Building Conflict Competent Teams

Building Conflict Competent Teams

by Craig E. Runde, Tim A. Flanagan
Released June 2008
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780470189474

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Book description

Understanding how to cool down, slow down, and engage the naturally occurring conflicts among team members is critical to the ultimate success of a team. With this book, your team and its members will gain a deeper understanding of how conflict emerges and how to respond in ways that will leverage conflicts to their advantage. Team members will learn the importance of establishing a safe team climate, agreeing on processes to guide interactions, and use of constructive communication skills in order to develop a conflict competent team.

As the authors say, conflict is not to be avoided, but embraced and explored. This often results in new, previously unimagined opportunities, solutions and results. The authors include stories, interviews, and examples that provide entertaining and thought provoking insights. They dedicate one chapter to techniques and processes for addressing team conflict that has gone awry. Runde and Flanagan also include useful tips and tools for assessing your team's current state of conflict competence and suggestions for addressing the challenges of today's virtual and geographically dispersed teams.

Table of contents

  1. Praise for Building Conflict Competent Teams
  2. Copyright
  3. Preface
    1. Outline of the Book
    2. Acknowledgments
  4. 1. 1 A TEAM IN CONFLICT
    1. 1.1. The Organization
    2. 1.2. The Search
    3. 1.3. Finding New Talent
    4. 1.4. Conflicting Perspectives
    5. 1.5. Turning Points
    6. 1.6. Success
    7. 1.7. Upon Further Review
    8. 1.8. Ingredients for Conflict Competence
    9. 1.9. A Great But Not Perfect Example
    10. 1.10. So What?
    11. 1.11. Basic Premise
    12. 1.12. A Preview: Three Critical Characteristics
      1. 1.12.1. The Right Climate
      2. 1.12.2. Behavioral Integration
      3. 1.12.3. Constructive Communication
    13. 1.13. Another Thing or Two
  5. 2. 2 WHERE CONFLICT COMES FROM, AND WHY IT IS SO HARD TO MANAGE
    1. 2.1. Team Models and Conflict
    2. 2.2. The Nature of Conflict
    3. 2.3. Types of Conflict
    4. 2.4. Sources of Conflict
      1. 2.4.1. Differences
      2. 2.4.2. Feelings of Incompatibility
      3. 2.4.3. Unmet Expectations
      4. 2.4.4. Complicating Factors
    5. 2.5. Challenges
      1. 2.5.1. Task Conflict
      2. 2.5.2. Relationship Conflict
      3. 2.5.3. Process Conflict
      4. 2.5.4. How Task Conflict Morphs into Relationship Conflict
      5. 2.5.5. Attribution
      6. 2.5.6. Social Judgment
      7. 2.5.7. Behavioral Responses
      8. 2.5.8. Conflict Norms
    6. 2.6. Addressing the Challenges
  6. 3. 3 CREATING THE RIGHT CLIMATE
    1. 3.1. Effective Attitudes
    2. 3.2. Trust
      1. 3.2.1. The Nature of Trust and Trustworthiness
      2. 3.2.2. Building Trust
      3. 3.2.3. Repairing Trust When It Has Been Betrayed
    3. 3.3. Safety
    4. 3.4. Working Together
    5. 3.5. Emotional Intelligence
      1. 3.5.1. Emotional Intelligence in Teams
      2. 3.5.2. How Emotions Arise
      3. 3.5.3. The Role of Thinking
      4. 3.5.4. How Emotions Spread
    6. 3.6. Controlling Your Emotions
      1. 3.6.1. Understanding Your Emotional Triggers
      2. 3.6.2. Reappraising What's Happening
      3. 3.6.3. Cooling Things Down in the Team
      4. 3.6.4. Slowing Down
    7. 3.7. What to Do When Things Are Stuck
      1. 3.7.1. The Role of the Team Leader
      2. 3.7.2. Team Member Support
    8. 3.8. Starting Out Right
    9. 3.9. Once the Climate Is Right
  7. 4. 4 CONSTRUCTIVE COMMUNICATION
    1. 4.1. Intra-Team Versus Inter-Team Conflict
