Sherrie Haynie is Senior Director of US Professional Services for The Myers-Briggs Company.
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One of the more promising recent workforce developments is that teams are increasingly composed of people from all walks of life. They bring different ideas, which most of us consider a good thing ... that is, perhaps, until those ideas differ from ours and decisions need to be made.
While we may not associate workplace conflict with productivity, some things must be considered before dismissing all conflict as a negative or destructive force.
First, workplace conflict is universal and growing. Wherever you have thinking people, you have conflict. Second, conflict can be not only positive but necessary to the health of any functioning organization.
And consider one more thing: All organizations—unless thoroughly dysfunctional—actively seek the best talent. Would you expect that talented, accomplished people would bring more ... or fewer ... strongly formed opinions and perspectives? Naturally, the answer is more. Thus, you should expect talented teams to experience a significant dose of conflict.
Of course, conflict can be counterproductive; most of us have witnessed examples of this since childhood. Nevertheless, conflict isn’t something to fear, but to be carefully managed. And one of the first things to consider is how conflict dynamics are influenced by the organizational roles of its participants.
Conflict Differs By Role
Conflict varies according to an individual’s role within the hierarchy of an organization:
• Top leadership tends to deal with longer-term issues that are broad in scope. Sometimes these are issues that provoke employees, such as upending long-standing policies.
• At managerial levels, issues become more specific, involving things like how to apportion assets or iterate a product.
• At the employee level, conflict frequently involves things that require more immediate decisions and that directly affect peoples’ daily work experience.
These differences in how conflict is experienced can complicate its management but aren’t insurmountable. The first step in managing conflict across organizational hierarchies, therefore, involves getting everyone to speak the same "language" when thinking about it.
The 5 Modes Of Conflict
Ken Thomas and Ralph Kilmann created one of the most common models for understanding interpersonal conflict, commonly known as the TKI framework, which describes people's conflict approaches in terms of five modes: Avoiding, Competing, Accommodating, Compromising and Collaborating.
In the Avoiding mode, one either delays addressing conflict or altogether sidesteps it. Its opposite is Competing mode, where one proceeds from the assumption that their own approach is best. Alternatively, someone might use Competing because an immediate decision is required.
The other three modes lie between these two poles. Those operating in the Accommodating mode, for example, cave to the other party. This could stem from a desire to keep the peace or build a relationship, but it can also stem from negative factors such as intimidation.
Those operating in the Compromising mode are willing to yield somewhat to the objectives of the other party to get part of what they want. The most sophisticated approach, Collaborating mode, which we’ll discuss in more depth, involves multiple parties working together to produce a novel solution.
A Time And Place For Each Mode
There is no right or wrong mode, but there is usually a "best" mode for the situation. Consistently sidestepping conflict is counterproductive, but Avoiding, in and of itself, is not bad. We can all recall instances where we went to bat over something that wasn't worth it, where preserving the relationship should have been more important than winning the point.
It’s also important to understand that people usually don’t make conscious decisions to approach conflict in any particular mode. Rather, they default to whatever is most familiar, whether or not it’s called for, and they may be oblivious to the existence of alternate approaches.
With this in mind, let’s discuss how people might approach conflict based on where they sit in an organization’s hierarchy.
Leading Through Conflict
Leaders are uniquely positioned to influence conflict management and, increasingly, insightful ones recognize that the mode in shortest supply is Collaboration. This isn’t surprising, as Collaboration is not intuitive for most and requires focused work and time (something many leaders feel they don’t have enough of). Consequently, people don’t tend to default to this mode the way that they gravitate to others.
Leaders who wish to increase Collaboration should emphasize
• making a concerted effort to understand all sides of the conflict;
• not just taking elements from each person’s idea, but accomplishing both parties’ objectives in a new way; and
• consciously registering one’s own behaviors and how they support or detract from Collaboration.
To reiterate, there is a proper time and place for each mode, including Collaboration. But sometimes there may not be time to pursue it; other times, it may be clear that one perspective is ill-formed.
'Managing Up' Through Conflict
Conflict is experienced differently by those who aren’t leadership or management. While the idea of engaging in conflict with your boss may be intimidating, remember that—when approached appropriately—it can lead to improved outcomes. Here are some tips for those in these positions:
• Enter with as much information as possible. Obviously, a conflict that pits you against your supervisor or manager can be risky. So be sure to enter the situation armed with as much information as possible. Have a thorough understanding of the issue, and observe the conflict-handling preferences of all the other parties in the conflict.
• Weigh the factors. Choosing the right mode requires a full view of the environment in which the conflict has emerged. Is it rooted in a disagreement regarding a process or strategy? Or in a personality difference? If it’s the latter, a different approach may be needed. Also, try to discern how critical the issue is to the organization. Would choosing one side over the other make a substantive difference?
Conclusion
Conflict management is a performance multiplier. But more importantly, it’s a skill that allows you to advance in your career, creating better outcomes and building relationships along the way. For those who continually invest in conflict skills, regardless of whether they reside in the organizational hierarchy, the benefits are immense.
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