​The most recent episode of the Remote Pathways podcast focuses on Conflict in the Remote Space. This is probably one of the most challenging topics for teams today as often it’s easier to pretend that conflict is not happening – avert our gaze, push it under the rug, or even hope that it will just go away – than address it.

In Episode 12 we are joined by Conflict Specialist Gayle Oudeh who is also the author of Conflict is for the Birds. She brings a wonderful metaphor to us in her writing of the different types of approaches to conflict.

Gayle also joined us for the May 7th Remote Pathways Community Call which I am embedding below.
 
If you weren't able to make the call live, catch up on the recording!
It's now available on YouTube.

Gayle is the author of Conflict is for the Birds: Understanding Your Conflict Management Styles.
 
As you’ll see in our call Gayle’s writing explores the varying ways we may approach conflict through the metaphor of birds. Listen into the call as she shares more about the different types of birds. What types are you?
 
Conflict is an inevitable part of change, innovation and disruption – three things which are characterizing business right now.
 
Our approaches to conflict are shaped by our socialization, experience and also knowledge of ourselves.
 
How do you approach conflict?

• What do you notice about how others on the team approach conflict?
• What’s important to take note of as a team right now?
• What are the conversations you want to have?

 
Be sure to check out episode 12 of the Remote Pathways podcast as Gayle shares even more about conflict in the remote space.  You can find it at your favorite podcast player or here.
 
Enjoy!
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders | Remote Pathways Podcast
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Everything DiSC
Phone (416)996-8326

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Contact us to discuss how we can support you and your teams and organization with remote work.

Check out upcoming virtual programs on our calendar
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A challenge when working in the global space remotely is that there can be blurring of boundaries across time zones, particularly if you work with clients, or customers around the world. While it may feel possible to operate 24/7 with only a few people, over time it can be important to incorporate some boundaries in your remote work. That might entail:

• Setting core working hours where people are available to set meeting times, connect and work together
• Identifying on your signature lines or website what your hours are

What are the time windows you want to be available around? What are the ways you can communicate that to others? What does it mean in terms of collaboration with others -i.e. getting materials out, and/or getting materials or resources on to others?

Another boundary which most remote workers become aware of quickly are the boundaries around workspace. When we work from home it can be a challenge to focus in on working from home. What are the boundaries you want to incorporate there? It might include:

• A dedicated office space, possibly with a door that closes
• Scheduling your work so that it occurs when others aren’t around
• Dressing like you are going to the office
• Communicating to others that even though you may be “home” you are working and aren’t available to undertake their tasks

What are the other boundaries which are important to create? 

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

It is time for video montage 17 from the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series. Take a look at it here.
​
I also wanted to reach back to share a number of other posts on Teamwork in Complexity from last year’s blog posts. A reminder that this month I am focusing on Teamwork in Uncertainty – stay tuned for the new posts on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

Teams365 #1610: Teamwork Skills in Complexity – Prioritization – Read it here. 

Teams365 #1604: Teamwork Skills in Complexity – Problem Solving - Read it here.

Teams365 #1603: Interesting articles about teamwork and complexity - Read it here.

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2019) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Pick up a copy of Volume 1 of the Weekly Journaling Prompts in an digital format. Print it out and take it with you for some inspiration and writing on the go! Available at the Potentials Realized Store.

Welcome to the month of May. What’s on tap for you this month? Have you completed the monthly reflection questions from yesterday?

This month we are shifting our attention to the topic of teamwork in uncertainty.

Whether it’s changes due to economic change, disruption due to weather, or changes in your industry, teamwork in uncertainty is becoming the norm for many professionals today. This month we’ll be looking at a range of posts including trust and connection, pivot, confidence in uncertainty, cultivating curiosity, presence, improv skills.

Today’s post takes you back to some of the past posts I’ve written on this topic. You’ll find these to be useful in setting the frame and context this month.

Take a look at:

Teams365 #1188: Half a Dozen Ingredients for Today’s Teams.

Team Building Tip: Rapid Change.

I wrote: “When it's uncertain, complex and changing, collaboration is needed.” Take a look at this post.

Video – Six Ingredients for Teams In Today’s VUCA World – View it here.

Teamwork in Complexity – Focus and Renewal.

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.

As we move into the last week of the month of April, many teams are staring to kick it into high gear. With summer vacations starting in a few weeks or months, now is the time teams really need to get results. What are the core things teams want to keep an eye on this year?

Efficient meetings. We know that teams need updates and meetings abound. Are they the most effective? I have shared my top 8 Essential Meeting Questions from Effective Virtual Conversations several times, and they warrant inclusion again. Meetings are a huge time expenditure and getting them right is so important.

How to have conflict, constructively and respectfully. Being able to have conflict and work across differences constructively and respectfully is really important. Teams thrive when there is a difference of opinion and different insights; however, not every team is encouraged to, or can, work through differences.

Harnessing strengths and styles. One of the greatest challenges in teams is finding the balance between individualism and collective alignment. This is going to be different for each team, with some teams on the end of the spectrum where there “is no I in team” and it’s all about the collective system, and there will be other team experiences (especially remote and virtual teams) where it is more about the individual person.

