What do you do if your team members are in conflict and you're a software developer?

I understand the importance of recognizing early signs of conflict in a software development environment. It's crucial to address the issue before it escalates and has a negative impact on the project. I have experienced situations where ignoring conflicts has led to poor code quality and communication breakdowns, which ultimately impacted the project's success.

-Stay calm and objective while dealing with conflicts -Actively listen to both sides of the conflict to understand their perspectives and concerns fully -Encourage open and respectful communication between the conflicting parties -Finding common ground can help bridge the gap between conflicting parties and facilitate resolution -Involve a neutral third party such as a team lead, manager or HR representative to mediate the conflict -Encourage the parties to brainstorm possible solutions together and work collaboratively towards resolution -Follow up with the parties involved to ensure that the resolution is being implemented effectively -Use conflicts as opportunities for learning and growth.

As a developer, if teammates clash, try to stay calm and mediate. Encourage them to focus on the problem, not personalities. If it boils over, politely suggest involving a team lead or manager to find a solution that works for everyone.

In resolving conflict, prioritize calm mediation, open communication, identifying root causes, collaborative solutions, team goals, and seeking help when necessary.

Direct, open, and objective communication is the best way to productively resolve conflict. Start with your team objective, principles, and/or constraints, then clearly discuss the points of your conflict when everyone is grounded by the same information. Conflicts are natural- everyone has a different view and in most groups there will be some conflicting views. Keep focused and you should exit conflict stronger and without hurt feelings.

From what I have experienced in the past, most times than not the conflict arises because of a misunderstanding which happens because of lack of communication. I have had an instance where a conflict happened because our team members didn't agree with each others points because they were just assuming what the other meant when they shared their opinion, and when I sat both the team members down they realized that they both were in the favor of the decision we were trying to make, but each of them thought the other wasn't. Sometimes its something as simple as someone not thinking of sharing certain piece of information because they think its very obvious and everyone knows it. That leaves room for misunderstanding to creep in.

Figure out what you disagree on before introducing an outsider. Teams with clear and common goals and principals should be about to use those to resolve conflict. If something feels irreconcilable, you probably don't have clear and common goals and principals. Get to the root of this and you might find you don't need a mediator at all. If you still think that you need an outsider, don't find someone random. Find an expert in the area at the root of the conflict.

A third party can be very beneficial in these matters. It is even better if that person knows the people involved, and stays as unbiased in that situation and tries to convey or clarify each person's message without adding their own bias or opinion in the messages. Because sometimes we as people get into a zone where we don't want to listen to that person just because it is them. Having someone else step in can let the people in conflict get their guards down and listen to the content and the message of the conversation rather than who is saying it. :)

I have had personal experience with this outside of my professional life, where me and a friend (now friend, not at the time) used to play on the same team. We used to butt heads a lot of the times because our game philosophies were very different. But our coach once pointed to us that we need to find a middle ground and help bring the team together. Now we understood what he meant. It was hard for both of us, but we talked and worked together to focus on winning the tournament. Now we didn't win it all, but we surely went on to dominate a lot of the tournaments in the future. Now we didn't have to like each other, but we sure respected each other and where both of us were coming from. And sometimes that is all you need. A Common goal.

People first, Software second. Fostering a culture of transparency we could put all the info in the table to figure out what is the best solution for it, most times, it not even about conflict between peers but another reason in their personal life or the dynamic they perceive in the workplace, we can't do much on their personal life between hearing them out and sometimes that is all they want.

Conflict has a bad reputation. Most conflicts in software engineering are opportunities to develop better understandings, take on new points of view, and ultimately make better products. Keep the conflict objective based on your goals and principals, never personal, and both your team and your product will come out stronger. Good luck!