Conflict in Teams

1
Conflict in Teams

• Chapter 7

2

• Is all conflict bad?
• What happens when there is not enough conflict?

3
Functional (Task) Conflict

• Disagreements about task _at_ hand (work related)
• Ex debate, difference of opinion, constructive
  criticism
• Benefits?

4
Dysfunctional (Relationship) Conflict

• Disagreements based on personalities social
  issues unrelated to work
• Ex back-stabbing, gossip, slander, emotions
• Consequences?

5
Process Conflict

• Disagreements on task strategy delegation of
  resources duties
• Good or bad?

6
Conflict

• Proportional Conflict
• The relative amount of each type of conflict (in
  proportion to one another)
• Creates different team experiences
• Ex 70 task
• 20 process
• 10 relationship

• Perceptual Conflict
• The degree to which team members perceive levels
  of conflict (compared to one another)

7
Promoting Task Conflict

• All members need to agree on common goal or
  shared vision
• Create a time place for task process conflict
  (plan for it)
• Provide training in task conflict
• --Psychological safety leads to trust respect

8
Approaches to a Dispute

• Interests-based approach
• Attempt to learn others needs, desires,
  concerns
• Rights-based approach
• Focus on fairness, precedent, legal issues
• Power-based approach
• Use threats, attacks on character, rank or status

9
Team Dilemma

• Cooperate or compete?
• Pursue group or self-interests?
• Triggers self interests
• Triggers groups interests
• Members are interdependent, yet have incentives
  to free ride!

10
Promoting Cooperation

• Build strong team identity
• Link compensation to team performance
• T-shirts, name tags, gold chains, straw hats,
  slippers
• Present outside challenge
• Recognize individual efforts
• Continuity in membership
• Team contracts
• Clarifies goals
• Commitment
• Accountability.

11
Voting to Resolve Conflict

• Promotes democracy
• When a group agrees to vote, they must be willing
  to accept the outcome!!
• Problems?
• Losers perceive injustice
• Have to agree on method
• Majority rule- problems?
• Consensus- problems?
• Ties do not yield a decision
• Masks disagreement (temporary fix).

12
Drawbacks to Voting

• The winner of a vote depends on the order in
  which alternatives are proposed (arrow paradox)
• Inability to combine preferences in a way that
  truly represents group preference (impossibility
  theorem)
• Manipulation of the order alternatives are voted
  on (strategic manipulation)

13
Integrative Negotiation (win-win)

• Groups outcome must be more attractive than your
  other alternatives (BATNA)
• Overcome fixed-pie fallacy
• Build trust, rapport information sharing
  (friends?)
• --Focus on commonalities
• Understand underlying interests
• Discuss issues simultaneously (choices) rather
  than sequentially
• Contingency contracts
• Renegotiate negotiated agreements
• Be consistently fair to build trust.

14
Escalation of Conflict

• WHY?
• Excessive competition
• Perception coercion will resolve conflict
• Aggression when perceive being coerced
• Different beliefs of what fair outcome is
• Belief you are more fair less biased than
  others
• How do we resolve it?