Open feedback loops. Regular and frequent feedback and communication is imperative in a business context which is changing rapidly. How is information shared across the team? Open communication and feedback loops are critical for success. What are the mechanisms people have to offer feedback? Where is feedback not getting through? Where is genuine feedback NOT being offered? Why? What’s the cost of this – short term and long term?

What are the core issues you are noticing in your teams right now?

What focus and conversations are needed?

Wishing you the best,
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.

Today’s post brings us back to another teamwork skill, that of conflict management. With teams excelling because of their differences, conflict is inevitable. In fact, it’s likely that conflict will be part of a creative, and innovative team environment.

In working through conflict, it is important to think about the following:
How do you approach conflict? Are you a conflict averter? Are you an embracer of conflict? Are you a conflict creator?

How is conflict addressed in your organization? Within your team? Is this the best way to approach conflict?

As you think about the approaches you use around conflict how does it relate to the importance of the relationships which exist? The results you are looking after? If you were to adjust your approach for the benefit of the results and relationships you are looking for, what changes would you make?

On this note, we usually want to adjust our approach to conflict based on how important the end result and relationships are. If the result is important, we may choose to push for that, at the expense of the relationship or making someone angry. If the relationship is important and the result is not, we may choose to compromise. If both the relationship and result is important we may opt to collaborate.

What’s the cost of not addressing conflict?

If you were to make one adjustment around conflict, what would that be?

For more on the topic of teamwork and conflict, check out these past Teams365 posts.
​
Enjoy your Wednesday,
Jennifer

Today's quote comes from Dr. Wayne Dyer who wrote "Conflict cannot survive without your participation". Conflict is not inherently a bad thing on teams. In fact, it is quite natural, particularly when a team is diverse. What often happens however is that team members are not able to work proactively and productively through the differences, getting mired in the differences and not having strategies to move through the conflict.

I've written many post on conflict here at the Teams365 blog - many of which you can check out here.

Questions to consider:
What are the conflicts which exist in your team right now?
How is conflict helping or hindering you?
What approaches do you have as a team to work through conflict?

Enjoy your weekend,
Jennifer

This week's Virtual and Remote Team Development Activity took us into the realm of conflict management. Whether it's having courageous conversations, or navigating conflict, this is a skill set that many team members do not feel comfortable with.

In today's #FlashbackFriday's post,  I wanted to take us back to two earlier posts I wrote - one on different approaches to conflict (Teams365 #510) and the other on Four Keys to Navigating Conflict (Teams #512).

In approaching different conflicts, there may be several different stances we can take. Many conflict resolution models focus on taking a different stance according to how important the relationship or results is. Here's what I wrote in Teams365 #510:

"Our ability to work through differences and conflict is a key skill for leaders and team members. What we know from research is that complimentary skill sets often make a team strong. In saying this, it may mean that we have different styles which exist, which means that what we value and how we interrelate with the world is different.

What is your natural style in navigating conflict? Different conflict models may have different names for these but we may demonstrate one of many styles including:

Accommodate  - often when the relationship is important but the results are not we will accommodate to enable the other party to have their preferred outcome. In accommodation the other party wins, at our loss.

Compromise – Compromise may be important when the outcome is important for both of us, as is the relationship. In compromise, I win some and you win some, but neither party really win.

Avoid – There are instances where it makes sense to avoid conflict and sweep things under the rug. The challenge and danger with this over time is that the issue can fester, and the small minuscule issue can grow into an elephant. Where is may be appropriate to avoid conflict is when the issue is not important and the relationship is not important. IN avoiding I lose and you lose.

Collaboration - Collaboration takes time and may be the preferred solution when relationships and results are both important. Not every situation warrants collaboration, and as Morten Hanson writes in his books, Don’t collaborate just for collaboration’s sake. While collaboration often takes more time, it can be the best outcome. In collaboration I win and you win.

Compete – We may choose to compete to achieve an important outcome when the results are key and the relationship is not as important. When competing we need to be aware of when it becomes too aggressive. In competition I win and you lose

As you consider these five different styles, what are examples of each one and how you and others would benefit from adopting that approach? When might the approach be beneficial?

 For those interested in learning about their own style or supporting team members in this area, one interesting online resource I found was Conflict 911.com/resources


Here is what I wrote in Teams365 #511 - Four Keys to Navigating Conflict:

Yesterday I focused on different approaches to conflict – accommodation, compromise, collaboration, avoiding and n completion when faced with conflict, What else is possible? Today's post focuses on four things you can do every day when thinking and working around conflict.

1. Be proactive and address conflict early on – While easier said than done, many view navigating conflict as very challenging, in part because issues may have escalated even more than at the start.
   
   
2. Find the common ground – Finding similar vantage points or even “slivers” where you can see “eye to eye” is a starting point in navigating conflict. These mini-windows are opportunities to open dialogue and mutual problem solving, rather than raising walls.
   
