The Doug Noll Show

If you are a leader of a business or organizational team, conflict is part of your job description. Most of the time, you may feel like you are pounding your head against the wall as conflicts go on and on, draining you of time and energy. The problems are exaggerated when you are leading a virtual team in different places and time zones. Face to face meetings to work things out are even more challenging. So what if you could build a conflict competent team? What if you could use conflict to innovate, energize, and motivate your team members? What if you could release the innate energy of conflict into huge productivity gains? My guests are here to tell you just how you can do this.
Craig Runde is the director of program development at the Leadership Development Institute at Eckerd College, St. Petersburg Florida. His colleague, Tim Flanagan, is director of custom programs at the Leadership Development Institute. They have written their second book Building Conflict Competent Teams and are here to discuss with us how successful teams can embrace and explore conflict.
http://www.conflictdynamics.org

Conflicts on teams are more complex than interpersonal conflicts because there are multiple simultaneous conversations, multiple personalities, multiple communications styles, and multiple perceptions. Craig and Tim point out that everything in a two person conflict is multiplied many times over in a team conflict. Becoming conflict competent is therefore essential. Doug asks about leaders or managers that don’t get it. The key, says Craig, is to work with what you have and build conflict competency with those you trust.
http://www.conflictdynamics.org

Craig and Tim tell us that there are two fundamental types of conflicts on teams: relationship conflicts and task conflicts. Relationship conflicts are characterized by disrespect, blaming or blame-storming, and petty power plays. Task conflicts are characterized by a focus on the problem with the goal of reaching a solution or decision. The trick is to transform relationship conflicts on teams to task conflicts.
Leaders of virtual teams whose team members are spread around diverse time zones can build conflict competency with a few simple tools. One tool is to gather the group and ask how it wants to process future conflicts. Create a plan for dealing with both types of conflict. What will be the ground rules? How do people want to be treated? How will people be held accountable? Another tool is to create norms around emotional intelligence. Legitimize the fact that everyone has feelings and create open space for those feelings to be acknowledged and validated. Tim and Doug talk about how important vulnerability is in leadership. Doug points out that in tai chi, being vulnerable allows one to be strong. Tim says the same is true in team leadership.
http://www.conflictdynamics.org

Craig summarizes the tools available to leaders in building conflict competent teams: Open a space to discuss conflicts; allow for relationship building; predict the hot topics likely to create conflict on the team in the next 12 months; build conflict competent skills on the team; and develop team agreements regarding conflict.
http://www.conflictdynamics.org