What do you do if your team members are in conflict and you're a Servant Leader?

Take the time to listen to all parties involved and gain a thorough understanding of the underlying issues contributing to the conflict. Identify the root causes, triggers, and dynamics at play to develop an informed approach to resolution.

Understanding the nature of the conflict starts with actively listening to all sides without judgment. For instance, when two team members have differing views on a project direction, I approach each conversation with curiosity, asking questions like, “What’s important to you about this approach?” This practice isn’t about taking sides but about genuinely understanding each person's perspective, making everyone feel seen and valued.

In the book The five dysfunctions of Team, Patrick Lencioni defines that fear of conflict leads to poor performance, results and outcome. The healthy conflict, debates and discussions brings out innovative ideas and problem solving approaches with rich diversity. But the Servant leader must be wise and diligent to monitor that the conflict doesn't goes beyond the threshold boundaries which cause rift and division in the team. To summarize, healthy conflict with in the professional threshold boundary makes the high performance team.

Create a safe and supportive environment where team members feel comfortable expressing their perspectives and concerns about the conflict. Acknowledge the impact of the conflict on individuals, relationships, and team dynamics, validating their experiences and emotions.

Acknowledging the conflict is more than just recognizing there’s an issue. It's about conveying to the team, “I see there’s tension, and it's perfectly normal. It shows we all care deeply. Let’s navigate this together.” This acknowledgment happens in team huddles where we collectively recognize the conflict, not as a failure, but as a natural part of our collaborative process. It's about setting the expectation that every voice is important and every concern deserves to be heard.

Facilitate open and constructive communication between the conflicting parties, encouraging them to express their viewpoints, listen actively to each other, and seek common ground. Foster a collaborative atmosphere where all voices are heard, and ideas are respectfully considered, promoting understanding and empathy.

I try to create spaces where team members can express their thoughts and feelings without fear of retribution. This might involve structured brainstorming sessions where everyone contributes ideas on sticky notes, ensuring anonymity and thus a freer expression of thoughts. These sessions are facilitated with the utmost respect for each contribution, emphasizing that every idea is a building block towards our shared goals.

Encouraging dialogue and Collaboration starts with the leader. First the leader must be vulnerable to expose his weakness so that that weakness must be complemented by other team members. For example, Gallup defines the 4 domains of leadership are Strategic Thinking, Relationship building, Influencing and executing. Gallup research has proven that a leader will have the dominant domain and supporting leadership domain. In my case, The top 4 Gallup strengths falls under Strategic Thinking and other strengths under executing. My area of improvement is relationship building. To complement that I always have a supporting team member who is good in relationship building. Thus Servant Leadership can implement the collaborative approach.

When supporting parties to reach an agreement, I act as a facilitator, guiding the conversation towards common ground while ensuring that all parties feel their inputs are valued. This could involve something as simple as a shared goals workshop, where we collectively outline what we're aiming to achieve and explore how each person’s ideas contribute to that vision. This collaborative effort highlights our interdependence, fostering a sense of unity and shared purpose.

Guide the conflicting parties in exploring potential solutions and negotiating a mutually acceptable resolution. Encourage them to brainstorm creative alternatives, compromise where necessary, and focus on achieving a win-win outcome that addresses their underlying needs and interests.