4 Ways To Manage Conflict Within Your Team

swarbhanu77
May 12, 2022
6 min read

Updated: Apr 7, 2023

How to fix a dysfunctional toxic company culture? What do you do when you need a new culture by Monday? - 7 minute read.

A toxic culture is like a deep ravine from which a company is rarely able to extricate itself. Not only does a dysfunctional toxic work environment have the potential of landing you with lawsuits, with bad publicity poisoning your brand, but it can also kill your company's productivity.

So what do you do if you find out that your team is in the midst of an ego war? Well here are a few things you can do as a manager to deal with conflict and dysfunctional work cultures.

Tip #1 - Hear Them Out.

Whenever there is a conflict, the first thing to do is to hear everyone out. The moment people feel that they have a voice and that their points of view are being taken seriously, much of the aggression starts dissipating automatically. Once this happens, and everything is laid out on the table, there is less probability of more misunderstandings confusing the resolution process.

The next thing to do is to try to get all parties to agree on some truths or facts so that there is a universally accepted reference on which to base future decisions on.

After this, you need to get them to agree on both the seriousness of the situation and also some future steps that all parties need to take so that there is a permanent resolution of the conflict.

9 times out of 10 this is enough to resolve the conflict for the foreseeable future. But if it still does not, then you probably need to keep them away from each other for a while to let them cool off.

Tip #2 - Create A Compelling Vision.

A team that is inspired by a compelling vision stays focussed and does not get into conflicts easily. Egos become less important than their shared vision. This is why a smart manager always focusses on creating a compelling vision. One of the many good side-effects of having a great vision that excites are less conflicts and more cohesiveness within the team.

"As a leader, if I am not inspired, how will the rest of the people be inspired"

What you really need for the success of your organization is a cohesive team that sees itself creating a path towards something out on the horizon that excites. A team that is clear about where they are going, clear about why they cannot stay where they are today, and clear about how you are going to lead them there.

Be clear about your vision and your roadmap towards achieving it. Describe to your team the purpose and meaning of their work vis-a-vis the big picture. Describe how the future might look if your team is successful in achieving their goals. You must constantly strive to fix misalignments with the vision through regular brainstorming sessions.

During your brainstorming, talk about "a movie scene" of how the future might look like while working together. Describe in detail what a highly functional organization looks like. Align your systems and processes so that you can get to this end point in as direct a way as possible. Though it will be typically a 3-5 year journey to get to where you want to go, it will be well worth it. Just think about the difference between a 10 million dollar company and a 40 billion dollar organization. This is the difference that a compelling vision can make.

Think about your brainstorming sessions as playing the role of a GPS.

A GPS only needs to know two things - (1) where you are and (2) where you want to go. The GPS never laughs at you when you tell it where you are stuck right now. It is with this frankness that you must hold each brainstorming session.

Tip #3 - Invest In A Culture Bank.

Create a culture bank to draw from during crises. You contribute to the culture bank whenever you and your team support each other.

Ask yourself:

How are you going to protect and grow the fabric of your company culture?
How will you make contributions to your culture bank?
How will you build relationships? How will you get to know each other?

Lead with empathy and never keep parts of your life separate because they really aren't. Show empathy in everything.

The tools to motivate and bond are there. You can take a look at our product, The Toot App, a suite of 5 different brainstorming tools all rolled into one product, that allow you to brainstorm with your team in 5 different ways.

All you need to do is assimilate these tools to the processes you use in your organization.

Tip #4 - Create The Sense of Tribe.

Invest in people despite uncertainty. Good workers never want to feel stuck and you need to help them grow. When they find that you are helping them grow, you will earn their gratitude and loyalty.

There is no more powerful feeling in business than the feeling of belonging to a Tribe.

Everyone longs for a sense of belonging. And in a tribe, it is the role of the chieftain to find how everyone can become better versions of their selves.

Tip #5 - Be Consistent In Your Message.

Make sure you are onboarding people to a team and not to a job role. Do this and you will find that it will be much easier for you to hire top talent.

Right from the start, communicate to your workers purpose and meaning by describing to them how they fit in the big picture.

Culture develops through consistent messaging. Internal and external, verbal and non-verbal.

The need to connect has not gone away and it never will. It is only how we connect that has changed somewhat. The how varies by industry and age and many older folks want to go back to how things were. But no matter the how, one thing is certain. You absolutely MUST find a way to connect.

Reach out to people with a very tenuous connection. Never leave anyone out.

Listen to your workers when they describe what helps them get up in the morning.

Share with them the purpose and meaning of their work. Let them reinvent themselves and learn something new every day or every week. Allow people in on your vision and welcome everyone who wants to contribute to it. Allow them to make decisions and contribute to the vision their own way, as long as it does not interfere with team plans.

Remember that almost everyone in your team is only able to see a tiny portion of the business. Your main job as a manager is to communicate clearly how everything fits together in the whole scheme of things.

Be super clear in your briefs. You can use a physical whiteboard to brainstorm each other's thoughts. Or you can use a digital whiteboard, such as what The Toot App offers, to help you in remote or hybrid work environments. You can use the Toot App's WorkTable to list out action steps.

Fix toxic environments by stopping gossip and discouraging the blaming of other people. Toxic behavior thrives whenever there is a lack of accountability. Never let people come to you and talk about other people as this can affect your judgement. Instead, encourage direct dialogue and be fair.

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A Good Team Will Build Your Vision For You.

But A Rock Star Team Will Chase You to Accomplish Your Vision For You.

If you would like to know more about how you can build a Rock Star team that will help you achieve your vision, you can try The Toot App.

The Toot App is an entirely new and exciting way to:

create a compelling vision and a roadmap together with your team,
build trust and belief in your journey together,
lay the foundation of a strong company culture.
and by doing all the above, build you a great team.

Its a new SaaS app that works on the cloud, and if you want a motivated workforce that is fully aligned with your vision and is 100% invested in your success without you needing to chase them around to get things done..... Then This Is For You.