We all have different mindsets, choices, viewpoints, thought processes, and ideas to deal with any situation or implement solutions.
When so many different things or uncommon scenarios come together, a new terminology comes into the picture, which we call Conflict.
Conflict is a part of everyone's life and can arise among family, friends and teammates. So in layman, conflict is a part of one's personal and professional life.
As conflict comes into the picture, the management gods coined a term to handle disputes among peoples and teams; they called it Conflict Management.
In this blog, on the professional front of being a Leader, Project Manager or Agile/Scrum Master, I will share some tips for handling disagreements among teams or teammates.
- Understand each person's perspective:- Meet each person separately to understand their different approaches to identifying the root cause.
- Look for common ground:- Once you have understood each person's perspective, look for areas where their approaches overlap.
- Encourage open communication & collaboration:- Have both persons openly communicate their ideas and concerns to each other. Create spaces to promote working together on the same project or task.
- Testing of approach:- Test the process; once a compromise happens between them. Test the process to see if it works effectively.
If you still need to, you should return to the drawing board and start again. - Document the decision-making process:- Once a decision happened, document the process that led to it. It can help prevent similar disagreements from arising in the future. Or serve as a reference to resolve a similar incident.
It is essential to approach these disagreements with an open mind and willingness to find a solution that works for everyone. The steps may only sometimes be clear cut, and you need to navigate through ensuring positive outcomes because every conflict is unique and should be treated based on the situations that happened during the resolvent.
In a nutshell, Conflict Management is turning team disputes and disagreements into positive outcomes through tact and skill.
