Workplace conflict can be a good thing

Sam Harrowfield.

When it comes to the workplace, conflict that gets too personal gets messy – yet conflict in itself can be healthy – conflict around ideas is ideal – good for business even… and we reckon that in every team conflict should occur, and occur regularly, as people bring their different views to bear in decision making.

To get this healthy kind of conflict requires a foundation of trust between team members. The first step toward helping yourself and your teams to master conflict is to build greater trust*:
〉 Between you as a leader and the team
〉 Between each of the team members themselves

Building trust makes it possible for a team to engage in conflict, because people are more open to sharing their real ideas and debating them – even becoming emotional about them. They can trust their team to have their back and not to punish them for expressing their true thoughts about the issue at hand.

Although it can at times be awkward, the benefits of an open discussion and the thorough interrogation of ideas is worth the discomfort. Building trust among teammates helps to reduce the anxiety that comes with the discomfort.

Easy to say, hard to do – but not impossible and even some effort makes a big difference.

Invest in building trust today.

* Read 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
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I’m Sam Harrowfield, and together with my partner Ruth, we run Harrowfield People Development, a strategic learning agency.

We draw on the disciplines of organisational and behavioural psychology to provide fit-for-purpose training that builds capability and confidence. Talk to us today.