Managing Conflict

0:08 let's talk about managing conflict in 0:10 teams 0:12 now the most important thing to 0:14 recognize here 0:15 is that we have two fundamentally 0:17 different types of conflict that teams 0:19 face 0:21 one is called task conflict sometimes 0:23 it's also referred to as 0:24 cognitive conflict the other type is 0:27 relationship conflict 0:29 also known as affective conflict now 0:32 task conflict is focused on 0:34 disagreements about the task at hand so 0:37 i might disagree with you about the 0:38 distribution channel we should use for 0:40 our product 0:41 or about the assumptions we're making in 0:43 net present value calculations 0:46 so i can tell you john i disagree with 0:47 you approach this particular task 0:51 relationship conflict in contrast is 0:53 focused on personalities 0:55 and relationship dynamics it entails 0:59 and is described by interpersonal 1:02 incompatibilities 1:03 animosities tensions so i can say 1:07 john you're incompetent you are the 1:09 problem in our team 1:12 the reason it's so important for us to 1:14 differentiate between these types of 1:16 conflict 1:17 is because they have vastly different 1:18 consequences for team performance 1:22 task conflict if managed well can be 1:26 beneficial for team performance it's a 1:28 type of conflict 1:30 that increases divergent viewpoints 1:32 opinions interpretations 1:34 that enhances critical thinking and 1:36 problem solving within teams 1:39 task conflict is the type of conflict 1:42 that can help you break that proverbial 1:44 group think 1:44 or ineffective consensus in teams 1:48 relationship conflict invariably 1:52 leads to detrimental consequences for 1:54 team performance 1:56 it is highly destructive it threatens 1:59 viability of the team 2:00 it diverts energy it minimizes 2:04 communication and collaboration within 2:05 teams 2:07 general goodwill it negatively impacts 2:11 working relationships within teams 2:13 it makes teammates less perceptive to 2:16 the ideas of other teammates 2:19 and in the end your team spends time 2:21 working on task irrelevant issues 2:24 as opposed to focusing on the task at 2:25 hand so this graph here shows the 2:28 results of 2:28 some of our own research at michigan 2:32 that demonstrates the distribution of 2:34 types of conflict across teams 2:36 so specifically what this graph shows is 2:39 that 2:40 31 of teams 2:43 are described by low levels of task and 2:45 relationship conflict 2:48 and 29.1 percent of teams have both 2:52 high levels of relationship and high 2:54 levels of task conflict 2:58 so looking at this graph think about 3:01 what teams here underperform 3:06 now it's essential to recognize that all 3:08 these teams highlighted in red 3:10 are at the risk of underperforming the 3:13 low low teams 3:14 the teams that are described by low 3:16 levels of task and low levels of 3:17 relationship conflict 3:19 are the teams that avoid any sort of 3:21 disagreement any sort of debate 3:23 they're focused on getting along these 3:25 are the teams that are particularly 3:27 prone to group think 3:29 now you don't want to be in the top row 3:30 either because these are the teams that 3:32 have high levels of relationship 3:34 conflict 3:35 and that conflict is detrimental for 3:37 team performance 3:39 now particularly interesting case is the 3:42 top right corner 3:44 which are the teams that are high on 3:46 both relationship 3:47 and task conflict most typically what 3:50 happens here 3:51 is that teams are unable to control 3:54 escalating and increasing levels of task 3:57 conflict 3:58 that spirals out of control and 4:00 transforms into relationship conflict 4:03 one of the major causes of relationship 4:05 conflict is 4:06 increasing and escalating task conflict 4:11 it's the teams that in the bottom right 4:12 corner the ones that are high in task 4:15 conflict and low in relationship 4:17 conflict 4:18 that are most likely to capitalize on 4:20 the benefits of constructive debate 4:23 now there are two risks that we need to 4:25 keep in mind with respect to 4:26 excessively high levels of task conflict 4:29 first of all 4:30 high levels of task conflict 4:32 exceptionally high