    2. 4.2. The Human Condition
    3. 4.3. Intensity
      1. 4.3.1. Differences
      2. 4.3.2. Misunderstandings
      3. 4.3.3. Disagreements
      4. 4.3.4. Discord
      5. 4.3.5. Polarization
    4. 4.4. Constructive Behaviors and Skills
      1. 4.4.1. Reflective Thinking and Delay Responding
      2. 4.4.2. Listening for Understanding
      3. 4.4.3. Perspective Taking and Empathy
      4. 4.4.4. Expressing Emotions
    5. 4.5. Conclusion
  8. 5. 5 TECHNIQUES FOR STAYING ON TRACK
    1. 5.1. Before
      1. 5.1.1. Team Agreements
      2. 5.1.2. Structured Disclosure
      3. 5.1.3. Predicting Hot Topics
      4. 5.1.4. Describing Desired Outcomes
      5. 5.1.5. Preliminary Perspective Sharing
    2. 5.2. During
      1. 5.2.1. Summer Before Fall
      2. 5.2.2. Devil's Advocacy
      3. 5.2.3. Reaching Out
      4. 5.2.4. Time-Outs
      5. 5.2.5. Reframing Through Inquiry
      6. 5.2.6. Brainstorming
      7. 5.2.7. Observing
      8. 5.2.8. Clearing the Air (Safely)
      9. 5.2.9. Stop, Start, Continue
      10. 5.2.10. Mediation
      11. 5.2.11. Using These Tools
    3. 5.3. After
      1. 5.3.1. Periodic Peer Feedback
      2. 5.3.2. "Reviewing the Tape"
    4. 5.4. Conclusion
  9. 6. 6 SPECIAL CASES: VIRTUAL AND GLOBAL TEAMS
    1. 6.1. The Challenges of Being Virtual
      1. 6.1.1. Emotional Intelligence
      2. 6.1.2. Constructive Communications
      3. 6.1.3. Addressing the Challenges
    2. 6.2. Different Cultures, Different Conflicts
      1. 6.2.1. Sources of Conflict
      2. 6.2.2. Challenges
      3. 6.2.3. Addressing the Challenges
      4. 6.2.4. Communication Norms
      5. 6.2.5. Dealing with Emotions
      6. 6.2.6. The Role of the Leader
      7. 6.2.7. In Practice
    3. 6.3. Next Steps
  10. 7. 7 GETTING STARTED ON THE ROAD TO CONFLICT COMPETENCE
    1. 7.1. Team Member Readiness Questions
      1. 7.1.1. Analysis and Suggestions
    2. 7.2. Team Readiness Questions
      1. 7.2.1. Analysis and Suggestions
    3. 7.3. Team Foundations Worksheet
      1. 7.3.1. Team Goals
      2. 7.3.2. Team Roles
      3. 7.3.3. Team Values
      4. 7.3.4. Team Norms
      5. 7.3.5. Analysis and Suggestions
    4. 7.4. Assessing Your Team Climate: Components for Establishing the Right Climate
      1. 7.4.1. Attitudes
      2. 7.4.2. Trust
      3. 7.4.3. Safety
      4. 7.4.4. Working Together (Behavioral Integration)
      5. 7.4.5. Emotional Intelligence
      6. 7.4.6. Individual Summary
      7. 7.4.7. Team Total Summary
      8. 7.4.8. Team Averages
      9. 7.4.9. Analysis and Suggestions
    5. 7.5. Assessing Your Team's Communication: An Examination of Behaviors and Skills
      1. 7.5.1. Scale
      2. 7.5.2. Reflective Thinking and Delay Responding
      3. 7.5.3. Perspective Taking and Empathy
      4. 7.5.4. Expressing Emotions
      5. 7.5.5. Listening for Understanding
      6. 7.5.6. Individual Summary
      7. 7.5.7. Team Total Summary
      8. 7.5.8. Team Averages
      9. 7.5.9. Analysis and Suggestions
    6. 7.6. Summary
  11. Epilogue
  12. Resources
    1. 7.7. Leadership Development Institute
    2. 7.8. Center for Creative Leadership
    3. 7.9. The Table Group
    4. 7.10. Center for Collaborative Organizations
    5. 7.11. Interpersonal Communications Programs
    6. 7.12. Mindful Awareness Research Center
  13. References
  14. The Authors
  15. About the Center for Creative Leadership
    1. Capabilities
    2. Open-Enrollment Programs
    3. Customized Programs
    4. Coaching
    5. Assessment and Development Resources
    6. Publications
    7. Leadership Community
    8. Research

Product information

  • Title: Building Conflict Competent Teams
  • Author(s): Craig E. Runde, Tim A. Flanagan
  • Release date: June 2008
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470189474