What do you do if your project team is experiencing conflicts and communication breakdowns?

2 Communicate openly and respectfully

Once you have identified the root causes, you need to communicate them to your team and encourage them to share their views and feelings. You can use different channels and formats to communicate, such as emails, calls, chats, or video conferences. However, you should always follow some basic principles of effective communication, such as being clear, concise, polite, honest, and constructive. You should also acknowledge the emotions involved, avoid blaming or criticizing, and use positive and inclusive language.

3 Collaborate and negotiate

After you have communicated the root causes and heard the perspectives of your team members, you need to collaborate and negotiate with them to find a mutually acceptable solution. You can use various methods and frameworks to collaborate and negotiate, such as brainstorming, voting, ranking, or compromising. The goal is to reach a consensus that satisfies the interests and needs of all parties, while aligning with the project objectives and standards. You should also document the agreement and follow up on the implementation.

4 Establish and enforce norms

To prevent future conflicts and communication breakdowns, you need to establish and enforce some norms and rules for your team's interaction and collaboration. You can involve your team in creating and agreeing on these norms, such as how to communicate, how to share information, how to make decisions, how to handle feedback, how to resolve disputes, or how to support each other. You should also monitor and evaluate the adherence to these norms, and provide recognition or correction as needed.

5 Build and maintain trust

Finally, you need to build and maintain trust among your team members, as trust is the foundation of any successful project team. You can build and maintain trust by being consistent, reliable, transparent, accountable, and supportive. You should also foster a positive and collaborative team culture, where team members feel valued, respected, and appreciated. You can use various activities and initiatives to build and maintain trust, such as team building exercises, social events, recognition programs, or feedback mechanisms.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?