{"id":89,"date":"2021-04-26T13:19:11","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T17:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/technicalwriting2ed\/chapter\/4-4-managing-team-conflict\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T17:52:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T21:52:26","slug":"4-4-managing-team-conflict","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/technicalwriting2ed\/chapter\/4-4-managing-team-conflict\/","title":{"raw":"4.2 Managing Team Conflict","rendered":"4.2 Managing Team Conflict"},"content":{"raw":"It\u2019s important to recognize that whenever people work together in teams, there are bound to be challenges, and conflicts are likely to arise \u2014 and this is okay. People have different opinions, perspectives, and ways to doing things. Some conflict, if managed effectively, can be productive and lead to stronger ideas and unexpected innovations. Poorly managed conflict, however, can be detrimental, and can even derail a team and the project entirely.\r\n\r\nOften, conflict arises from confusion over team members\u2019 roles and team goals. For example, if one team member\u2019s goal is to exceed expectations (get an A+) on the project, and anther\u2019s is to simply make it \"good enough\" (B-), their goals are misaligned, and this will show in work ethic and commitment to the project. If team members do not share the same goals, or if members are unsure of what their role is in the team, this can lead to anxiety, confusion, or even anger. This in turn can cause the following unproductive behaviours:\r\n

Isolating<\/em><\/strong>: breaking away from the team and just doing work on your own without collaborating with others or with minimal interaction. This can lead to inefficiency in the team, as they don\u2019t communicate sufficiently with the team, are not involved in decision-making, and other team members don\u2019t know what they are doing.<\/p>\r\n

Hijacking<\/em><\/strong>: taking over the project and doing work without consulting with the team. This may arise out of anxiety about grades, or lack of trust in team members; hijackers may revise or redo work already done by others without consultation or permission.<\/p>\r\n

Hitchhiking<\/em><\/strong>: just coming along for the ride, but not contributing equitably. Hitchikers may simply not show up, or they may make excuses for not attending team meetings (I\u2019m too busy, I have a midterm, a rugby game, a trip planned, etc<\/em>). Not meeting expectations around commitment makes extra work for other team members, which leads to resentments.<\/p>\r\n

Enabling<\/em><\/strong>: being overly helpful (a \u201cpeople pleaser\u201d), taking on too much of the work to try to make up for other team members.\u00a0\"Hitchhikers\" can start relying on \"enablers\" to pick up their slack. <\/span>This can lead to frustration and potentially burn out when they are not able to complete all the additional tasks they have volunteered to do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nHow to deal with team conflict? The first strategy is to develop clear processes that help to prevent<\/em> conflict where possible (see the GRIP model in Ch. 4.1). You can do this in the forming stage by creating clear team guidelines and expectations. Creating a Team Charter<\/strong> can help you define team goals, expectations for equitable contribution, and procedures for communicating and producing work. You can also define problem-solving approaches that your team will use when conflicts arise, and determine what kinds of behaviour will trigger a consultation with the instructor.\r\n\r\nThink about conflicts or problems you have had in the past when working in teams. Can you think of ways you could have planned ahead to prevent them? Being proactive can prevent a lot of issues. For example, defining the criteria and protocols for removing a team member from the team will often prevent issues from going that far. However, despite these preventative measures, conflict is bound to come up from time to time. You need to have effective strategies for managing it effectively when it does arise.\r\n\r\nHere is a list of some effective conflict management approaches, derived from the information on Team Dynamics,<\/strong> to keep in your tool box:\r\n