Every leader's dream is to be in, and build a high performance team.
The dream is busted often by workplace conflicts.
Most of us tend to think that triggers for work place conflict are pre-dominantly 'varied approaches to problem solving'. Wrong.
For most workplace conflicts, the triggers are
Lack of trust (For 73% respondents)
Personality clashes (72%)
Lack of role clarity (70%)
Also, The most important source of workplace conflict is difference in work ethic (54%).
Trust, Personality and work ethic are subjective to the person who defines them. And all of them are dependent on the values that each person considers non-negotiable. More importantly, all values can be relative. They are not universal principles.
While the world may abstract a certain set of behaviours and values and consider them to be ideal for a leader and high performance team, not everyone is compelled to stick to them. Voila, the recipe for conflict!
Interestingly, personal values are seemingly harmless and appear with good intentions.
Portraying some of them below in polarity thinking to show contrast:
Hard work (Measured in time Vs Productivity)
"Putting in 10 hours of work a day is the path to be successful."
" Heads-down work for 6 hours makes one productive"
Leadership method (Role Model Vs Inspirational)
"A leader should lead from the front."
"A leader should inspire their team to become their best."
Need (Liked Vs Respected)
"You need to be liked by your team"
"You need to be respected by your team"
Communication Approach (Direct Vs Diplomatic)
"Straight to the point saves a lot of time."
"One needs to be diplomatic in communication."
What happens when a group of people having extreme polarities work together?
Stress
Anger
Frustration
Fear
Rebellion
Why? The hidden assumption that all of us need to have the same values.
This is not true in reality.
What does one need to have healthy disagreements not leading to un-resourcefulness?
To foster healthy disagreements without descending into unproductive conflict, consider these steps:
𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬: Where do we need alignment as a team regarding goals and outcomes?
𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲: Where can we allow autonomy in how we achieve our objectives?
𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲: What inclusivity in values is necessary for our collaboration?
𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: What changes should we make in ourselves? Awareness and respect are crucial.
𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬: What are the top three 'sacrosanct' team values that everyone will uphold despite personal differences?
Next time you have conflicts, look at the values driving them. Talk, Negotiate and re-build.
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