What do you do if conflicts arise during the problem solving process?

When conflicts arise during the problem-solving process, it's essential to acknowledge them upfront. Ignoring or avoiding conflicts only exacerbates the situation. As a leader, foster an environment where team members feel safe to voice their concerns. Openly acknowledging the conflict and the emotions involved can help defuse tension and pave the way for constructive dialogue. Remember, addressing conflict isn't about assigning blame but laying the groundwork for resolution.

Go farther than just acknowledging conflict - welcome it! Conflict is critical to building a strong team. Fear of conflict leads to boring meetings, gossip, office politics, and people being afraid to share their opinions on important decisions. All of these things significantly limit team potential. Conflict is a benefit to teams and organizations. It’s only when people are comfortable sharing their opinions openly and without fear of retribution that you get genuine diversity of thought. That’s when you can dig into discussions and get tons of ideas on how to solve a problem. And, when everyone feels as if their ideas have been heard, they’re considerably more likely to buy-into the final decision, whatever that might be.

What we don't accept can not be addressed. Recognize that a conflict exists and decide to address it openly rather than ignoring or avoiding it. Acknowledgement is the first step towards resolution.

It's good to lean in to conflict and squash it while it's small. Make sure to have a team norm around problem solving and consistently point back to how they drive our decisions, behaviors, etc... Focus on the problem... not the people!

Focus on the problem, not the personalities. Forget who said what - a solution-oriented goal is your GOAL. Listen actively & Validate concerns. Acknowledge everyone's concerns. Understand the emotion. While communicating understand the emotions of the person putting their perspectives.

Ah! Welcome to the everyday problem! To understand different perspectives, you need a thoughtful and empathetic approach. Begin by actively listening without judgment, demonstrating curiosity about their point of view. This means paraphrasing their thoughts to ensure accurate understanding and asking open-ended questions to explore underlying emotions and motivations. Emotional intelligence helps identify nuances of each perspective, avoid assumptions, and acknowledge each viewpoint's validity. A respectful environment is a safe sandbox where you can encourage open dialogue and collaborative problem-solving, embracing all the opinions that will foster a comprehensive understanding and lead to more innovative, inclusive solutions.

Remember that two people can both be right. It's not logical because it's psychological. The goal of listening is to understand their perception and not just hear their words. Because if we are listening to the words using our perception we will not understand what they are trying to say. Listening actively and empathetically helps in understanding the underlying issues. This step requires patience and an open mind.

To appreciate different perspectives, express a willingness to understand your team's pain points. A great way to do this is to setup shadowing experiences. For example, observe what an hour, or a day in the life of the employee is like. Listen to a real-time client call, lean in, get into the workflow, walk the floor, and get close enough to the process to better understand what things look like from their perspective. This in turn will show how the decisions that you make as a leader will impact those in the pipeline. It has been my experience that getting out of the office more and assuming less, builds trust and exponentially amplifies your perspectives as a leader.

Understanding different perspectives allows individuals to empathize with others' viewpoints, fostering a sense of mutual respect and consideration. Acknowledging and understanding diverse perspectives, individuals can communicate more effectively, ensuring that all voices are heard and valued in the problem-solving process. Recognizing different perspectives enables teams to collaborate more productively, leveraging each member's unique insights and expertise to find innovative solutions. Understanding various perspectives helps in framing the problem accurately. Different viewpoints may reveal different aspects of the issue, leading to a more comprehensive understanding and more effective problem-solving strategies.

In order to fully comprehend another perspective, it is essential to understand the motivations (aka interest) behind their position. This can be achieved by asking two crucial questions: - What do we need to avoid? - What must be prioritized at all costs? Continue to ask additional questions until you are confident that you have grasped the underlying needs driving their stance. This is the key to understanding the other perspective.

"Leading this team through conflict is like being a lion tamer, except the lions are all named 'Opinion'!" 🎩🦁 Conflicts can pop up, especially under pressure during problem-solving sessions, because different personalities, communication styles, and perspectives can clash, even when everyone's intent is to collaborate and work together. In some cases, conflict can even be beneficial for generating creative or innovative solutions. Merely acknowledging conflict isn't sufficient for a leader. It's crucial to facilitate discussions in a way that ensures everyone has a safe and respectful space to express themselves. 💡TIP: I also suggest co-creating "engagement agreements" as a charter for handling conflict if it ever occurs.

In my experience as a leader for over fifteen years, the path to creating open dialogue starts with the tone at the top. Establish a workplace culture that embraces an 'open door policy'. This makes any member of leadership approachable and means that staff members (at all levels) are free to contribute their ideas, ask questions, and provide feedback openly. I had a Director once, who unless she was in a meeting, always kept her office door open to demonstrate her commitment to being open and approachable. The managers under her leadership followed suit and soon after, a sense of teamwork and camaraderie ensued. I believe that this approach can be replicated in any workplace setting and can foster openness and deep collaboration.

The most important thing during this process is to ensure that everyone feels heard and that nothing is forgotten. Therefore, write down what is particularly important to each individual. What will not be discussed later because it is a must-have for the solution. Use cards and pin them up for everyone to see. Add an empty card "just in case," and only remove it when no one wants to add anything else and you are ready to enter the collection of proposed solutions.

Agree on a common Vision. For example, "Do we all want a better client experience?" Once a common vision is agreed upon, steer the conversation towards what's effective to get there, instead of who is right or wrong.

"Implementing this plan is like herding caffeinated cats!” ☕️🐈 Be cautious not to shoulder the entire responsibility for implementing agreed-upon strategies. Implementation demands accountability from everyone involved. One way to foster early accountability & ownership is to have THE TEAM reaffirm the plan, with each person describing their role/responsibilities. It seems simpler for leaders to take control & wear their director caps. However, how often does the implementation of a solution derail because not everyone was aligned? Moreover, it’s exhausting for leaders to constantly monitor who’s on task. 💡TIP: Ensure that your implementation plan includes a strategy for course correction in case of anticipated or unexpected obstacles.

Reflect like a consultant. A consultant looks at everything as information. They are objective. And the goal is to see what could have been a better approach without blaming any one.

In my leadership journey, I've found that conflicts, while challenging, offer invaluable learning opportunities. After resolving a conflict, I encourage my team to reflect on the experience. We discuss what triggered the conflict, how it was addressed, and most importantly, what can be learned from it. This process not only helps in understanding different perspectives but also in enhancing our collective problem-solving skills. It creates a culture where team members feel safe to express their ideas and learn from their experiences, ultimately strengthening our teamwork and resilience.

Make it about Co-creation and not argument. It's not one against the other. It is about getting to a common agreed vision in the most effective way.

The role is of implementing value alternative dispute techniques like: 1. set up democratic ambience 2. teach cooperative lessons of learn from each other. 3. encourage to engage in problem-solving activities. Social-emotional learning process provides with guides to self-discipline, anger management, positive social skills, conflict resolution, promote problem-prevention skills, coping skills & contributory service. They have been found to positively correlate with career achievement. One of the forms of peacemaking is peer mediation that uses matured colleagues to guide fellow colleagues through a mediation process, where two sides get to state their disagreement to find a mutually acceptable compromise to generate an agreement.