Resolving Conflict

Teamwork develops an important transferable skill: the ability to work on a co-operative enterprise with other people. When the lecturer is asked to write a reference for a student by a prospective employer, they are always asked about their ability to work with other people.

The majority of the time groups work fine. However, sometimes problems arise. For example:

• A team member may not contribute equally to the joint effort, either by not showing up for meetings and/or not doing the work assigned to them
• A team member may be excluded from the group by other team members

Here are some tips about how you might resolve conflicts within your group:

• Don't remain silent
  
  • It is human nature to try to avoid conflict, but a problem ignored is more likely to get worse than to go away
    
  • Raise the question in the team - do not go to the lecturer first
• Be polite in raising the issue
  
  • You have a task to accomplish and it has to be done together
    
  • Be patient and polite at all times
• Don't wait for the problem to get bigger
  
  • If you think there is a genuine problem, raise it sooner rather than later
    
  • It will be easier to be polite about a little problem
    
  • Do not lose your temper over it
    
• Give everyone a second chance
  
  • The whole point in working together is to resolve conflicts
    
  • Do not run away from problems
    
  • If the problem is raised and recognised, let everyone try again to do better
    
  • Again, do NOT go to the lecturer unless team members have been given at least a second chance
• Resolve the problem; don't just attribute blame
  
  • It is hard not to just blame someone when a problem arises, especially if you think you're not at fault (and that is often your first thought)
    
  • But in working together on a common goal, you have to get past blame to a resolution so you can carry on
    
  • The resolution should be in the form of commitments on the part of everyone to behave differently in the future
• Make a note of the problem and the resolution
  
  • You don't have to go into unpleasant details
    
  • All you need to put down is a brief statement of the problem, and the resolution agreed by the team members

In general, working in teams works fine - only a small minority of teams have serious problems. We don't want to scare you into thinking that co-operating with people is a difficult task. But one can't assume that everything will work smoothly, or come out just as one wants. So it is best to be aware of the potential for conflict, and have the courage to resolve it before it escalates.

 

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The text on this page has been adapted with permission from 'Working in Teams on Assessed Coursework' by Prof. Bill Croft in The Department of Linguistics' Academic and Social Survival Guide