Earlier this year, I was asked to lead an event to bring together two teams that were involved in a corporate war. The conflict has festered so much that communication is almost non-existent.
The festering dispute caused the company website to crash during a key sales period. What started as tension, fueled by feuding leaders, led to damaging downtime and a direct loss of sales.
However, the cost of team conflict is often less obvious.
The team member who leaves because they just can't deal with bitchy colleagues anymore
The project that is delayed by a couple of months because we don't follow through on our commitments
The efficiencies lost because leaders would rather protect their territories than collaborate with their colleagues
All cost tens of thousands of hidden pounds, dollars, dirhams and euros.
All are enabled by a leader who doesn't align their team and tackle team conflict.
So, what is the first step in tackling team conflict?
As with most damaging habits, you have to admit there is a problem in the first place. Call it out with the people involved. Use specific examples of when you have observed discord and conflict and call out the impact.
As soon as you are ready, we can help get your team aligned and high-performing.
You can either