   
3. Recognize that conflict can be a healthy thing when we have the tools to navigate it. Where cultures do not recognize that conflict is a normal and natural part of human relationships, it may be minimized and swept under the rug, or it can be seen as “abnormal” and “vilified” where something is wrong. What is the culture at your workplace around conflict.
   
   
4. Invest in your skills in navigating conflict. Conflict management is not always well modelled in our work places and families. If this has been your case it can be useful to invest in some professional development and/or mentoring so you have more phrases and even a model or process to follow. Where is conflict management well modelled? What tools and resources are people using?
   
   

Navigating differences is an important skill set for today’s global environment. What actions do you want to take towards building your skills and capacity?

Have  a great end of the week,
Jennifer

Today's Leadership Practice, or essential focus area for leaders of all stripes is that of conflict. As today's opening quote from Susan Gekrke illustrates, conflict is an inherent part of teams today. In fact, for many teams what helps them thrive is this ability to work through conflict, and work across differences.  Conflict, and different ideas, and different perspectives, often allows for more creative solutions, which as we know is necessary in so many instances  today.

Conflict resolution is a skill set which many team leaders struggle with -either because they have not seen it modeled well themselves, they lack skills in this area, or it may be due to their own mindset around conflict.

In addressing any conflict at the team level it can be important to start by exploring several questions including;

What is this conflict about? What's at the core of it? Conflict is created for many reasons. It may be part of the natural "Storming stage" when teams form. As Bruce Tuckman found decades ago, teams move through a storming stage which is characterized by both overt, and subtle, conflict. This exists in virtual teams as well. As team members try to figure out how they fit in and why they exist as a team, conflict is a natural bi-product. Where conflict gets tricky is when teams don't see this as the natural part of team development, they don't have skills to move through it, or they see it as dysfunctional.
Conflict can also be created due to lack of resources, and information. This is an different scenario.
Conflict may also emerge due to different styles and approaches. this is one of the most common ones that I experience with teams that I work with. At the core of this is often creating a common framework and language to understand the differences which exist on the team, and learning to understand how to adapt our own approaches to work more effectively with others.
If you are facing conflict in your team right now, what's at the root?

What's our common ground? In most conflict models which exist today part of moving to an understanding and then resolution of the situation is understanding what your common ground is about. If the conflict is between two people, or two groups, what is the common ground? What is the one thing (or things) you both are working towards?

What's at stake? In exploring conflict, it's also important to understand more fully from all parties involved, what is at stake? If this issue is not resolved, what will happen? Usually in exploring what's at stake, some important clues, and conversation areas come to light.

What can we do to create a win-win? With many instances, it is important to find a solution which creates a win-win for the parties involved. For other issues it may be ok to accommodate to the other if the issues and outcome is more important to them, or if that relationship is more important for us to maintain. 

Helping team members understand their natural approach to conflict is an important part of the process. Do we naturally compete? Do we naturally accommodate? Against the back-drop of working with teams and their development, this is another key area for exploration between leaders and their teams. It may be an area you want to reach out for support around. I know in my work as a team coach and team developer, this is an area we often get many requests in.

What are the other questions you want to consider in exploring conflict?

Best
Jennifer

It is Friday which means that it is time for another Flashback Friday. One of the themes this week here at the blog has been around Conflict. In light of April's focus on better teamwork, teams often struggle in the area of conflict.

Today's post takes us back to a short post #Teams365 #510 where we explore some of the different ways team members may be a approaching conflict, based on how important their relationships or results may be. Take note of these:

Our ability to work through differences and conflict is a key skill for leaders and team members. What we know from research is that complimentary skill sets often make a team strong. In saying this, it may mean that we have different styles which exist, which means that what we value and how we interrelate with the world is different.

What is your natural style in navigating conflict? Different conflict models may have different names for these but we may demonstrate one of many styles including:

Accommodate  - Often when the relationship is important but the results are not we will accommodate to enable the other party to have their preferred outcome. In accommodation the other party wins, at our loss.

Compromise – Compromise may be important when the outcome is important for both of us, as is the relationship. In compromise, I win some and you win some, but neither party really win.

Avoid – There are instances where it makes sense to avoid conflict and sweep things under the rug. The challenge and danger with this over time is that the issue can fester, and the small minuscule issue can grow into an elephant. Where is may be appropriate to avoid conflict is when the issue is not important and the relationship is not important. IN avoiding I lose and you lose.

Collaboration - Collaboration takes time and may be the preferred solution when relationships and results are both important. Not every situation warrants collaboration, and as Morten Hanson writes in his books, Don’t collaborate just for collaboration’s sake. While collaboration often takes more time, it can be the best outcome. In collaboration I win and you win.

Compete – We may choose to compete to achieve an important outcome when the results are key and the relationship is not as important. When competing we need to be aware of when it becomes too aggressive. In competition I win and you lose

As you consider these five different styles, what are examples of each one and how you and others would benefit from adopting that approach? When might the approach be beneficial?

 For those interested in learning about their own style or supporting team members in this area, one interesting online resource I found was Conflict 911.com/resources