Managing Your Team (Part 6) - You Two Stop Fighting

Of course there's fighting, then there's fighting!

I would like to think that irritating bickering between individuals can be nipped in the bud promptly and quickly. Not a lot of sense in allowing it to continue, annoy other team members, and end up with a non productive session and a non productive team.

However, I said "I would like to think"...

How much are the team's objectives contributing to this internal fighting? They may do, but more often than not, the team setting is merely regarded as another opportunity by which this adversorial behaviour can be expressed and continue.

Both in our personal and business lives, we collect baggage and a lot of it, unfortunately, stays with us. Moreover, the personal and business items we've collected get confused and it is only natural that one set will have an adverse effect on the other and vice versa.

One all too common area where this can manifest itself is in our working relationships within our company or organization.

Some one-on-one situations may be resolved quickly and no more is thought of it. Others, when left unchecked, can grow in seriousness significantly affecting the performance of those involved.

More importantly, it's not just the negative impact these situations have on those involved - look at the bigger picture - and the adverse effect it has on the performance of the team and more - classic ripple effect.

Typical reasons may be...

  • Previous project team experiences - negative outcomes
  • Personal reasons
  • Unresolved situations in the workplace
  • Promotion / Demotion
  • Internal or external departmental conflict

    • It's more likely that this less than desirable working relationship goes back way before the team was formed and, if left unchecked, will continue after the team has completed its assignment and moved on.

    To me this is a classic NO-WIN situation.

    Whatever the reason it seems that no real effort has been made to help these adversaries resolve the conflict or their differences and enable them to move on. If the team leader doesn't know the root cause(s) how is he/she meant to deal with it? How does he/she keep the rest of the team motivated?

    Knock On Effect...

  • Team members feel like onlookers, bystanders
  • Fear of outcome if others get involved
  • May be seen as taking sides
  • Totally demotivated with progress not being made
  • Questioning why nothing is being done to resolve it
  • Feelings get so strong other team members end up 'fighting' with the adversaries.

    • So, what's a team leader to do?

    I would suggest that whether this adversorial behaviour happens in the workplace during normal day to day activity or within the confines of a project team, the ways forward are very similar.

    The bottom line is the quicker this type of challenge is dealt with, the easier it will be to resolve it. As team leaders, we certainly have the responsibility to facilitate a postive change. However, the onus to change lies totally on the shoulders of the individuals involved...

  • Facilitate a private discussion between those involved. Use a structured approach, do not be judgemental (you may not totally know the history), the only objective is to reach consensus and determine what steps they agree to take to move forward.

  • Prevention is the best form of cure. If it is at all possible, at the point of team selection, make sure adversaries are not selected to be on the same team.

  • If the team leader is not empowered to make that decision, it makes sense to bring the individuals together before the first meeting and encourage them (insist) they reach an agreement as to how they will behave as a member of this team.

  • Additionally, establish the team's "ground rules". These are the rules all team members agree to follow when they get together and, again, without pointing fingers, emphasis can be placed on disruptive behaviour not being acceptable.

  • Sadly, some situations may be beyond the point of reasonableness and the team leader now has no alternative but to treat this as a serious performance issue. It is vital that the organization's policies and procedures are fully understood so that due care is taken to facilitate a positive outcome. If the team leader is unsure, then he/she definitely needs to seek guidance within the organization.

    • Managing The Team (Part 7) will look at Why Can't We Stay on Track?.

    Andrew Gowans - EzineArticles Expert Author

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