Introduction

Engaging in positive conflict ensures everybody has a voice (including the quiet ones) and the best ideas come through.

Conflict is often considered taboo, especially at work, and people may spend inordinate amounts of time and energy trying to avoid the kind of passionate debates that are essential to any great team. Teams who engage in productive conflict, also known as robust debate, know that the only purpose is to produce the best possible solution in the shortest period of time.

The exercise in this section looks at the Conflict Continuum to help build the foundation of trust within a team.

1. Handout – Print this Conflict Continuum handout for each team member.

2.Video – Ensure the team have watched the Conflict Continuum video (2 mins) prior to coming to the session .

Once everyone has watched the Conflict Continuum video (2 mins), provide the handout to each of your team members and ask them to mark where they think the team would sit on the scale of 1 to 10.

Ask the team – what they need to do to work in the centre of the Conflict Continuum line.

Avoid group thinking – make sure you’re considering diversity of thought.

Look for conflict – Look for any negative body language and make sure you engage their opinions.

Play devil’s advocate (i.e. suggest arguments against their ideas/opinions) – Imagine you’re representing another team, what would their response be?

Understanding how to engage in positive conflict ensures everybody has a voice and the best ideas come through.

If you would like to learn more, we recommend The Five Dysfunctions of a Team book by Patrick Lencioni.