Harness the power of healthy workplace conflict

Healthy conflict enables organizations to operate at peak performance because it fuels new ideas, creative problem solving and friendly competition. 

But it is essential to make sure everyone on the team gets to express their different point of view, regardless of their comfort level with sharing or defending ideas in a group setting.

If you’ve got talented introverts on your team, encourage them to participate or ask questions.

Leaders and managers must remember that their people want to be heard, so giving them the platform to share freely without the fear of being insulted or reprimanded is up to you. 

It’s about seeing the other person’s perspective and practising active listening by being fully present in the conversation. It also helps if the team leader can refrain from expressing their view early in the conversation or meeting because this may influence others. 

Creating the right environment 

If your team doesn’t feel safe or respected by their colleagues, they will be less likely to share.

Creating a safe, open and engaging work environment starts with the leader because they normalize how we will behave around conflict. 

If the leader is conflict-averse, they probably need to overcome this hesitancy and embrace the unfamiliar, even if it is initially uncomfortable. Otherwise, the rest of the team will follow the leader and avoid difficult situations.

On the other hand, if the leader embraces conflict too eagerly, they need to recalibrate and bring themselves more to the middle to make the team more comfortable with having a healthy, respectful debate.

Remember that it’s up to the leaders and managers to diffuse any debates that get off-track or if speakers are interrupted or disrespected. Get the group focused back on ideas, not individuals.

Be sure to set the ground rules for healthy debate. Everyone should feel comfortable speaking their truth without worrying about opposing a colleague’s idea because they have differing opinions. But that does not mean it’s OK to be condescending or offensive. 

You will likely discover that teams that communicate openly, respect their coworkers’ ideas and opinions and focus on concepts and solutions will build more trust with each another and become more innovative and productive.