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How to spot conflict that is costing your business.
Last week, I wrote about how not to be a referee for conflict. I got a lot of feedback, as people were seemingly grateful for guidance on how to stay out of conflict. If you’re new to this e-mail list and you missed it, shoot me a message and I will happily forward it to you. Last week wasn’t about avoiding conflict, it was about mindfulness of when to step in. This week I’m taking a different approach - sometimes, we really should get involved in conflict. This email is the first in a 4-part series about how to identify conflict, navigate issues, uncover the issues and rebuild from unproductive incidents of conflict. Today’s article is focused on how to identify unproductive conflict. Productive conflict should be encouraged. It occurs when we share ideas and challenge norms so we can make better decisions and yield stronger outcomes. Unproductive conflict has a different outcome – it’s divisive, positional, and contrary to achieving common goals. Generally, it affects the broader dynamic, having spread from the original involved parties. When this arises, it’s time to get involved. The good news is that unproductive conflict rarely lurks in secrecy. In fact, it’s usually obvious, especially when we stay mindful of how group dynamics affect business. Here are some red flags to look out for: People are talking about it – even the people who aren’t directly involved. If people talk about the conflict, then they know about the conflict. It often becomes more than idle gossip. Whether consciously or unconsciously, it affects everyone’s behaviour when dealing with the people involved. “Us vs Them” – Amanda Ripley describes this factor in her book High Conflict. When we divide clearly into groups, it creates a dynamic conducive to unproductive client. We have so many identities in the workplace. A few that come to mind - lawyers vs staff, old guard vs new guard, remote workers vs office workers, client-facing vs business-facing staff. And so on. It can be problematic when we lose sight of the intersections and the commonalities between those groups. When unproductive conflict arises, we can become more entrenched in our group’s position. In turn, we become more convinced of “our” group’s approach or opinion, and more mystified by the “other” group. It fosters distrust and disconnection. People are leaving – Unproductive conflict eventually becomes a real drag. When people don’t see an end to it or don’t buy into the reigning “us vs them” dynamic, they will probably leave. We all know turnover is costly in time, money, morale, and reputation. If people are leaving and you don’t understand why, it might be because of conflict. It’s a hard one to admit in an exit interview, especially when you want to leave on good terms. In this case, whatever the stated reason for a departure, a pronounced exodus movement should trigger a closer look at the dynamics in your business.
Take some time this week to think about these red flags and where they may exist in your organization. There are others that may pop up, depending on the type of business you work in. Shoot me a message to share your thoughts on anything I may have missed. Don’t worry, this isn’t just about looking for problems. From here, we will talk about solutions. If you have any specific examples you’d like to share or any particular issues you think I should discuss, let me know. Stay tuned!
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