Using Conflict as a Strategic Asset

By Jim Boomer, Boomer Consulting, Inc.
June 2007

Wouldn’t life be easier if we could just make decisions in a vacuum and not worry about what others thought?

Yes it would, but the business environment in which we operate is focused more and more on fostering teamwork. Teams increase the complexity of decision-making, because they are composed of members with diverse backgrounds.

Naturally, when you get a group of diverse people together to make a decision there will be conflict. However, conflict is not necessarily 100 percent bad. In fact, it can actually be beneficial by ensuring that the team looks at a problem from all angles and that all information is considered.

Task Conflict vs. Relationship Conflict

There are two types of conflict that typically arise in a team setting — task conflict and relationship conflict. Task conflict is most often beneficial to decision making, while relationship conflict is often a deterrent.

Task conflict involves disagreement about the content of decisions and involves differences in viewpoints, ideas and opinions. Examples include conflicts over judgments and interpretations of facts, how resources are deployed for a project or the steps necessary to complete a project.

Relationship conflict, or emotional conflict, involves interpersonal incompatibility and typically results in tension, annoyance and animosity among team members. Examples include conflicts over personal tastes, political preferences, values and interpersonal style. The most effective teams promote task conflict and avoid escalating relationship content.

Common Pitfalls

Conflict management is not the same as conflict avoidance. When we avoid conflict altogether, we limit the chance to obtain valuable information that may affect the decision-making process.

For example, a team might go with the first suggestion just to avoid a confrontation. However, the person making the suggestion may have made it only because he or she thought it would be met with the least resistance. The result is a decision that no one on the team really supports. The right type of conflict can be healthy if it is managed correctly.

While there are a number of process failures that can lead to unhealthy conflict within a team or let healthy conflict morph into the unhealthy type, some of the more common are listed below.

• Using “majority rules” as a decision rule – Team members who sense bias from the majority will not often give a dissenting opinion in order to avoid looking like the outsider or the impedance to making a decision.
• Excessive deference to unhelpful status characteristics – There is a wealth of knowledge at all levels of the firm. Simply letting the person with seniority or the one with the loudest opinion make a decision can lead to bad decisions.
• Attacking dissenters – Teams tend to look down on dissension since it typically increases the time to make a decision. Similar to “majority rules,” attacking those who dissent limits the number of diverse viewpoints offered during the decision-making process.

Encouraging Task Conflict

As previously mentioned a team should encourage task conflict and avoid escalating relationship conflict. Some strategies to accomplish this are listed below.

• Do not vote to start a meeting. Rather, begin by discussing/debating the issues to flush out all available information, and then attempt to work through differences of opinion.
• Do not compromise to end the conflict – A team must recognize the value of debate, because it helps everyone explore more issues and, ultimately, make a better decision.
• Solicit minority opinion – Make sure that people aren’t keeping quiet just to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of being in the minority. Some of the most valuable information will come from those who don’t agree with the majority.

Avoiding Escalation of Relationship Conflict

• Focus on the behavior/issue and NOT the individual – This is the most important – and most difficult – part of conflict management. When a debate becomes personal, the natural tendency is to become defensive. When people get defensive, a healthy conflict will quickly turn into an argument.
• Give feedback to problematic individuals – Coach those who do make things personal. Help them approach differences by focusing on the behavior/issue.
• Isolate negative personality traits – This is done best by putting people into roles that emphasize their positive traits and push negative ones to the background.

Conclusion

Working as a team naturally leads to conflict, which most people avoid because it is uncomfortable. However, conflict can be significantly beneficial to decision-making if it is managed appropriately.

The first step is to understand how to spot different types of conflict. The next step is to apply general rules to manage both varieties. (Note that in order to do this, a team leader must listen carefully to team members and hear the messages they convey.)

It is also important to develop a process to follow when conflict arises. This creates consistency, which helps people understand how to deal with a tense situation. Ultimately, the ability to manage conflict can turn what you thought was a liability into one of your firm’s greatest assets.

About the Author

Jim Boomer is a senior consultant with Boomer Consulting, Inc. where his responsibilities include the Boomer Technology CirclesTM, strategic technology consulting, and internal project management. He recently completed his masters in business administration at the University of Texas at Austin. He can be reached at jim@boomer.com.