a rut.
Comments
Posted by: Scott Madden
Posted on: October 9, 2005 05:53 PM
I disagree that having conflicts on a team is unavoidable. Some teams naturally have great cohesion and have no trouble getting along. I know this is a very rare case, but it can happen. Everyone hears the stories about how great certain teams are and how well they work together. Your comments on teams that do experience conflicts I definitely agree with. You made great points.
Posted by: Liz Basich
Posted on: October 9, 2005 06:51 PM
I completely agree with your comments about overcoming negative conflict within teams by getting to know your teammates better. I believe that as team members get to know each other better, they will become more comfortable with one another. It is much easier to disagree with people you are comfortable with because your relationship is based on more than just that single issue, and you will still have other things in common for your relationship to fall back on. By building strong relationships with one another, I believe the team has overcome the greatest obstacle of working as a team and will be able to progress easily towards achieving their goal. Your blog contained a very strong argument, and I totally agree.