As we continue our journey in the 20 Activities to Use with Your Virtual or Remote team, #11 in this series brings us to the important, and inevitable topic of conflict. Conflict in virtual teams may be below the waterline, and it may be common for virtual team members to try to skirt the conflict until they need to address it.
Conflict in virtual teams can be due to many issues including:
In a virtual team it is often harder to know about what your co-workers styles are and what they value. Being able to surface the difficult issues (see last week's Teams365 blog post) and having a shared process to do so is very important in addressing conflict.
Activity - A Facilitated Discussion on Conflict
Amount of time: 15-45 minutes
As a virtual team it can be useful to have the discussion about your natural approaches to conflict before you even experience it. One of the approaches which I have found to be useful in warming up to the discussion around conflict is to get people to share their thoughts on these question:
On a scale of 1-10, how difficult is it for you to surface conflict?
This helps the team to start recognizing the range of how people may even approach the topic area of conflict.
Other questions you may want to surface are:
What have been some past examples of conflict you've experienced in your work? How have you successfully resolved them?
How do you react when you face conflict at work? (Do you withdraw? Fight back?)
What are the current "hotspots" or potentials for conflict in your work?
What can we do to support you on this?
There are several different tools and processes you can use to help people explore conflict. Two that we offer to teams are the TKI and the Everything DiSC Predictive Conflict Tool. Contact me to discuss how we could support your team in having these conversations.
Have a great Wednesday,
Jennifer
Conflict in virtual teams can be due to many issues including:
- Not feeling like you are understood
- Not feeling valued
- Conflict around priorities
- Disagreement about what’s important
- A disconnect with values – what’s important in your work
- A divergence in your approaches
In a virtual team it is often harder to know about what your co-workers styles are and what they value. Being able to surface the difficult issues (see last week's Teams365 blog post) and having a shared process to do so is very important in addressing conflict.
Activity - A Facilitated Discussion on Conflict
Amount of time: 15-45 minutes
As a virtual team it can be useful to have the discussion about your natural approaches to conflict before you even experience it. One of the approaches which I have found to be useful in warming up to the discussion around conflict is to get people to share their thoughts on these question:
On a scale of 1-10, how difficult is it for you to surface conflict?
This helps the team to start recognizing the range of how people may even approach the topic area of conflict.
Other questions you may want to surface are:
What have been some past examples of conflict you've experienced in your work? How have you successfully resolved them?
How do you react when you face conflict at work? (Do you withdraw? Fight back?)
What are the current "hotspots" or potentials for conflict in your work?
What can we do to support you on this?
There are several different tools and processes you can use to help people explore conflict. Two that we offer to teams are the TKI and the Everything DiSC Predictive Conflict Tool. Contact me to discuss how we could support your team in having these conversations.
Have a great Wednesday,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations - Conference calls? Webinars? Virtual coaching work? Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations - Conference calls? Webinars? Virtual coaching work? Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.
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