Productive conflict in the workplace

Productive conflict in the workplace

Do you know what the productive conflict in the work environment?

Conflicts are practices inherent to collective coexistence environments. At work, however, it is necessary to be aware of the intensity of these debates. This is because very negative conflicts can harm coexistence between teams.

This is when it becomes important to know how to debate productively. Continue reading today's content, as we will show you how to incorporate this practice into your team.

Productive conflict in the workplace

As strange as it may seem at first contact with the term, adopting this practice can only add value to teams. Generally, employees come together in productive debates when the focus of the discussion is on ideas and opinions, not on personal attacks. 

The objective of these debates is always aimed at finding the best solution, both for common problems and for more complex issues in the organizational routine, improving the company's daily life and internal processes.

But how can we bring productivity to these debates?

According to author Patrick Lencioni in his Best Seller “The 5 team challenges”, adoption of the practice begins with developing trust. Without trust between employees, conflicts end up becoming “politics” and manipulation.

However, how can we work on trust for productive conflict?

Working on trust in teams

Working on trust in teams is the first step towards more harmonious coexistence and more constructive debates. Therefore, to work on this trust, there are some actions that can be implemented in teams. Among them, we have:

Encourage transparency: For trust to be developed, it is important to develop vulnerability among employees. Therefore, encouraging genuineness and transparency is a great way to establish this trust. 
This can be done during meetings and other team meetings, where the leader can direct the debate towards monitoring projects and tasks, while encouraging the recognition of achievements and lessons learned.

Show what errors happen: Many companies penalize their employees who make mistakes. This practice can be harmful to the organization and also to teams, as mistakes are common even in the most successful organizations. After all, making mistakes is human!
So, to build the trust that will enable productive conflict, it is important that mistakes are worked on, not punished. 
Therefore, show your employees that mistakes are part of the learning process and that the way to avoid mistakes is, first, recognizing them and then finding a solution.

Enable the creation of a friendship relationship: As we know, professional relationships are more formal and limited to workplaces. But who said you can't work? friendlier relations in these environments?
Enable more friendly interaction between employees, use some spaces to talk about things beyond work. Creating slightly deeper bonds within teams only adds to the trust of employees.

The importance of productive conflict

Productive conflict is necessary in the construction of more complete ideas, as it is through everyone's collaboration that growth is made possible. Therefore, freedom of expression in teams is essential in building a healthier environment.

There are countless ways to work on behaviors, such as trust in the team, and there are methodologies with proven effectiveness that can speed up the process.

For this you, leader or owner of an organization, you can count on the LongVision

We are a company specialized in providing corporate training with a focus on professional development. If you want to enable your team to develop even more productive conflict, learn about training The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team.

With this training, teams work on the 5 essential behaviors in building a more cohesive and integrated team. These skills are listed in the work of Patrick Lencioni, where he addresses how each one contributes to achieving the collective result. 

Want to know more about this journey? Just continue reading the article:

How The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team Program can help your team

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