levels of task 4:34 conflict 4:35 can make implementation difficult 4:36 because it might be harder to reach 4:38 consensus 4:39 and secondly high levels of task 4:41 conflict 4:42 can lower satisfaction in your team 4:46 and keep in mind that even if task 4:48 conflict produces 4:49 benefits for your team performance you 4:51 are typically at a high risk of 4:53 developing relationship conflict 4:57 what research also tells us is that the 4:59 important temporal aspects of conflict 5:01 management that we need to keep in mind 5:04 a study by karen jenn and elizabeth 5:06 mannix 5:07 shows that high performing teams have 5:10 low levels of relationship conflict 5:12 throughout the team's life cycle 5:14 and their task conflict peaks at about 5:17 midpoint 5:18 of a team's life cycle and it's the 5:20 timing 5:21 of the task conflict coupled with the 5:23 absence of relationship conflict 5:25 that allows us teams to fully capitalize 5:28 on the benefits of constructive debate 5:30 such as enhancing information flows more 5:32 critically evaluating divergent ideas 5:35 and just staying more focused on the 5:36 task at hand 5:39 in low performing teams in contrast you 5:41 can see that 5:42 relationship conflict increases 5:44 throughout 5:46 so how do we mitigate relationship 5:48 conflict 5:50 first of all establish and reinforce 5:52 norms that 5:53 make vigorous debates the norm rather 5:56 than the exception 5:58 if we install these norms in our teams 6:02 i'm less likely to take criticism 6:04 personally i'm also more likely to 6:07 become a more skilled debater 6:09 where i criticize the ideas without 6:11 attacking the individuals 6:14 insist that the debates are resolved by 6:16 referencing 6:17 facts assumptions revisiting decision 6:20 rules 6:20 not by the power of the loudest voice 6:23 you want to address relationship 6:25 conflict early at the earliest signs of 6:28 interpersonal tensions and animosities 6:31 try to transform if possible 6:33 relationship conflict into task conflict 6:36 the absolute key precondition here is 6:39 for your team to agree on a shared goal 6:41 and shared vision i really love this 6:44 quote by steve jobs 6:45 who said that it's okay to spend a lot 6:47 of time arguing about which route to 6:49 take to san francisco 6:51 when everyone wants to end up in san 6:53 francisco 6:54 but a lot of time gets wasted in such 6:57 arguments 6:57 if one person wants to go to san 6:59 francisco and another person secretly 7:02 wants to go to san diego 7:04 now if some of our teammates secretly 7:06 want to go to san diego have that 7:08 secret private goal that's incongruent 7:11 with the shared goals of the team 7:13 not only does that result in wasted time 7:16 but that puts your team on a fast-track 7:18 to relationship conflict 7:20 because one of the key causes of 7:22 relationship conflict is 7:24 divergence of values and goals 7:27 so install procedures in your teams that 7:30 would enable people to share their 7:32 private goals and values 7:34 and invest in relationships so that 7:36 people feel 7:37 comfortable and trusting enough to share 7:39 that information with you 7:40 you also want to avoid inflammatory 7:42 language and ask people 7:44 to restate their views if you feel such 7:46 inflammatory language is used 7:48 so for example if someone says that mark 7:50 is disruptive 7:52 and is not pulling his weight on the 7:53 team ask them to state what specific 7:56 behaviors are disruptive 7:57 and what specific contributions can be 7:59 improved and how 8:01 if you feel like relationship conflict 8:03 is serious enough 8:05 it might make sense to take that 8:06 discussion outside of the team meeting 8:09 and finally manage test conflict 8:11 iteratively 8:13 keep in mind that one of the major 8:15 causes of relationship 8:16 conflict is escalating and increasing 8:19 task conflict 8:21 so don't allow for too much divergence 8:23 in your teams for too long 8:25 make sure that you reach iterative 8:26 agreements along the way 8:30 so at this point i'm going to ask you to 8:32 watch an episode of conflict resolution 8:35 and think about whether you find that 8:37 approach to resolving conflicts 8:39 effective