Strategies for conflict resolution and even prevent conflicts.

Stronger Leadership: If conflict has simmered to the point that symptoms are evident, there is a need for stronger, clearer leadership in the group. This is the case whether there is a designated leader, or whether it is a self-organized collaborative group without a formal leader. Whether formal or informal, a leader must step forward, at least until the conflicts have been addressed and the group has reoriented around a common purpose and agenda.[3]

Clarified roles, goals and processes: Conflict can arise not just because one of the group members has gone wrong, but also because roles, goals, and working processes were never clearly discussed or agreed upon in the first place. Manager or a Leader will be required to guide the group through the freshening of core issues and the reorientation towards clarified roles, goals, and processes for working together toward its shared purpose.

Respectful Communication: It is likely that the conflict resulted from, or at least produced, a state of unskillful, disrespectful communication, the group will need to agree upon communication guidelines and ideals so that each group member is clear about how to interact more skillful with the others in the group. It's possible to have some coaching for the group, and more in-depth coaching for specific group members whose communication skill (or lack of) has been identified as particularly problematic. Once the conflict has been resolved and the group has been reoriented, ensure that there is a clear plan for ongoing communications, so the group operates regularly on a foundation of shared understanding and common agreement.[3]

Active Listening: Active listening is a valuable skill for resolving conflicts because it enables you to demonstrate that you understand what another person is saying and how he or she is feeling about it. Active listening is a way of checking whether your understanding is correct. It also demonstrates that you are listening and that you are interested and concerned. These all help resolve a situation where there are conflicting points of view.

Feedback: Feedback is an effective conflict resolution technique. In feedback, one individual confront another in a structured setting with a carefully crafted statement. It defuses anger and brings rationality to a discussion.[8]

Strategies for Preventing Team Conflicts:

The first step in conflict management is learning how to prevent or minimize conflict. Most of the conflict-resolution interventions can easily be converted into preventative measures by practicing skillful leadership and communication, and having clear purpose, roles, and processes identified and agreed upon by your group before conflict begins to corrode the group's momentum, morale, productivity, and sense of shared purpose. Often, the real costs of prevention are far less than the actual costs of corrosive conflict, and preventative measures are much more lasting than are situational conflict interventions. Here are few strategies for preventing conflict:

At the beginning of each project, or each meeting, ground rules should be developed. These should incorporate processes or behaviors that the group will allow or prohibit. Ground rules can be useful because as conflict arises, the leader can refer the team back to them for guidance. These tend to be good objective guidelines that remove the leader from the role of enforcer.[2]

Develop a team agreement on how the group will resolve conflict if it does occur. This gets them to focus on good resolution behaviors, and prepares the team with a process that is available if necessary.

It is important to focus on goals of the team early in the process. Often conflict arises from goal miss-alignment, and if this is cleared up early, then it could minimize problems later. If new members are added to the team, then it would be beneficial to re-visit this exercise again.