Providing the conflict is focused on the business problems, and not personal in nature, the answer is a resounding yes! Conflict is a sign of a healthy team that is engaged and committed. All too often teams sacrifice opportunities to grow and move forward for fear of violating the “cultural conformity” of their business.
Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, advises that it is important to distinguish productive ideological conflict from fighting and interpersonal politics. Ideological conflict is limited to concepts and ideas and avoids personality-focused, mean-spirited attack. However they can have many of the same external qualities of interpersonal conflict – passion, emotion, and frustration.
All too many times leaders for the sake of team harmony don’t allow their teams to exchange ideas and thoughts in an open format. Team members in conflict, are told to take the discussion “offline” which sends the message that conflict is not acceptable in the team. So what can a good team leader do?
· Create an environment where conflict around ideas is encouraged, and rewarded.
· Model the behaviour to show that healthy conflict is good and productive.
· Establish team norms around conflict that team members understand.
· Watch team members for signs of disagreement and encourage them to speak up.
· Do not avoid the critical or sensitive topics in team meetings.
Your teams will always have conflict, it’s up to the leader if the conflict happens in the meeting or at the water cooler.
