Bias and power imbalances are common sources of team conflict that can undermine trust, collaboration, and performance. If you want to resolve team conflict effectively, you need to address these issues and create a more inclusive and respectful environment. Here are some strategies to help you do that.
We all have biases, conscious or unconscious, that can lead to stereotypes, assumptions, and judgments that can trigger or escalate team conflict. To address these biases, you need to be aware of them and challenge them. Seeking feedback from others about your communication and behavior in the team can help with this. Additionally, reflecting on your emotions, thoughts, and actions during and after a conflict situation can give you insight into your own biases. Exploring different perspectives and experiences of your team members is also important in understanding the impact of biases. Lastly, taking responsibility for your mistakes and apologizing when appropriate is key in recognizing and addressing your own biases.
The first step on the road to bias-conscious leadership is to put diversity into play and let ourselves be challenged by each other’s perspectives. Bias-consciousness is not just about being aware of your own bias or actively creating awareness of bias in others. The essence is to develop a work culture in which critical questions are constantly being asked about practices and behavior; as part of the culture, we understand that we are never fully aware of our biases, thus it is essential to invite other people’s attitudes and opinions into the conversation. This awareness must be constantly expanded and developed. When you are surprised by your own biases, use it to learn about yourself.
Power imbalances can arise in teams due to seniority, expertise, personality, culture, or gender, leading to fear, resentment, or frustration among team members who feel marginalized, ignored, or dominated. To address this issue, it is important to empower others to speak up and share their opinions, concerns, and ideas. This can be done by creating a safe and supportive space for dialogue and feedback; encouraging participation and input from all team members; listening actively and empathically to understand different viewpoints; acknowledging and validating the feelings and needs of others; and seeking consensus and compromise when possible.
Teams that have a culture of honesty, feedback, and listening allows for teams to grow trust and competence. People are allowed to be themselves and express their opinions, perspectives, and feelings. This leads to the best ideas and encourages the morale of the group because members feel heard and valued.
It is clear that silence is linked to power distance. Managers in an environment that emphasizes a hierarchical organization have more employees who passively accept the state of affairs and quickly comply. Employees are silent so as to avoid conflicts, and this increases the risk that management and leadership will lack vital information. Conversely, employees in organizations with a more collective and flat organization often express their views. There is room for diversity and the staff feel welcome to talk. In fact, it’s almost considered selfish to withhold knowledge. With collective knowledge sharing, everyone develops because we learn from each other.
Diversity and strengths are assets for teams that can enhance creativity, innovation, and problem-solving, but they can also lead to conflict if not recognized, respected, or utilized properly. Leveraging and celebrating these assets is key to addressing them. You can do this by recognizing and appreciating the unique contributions of each team member, creating opportunities for learning and development within the team, aligning tasks and roles with strengths and interests of team members, fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging that values diversity, and celebrating successes and achievements as a team.
Differences create opportunities for new ideas, experiences, and products. Even if there are differences of opinions, backgrounds, personalities, and etc., that there must be a level of respect. There will be differences and disagreements due to everyone being different, but even when opposing thoughts and feelings exist, teams can move forward with respect.
When all participants in the decision-making process think alike, it is directly detrimental to the quality of our organizational decisions. Imagine the organization as a giant ship that is hard to turn. Those who have sailed a long time in the same direction have the hardest time setting a new course and may not even be able to see when the course is wrong. We, therefore, need to regularly invite new people on board who see things from different perspectives and alternative directions. That is the value in diversity.
Sometimes, bias and power imbalances are too entrenched or complex to resolve within the team, and in such cases external support from a neutral third party, such as a mediator, coach, or mentor may be necessary. This external support can provide an objective and impartial perspective on the conflict situation, facilitate constructive communication and dialogue among team members, offer guidance on how to address bias and power imbalances, help develop skills and strategies for conflict resolution, and monitor and evaluate the progress of the resolution process. With these strategies in place, you can create a more positive and productive team environment that encourages trust, collaboration, and performance.
One of the most common factors of people who become successful is that of having a mentor. Why? Because mentors can help provide experience and honesty. The mentee accepting mentorship shows humility and a willingness to learn which are genuine keys to finding success.