tma world viewpoint 34: a guide to constructively managing conflict
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A Guide To…
Constructively Managing Conflict
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Constructively Manage Conflict
Collaboration can be broadly defined as:
People with different skills
and perspectives co-creating
‘something’ that none of the
individual members could
have created alone.
“
”
Four Strategies
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Constructively Manage Conflict
Given the growing competitive importance of collaboration, many organizations are seeking to minimize hierarchies, tear down silo walls, hire team players and develop more collaborative leaders and cultures.
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Constructively Manage Conflict
These are much needed initiatives, but they don’t really get to the root of why collaboration can be so hard to embed in an organization: Self-interest.
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Constructively Manage Conflict
Would you collaborate if you felt it wasn’t in your best interests to do so?
If you want your people to collaborate more, show them how it connects to their wants and needs.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
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Constructively Manage Conflict
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Identify real collaboration opportunities
2
Find and communicate successes
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Reward and recognition
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Learning and Development
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Constructively Manage Conflict
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Identify real collaboration opportunities
Sometimes we behave as though collaboration is a moral crusade, but collaboration in the workplace is a means to an end, not an end in itself. Don’t just wave a collaboration banner around the organization. It’s too vague, not action specific and can easily be ignored.
Look for opportunities where collaboration really makes sense, e.g. where the problem is difficult to define or where creativity and improvisation are needed.
Show people where collaboration makes their jobs and lives easier and more satisfying.
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Find and communicate successes
We can revise value statements to promote collaboration, but the impact is likely to be minimal and may even breed cynicism. Find collaborative successes – particularly in your organization – and show how it works, don’t just say it works.
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Constructively Manage Conflict
2 Find and communicate successes
People need concrete examples of shared accomplishment, not just PR for the collaboration cause.
A real story, in which the people involved in a collaborative effort speak authentically of their shared and personal challenges and of how they worked through them to a successful outcome, is worth a thousand balloons.
Let the story demonstrate how self-interests and shared interests morphed into our interests.
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Constructively Manage Conflict
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Reward and recognition
Reworking the reward and recognition system to encourage collaboration behaviours can help. If 20 percent of my salary is based on how well I collaborate with others on my team – or with those outside of my team – I will most likely look at collaboration through a different set of eyes.
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Constructively Manage Conflict
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Reward and recognition
We should, however, look at self- interest more broadly than just financial rewards. Self-interest comes in many forms. Many people want to collaborate because of intrinsic rewards like the positive feeling of belonging to a community, or the increased job satisfaction from working with supportive and highly competent colleagues. Some also see the personal benefits to their longer-term careers of learning to work collaboratively. The benefits of financial rewards are often short-lived.
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Constructively Manage Conflict
3
Reward and recognition
Many people are starved of meaning in their work, and cash doesn’t satisfy that self-interest (at least beyond a certain level of income).
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Learning and Development
Reward and recognition don’t equip you with the mindsets, behaviours and skills to collaborate effectively with others. Sometimes we simply ask people to collaborate better without answering the ‘how’ questions. The ‘why’ questions are important, but the how questions and answers pack the most power in the workplace.
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Learning and Development
A lack of understanding of the collaborative process, skills and tools can quickly bring a well-intended effort to its knees. I’m not going to be interested in collaborating with others if I feel unprepared and in danger of appearing incompetent.
Human beings can collaborate. We wouldn’t have survived as a relatively successful species if we couldn’t find the means to work together and create that ‘something’ that wasn’t there before.
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Publications Written by Terence Brake, Director of Learning & Innovation at TMA World. Our new Borderless Working e-book series
About Us
Visit
www.tmaworld.com/insights
to discover the latest
thinking from our experts on
global, collaborative, cross-
cultural and
virtual working.
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About Us
Visit
www.tmaworld.com/insights
to discover the latest
thinking from our experts
on global, collaborative,
cross-cultural and
virtual working.