One of the toughest tasks in project management is by far handling conflicts among team members. This is because for success of a project of any magnitude, staff cohesion is an integral factor. When members don’t like each other it is your role as a project leader to foster unity through team building.
To do this effectively you need to appreciate basic types of conflicts that can develop during the project. These include:
- Opposing points of views: Everyone is entitled to an opinion but there are members who are unable to compromise leading to toxic relationships in the team.
- Clashing personalities: Some members never seem to get along especially when they are supposed to share accolades. In highly specialized professions such as running software projects, you can expect clashing personalities, which must be resolved.
- Emotional outbursts: Based on how your team members relate, there might be tension simmering under the surface due to various reasons. These can lead to outbursts that can ruin your project.
Other reasons why members will dislike each other include limited resources, varying goals and expectations, attitudes of members, interdependency and increased interaction among others.
The Importance of Team Chemistry
In a seminal study published in their book Ronald Garne and C. Garner argue that team building is one of the major roles for you as the leader. It is your duty to ensure that despite existence of rivalry your juniors work together to achieve the same goals and objectives.
The main goal of team building is to make these members know each other well enough in order to work cohesively even though they may not like each other. Achieving harmony or team chemistry according to a study by Dr. Scott Williams of Wright State University can be done through a double-pronged general approach:
- Assigning team members with the right competencies to carry out tasks where their skills are most applicable.
- Ensuring everyone works together to achieve synergies.
In essence, you might have a team of highly qualified individuals but if their skills are not applied in the right tasks there will always be lack of team chemistry. Unproductive conflicts are the first step in an avalanche of missteps that will ultimately consign your project to oblivion.
Toxic Working Environment
When your team members don’t get along the entire project is in jeopardy, which again highlights the need for enhanced team functionality. A toxic working environment develops gradually when simmering tensions between members are allowed to grow. In such a situation, members will insubordinate each other in their small battles, which will eventually bring down the whole team.
If you don’t resolve conflict early enough you will be facing failure directly on. Furthermore, it is impossible to meet deadlines when members are keen to sabotage each other without recognizing the fact that they are jeopardizing the entire project.
Also, it’s important to consider that a toxic environment directly impacts the morale of other members. Their motivation to work diligently to achieve success will be diminished, which again reduces productivity.
Dealing with Conflicts Among Team Members
An effective team leader should be able to mediate and resolve any type of conflict before it exacerbates to a point of compromising the project. In a situation where you are dealing with highly skilled individuals, conflict is inevitable but then again there are techniques of dealing with it. Here are tips on how to handle team members’ conflict:
1. Acknowledge the Conflict
As a team leader you need to constantly feel the pulse of the project in order to recognize tension early enough. In most cases, staff members will rarely report to your office especially where emotional issues are involved in a conflict. It is up to you to be on the lookout and face conflict head-on to avoid anger build up over time.
2. Leverage Constant Communication
There is no denying the impact of communication in keeping things calm and smooth in the office. Regular meetings and briefings can be used effectively to sort things out and also reemphasize a project’s goals. During these meetings it is important to allow free sharing of ideas without victimization.
3. Clarify Goals and Roles
As a project proceeds and deadlines loom, there will be tension among members and this can lead to personal conflict. When you note a problem between two or more members it is time to call a meeting and reemphasize the need for everyone to cool off and work together. This reduces tension and helps everyone relax.
4. Listen Actively
An effective leader must be a keen listener. When a problem is reported to you make sure you listen actively to all parties involved. Talk to each member alone and then call all parties together in order to come up with a consensus on the way forward.
5. Act on the Conflict
In order to create an enabling work environment, it is important to act on conflict when it arises. However, before acting you need to consider the action you will take and the affects it may cause for future relationships in your team. The best action must:
- Help people change and improve their personality
- Increase input of these affected by the conflict
- Give a workable solution
At times you will have to compromise and reassign a member to another area of the project if you realize they can’t work with others. More importantly, you must ensure affected members are fully involved in resolving the issues between themselves.
It is also crucial to avoid falling into group thinking only to appease the larger number in the team because an affected party will feel spited and can even sabotage the project. Other factors to consider when coming with a way forward include:
- Focusing on facts and not persons
- Make compromise a goal
- Need for openness and honesty as the leader
- Focusing on actionable solutions
- Encouraging different points of view
- Demonstrating respect for members who don’t get along.
Final Word
It is not easy to handle team members who don’t get along in a project but using these tips it is easy to nip the conflict in the butt. The most important fact to remember is that conflicts are inevitable as everyone has a unique personality. When these personalities clash there might be issues that will make your members hate each other. However, through open conflict solving, communication and participatory solutions to mend tensions your team will become a cohesive unit once again and enjoy improved productivity.
How do you resolve conflicts in your team?
Let us know in the comments below.
Image: Philippe Put
