“Productive conflict” seems like an oxymoron to most teams. If you’re anything like me, the words “productive” and “conflict” don’t seem like they should even be in the same sentence, unless, of course, that sentence reads something like: “Conflict is not productive.”
But think about it, all great relationships…the ones that last for the long haul…require productive conflict in order to grow.
This is true in marriage. When Nicole and I got married, I thought we were supposed to avoid arguments. As you can imagine, it caused unnecessary stress in our relationship. We didn’t talk through our differences. When we had disagreements, I had a tendency to brush things under the rug. After 15 years of marriage, we’ve had to learn how to have healthy conflict.
It’s true in parenting. Just yesterday, a neighbor was over playing with our kids and they got in an argument. The friend was ready to leave but I told them they needed to “work it out”. If they can’t learn to work out their conflicts in elementary school, they will continue to avoid conflict into adulthood.
It’s also true on our teams. But, because we are conflict adverse, we end up spending inordinate amounts of time and energy trying to avoid the kind of debates that will make our teams great.
Here are some characteristics of teams that avoid conflict:
So, how can we go about developing the ability and willingness to engage in healthy, productive conflict?
Conflict on a team is necessary. When it’s avoided…people grow bitter, relationships sour, and the team suffers. Ultimately, when teams can’t engage in productive conflict the ministry, church, and organization stops growing.
So, how do you deal with conflict on your team?
Top Posts From March 2013 | Eric Echols says:
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