In every growing organization, conflict is not just inevitable—it's a sign that growth is happening faster than structure can support. At my current workplace, we've experienced conflict in three significant areas: volume, role clarity, and accountability. These issues didn't surface quietly—they emerged as the company transitioned into a mid-sized enterprise. The workload ballooned beyond what our existing systems and people could handle. We were reacting to symptoms rather than addressing the causes. Without clear priorities, the team often felt like we were sprinting in every direction at once.

Then came the role confusion. With multiple C-suite leaders giving directives, no one was clear who was leading what. In Maxwell's Law of Navigation, he often says, "Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course." In this case, too many hands were on the wheel, and no one was keeping an eye on the map. Collaboration became a political risk instead of a shared value. The silos grew taller, and time was lost in the shuffle.

The third conflict—unclear accountability—was a byproduct of the first two. When no one owns the goal or the deliverable, no one feels responsible for the outcome. And when that happens, trust and momentum erode.

Unfortunately, our leadership didn't resolve the conflict—they deepened it. Without unified direction or honest dialogue, more chaos followed.

What I've learned—and will continue to practice—is this: leadership starts with humility. I openly admit I don't have all the answers. I encourage my team to speak what's on their minds because silence never solves problems. For the volume issue, I first stopped the bleeding by adding short-term help. Then, I engaged the team to uncover root causes, identify true priorities, and carve out time to redesign the processes because every conflict holds an opportunity—not just to resolve the issue—but to become better leaders in the process.

Chia-Li,

In today's fast moving economy, leadership often is 'ahead of their skis' so to speak resulting in what you experience. A major solution here is to find out who is in charge and I like your ship analogy which definitely a part of my early learning pathway. We need to know the Captain of the Ship so that the leadership can align. The mixed message situation will not get better without a leader who takes overall responsibility for the organization. As organizations grow, the responsibilities on the senior leaders go up astronomically. Therefore it is easier to work in the business rather than on the business (Michael Gerber e-Myth Revisited) due to the lack of time allowed for strategic thinking.

If we can put some MasterMind sessions in place as we discussed, I think we can uncover some of the problems and help steer the organization in the right direction with the appropriate Captain of the Ship!

Jim

List and explain three areas in which you observed workplace conflict.

Based on the mind tools chart, the most common instances of conflict I have witnessed in my professional career are Clashes of Ego, lack of honesty and openness, and clash of values. Clash of Egos is certainly the most prominent in my experience and can be seen at all levels in an organization. We all want to feel proud of what we've accomplished and feel like we are masters of one thing or another, but there are some who take their pride beyond what is appropriate in the work place. It's bad enough when there is one ego to contend with, but it's worse when there are two competing for the same point of pride. Lack of honesty and openness is also conflict kindling. It stems from a lack of trust and leads to uncertainty and rumors.  I've also witnessed a fair amount of clash of values, either between leaders and followers or between employees and the organizational values. A values mismatch often means that employees are completing work that goes against how they see themselves. 

What did leadership do when these conflicts arose?

• Ego: I've seen this handled properly and poorly. In the proper handling of it, leadership had a conversation with the ego maniac, reset expectations, and even provided 3rd party coaching to help the employee improve. In the poorly managed examples, egos are let be to run amok despite warnings that there is an ego killing the culture.
• Lack of Honesty and Openness: This is a tough one to resolve and I'm not sure that I can think of an example of when leadership solved this successfully. The closest thing that I can think of is when a disinterested 3rd party interviewed a team of people who didn't feel like they could express themselves. I think that is a short term solution.
• Values Mismatch: In my experience this usually ends up with someone being terminated. I don't think that's a bad solution in most cases, especially if the values mismatch is between company and employee. The company likely will not change and the employee will likely be happier elsewhere.

What did you learn from these conflicts and what will you do to prevent them in the future?

• Ego: From my experience with Egos, I've learned that a little bit of hubris is fine but if your Ego is so big that no one else's opinion matters, then you're hurting the business and probably the employees that make up the business. As a leader, I think it's important to check a super-ego soon after you've identified one. Don't tolerate behavior that hurts the team and have direct conversations about your expectations for their behavior.
• Lack of Honesty and Openness: this is driven mostly by fear and can only be resolved by leadership and management at every step of the ladder encouraging open conversation and providing the safety to have those discussions. I allow my teams to talk about anything that is irking them in our team meetings and offer the same opportunities during our weekly one on ones. I try to give honest, direct feedback about their work that is wrapped in encouraging language.
• Values Mismatch: Having your team members build goals and think about where they want to be in 3 to 5 years is a good way to prevent a values mismatch from boiling over. If people are thinking about where they want to be in the future, they are more likely to move on of their own accord before the discord of the values mismatch becomes untenable. If I have a values mismatch with one of my directs, I'll look for the areas in which we share common ground and build a relationship off of that. If the mismatch is not something we can overcome, you can also look for opportunities for a lateral move to another supervisor if possible.

@jollychialichien-com Thanks for sharing your thoughts about humility. I'll be interested to hear how your leadership style based in humility works to change the attitudes of your peers and I would bet that there are people in followership roles who are thirsty for humble leadership. Your comment that "collaboration became a political risk instead of a shared value," stems from a lack of trust which, as we've discussed over and again in this course, is the root of a dysfunctional team. Are you feeling comfortable enough in role to discuss the trust issues amongst the leadership team?

Managing Workplace Conflict

1. Areas of Workplace Conflict:

a. Communication Breakdown: In my experience, one of the primary areas where workplace conflict arises is due to communication breakdown. This often happens when team members have different communication styles or when information is not shared transparently. For instance, emails may be misinterpreted, or important updates might not reach everyone in time, leading to misunderstandings and frustration.

b. Role Ambiguity: Another common area of conflict is role ambiguity, where team members are unclear about their responsibilities. This can lead to overlapping duties or tasks being neglected altogether. In one scenario, two colleagues both assumed they were responsible for a project deliverable, resulting in duplicated efforts and wasted resources.

c. Resource Allocation: Conflicts also arise when there is competition for limited resources, such as budget, time, or personnel. I've observed situations where departments vie for the same resources, leading to tension and a lack of cooperation. This often results in a competitive rather than collaborative environment.

2. Leadership Actions:

When these conflicts arose, leadership played a crucial role in addressing them. For communication breakdowns, leaders facilitated workshops to improve interpersonal skills and encouraged open dialogue. They implemented regular team meetings to ensure everyone was on the same page and fostered an environment where feedback was welcomed.

In cases of role ambiguity, leadership took steps to clearly define roles and responsibilities. They updated job descriptions and established a system for accountability, ensuring that each team member knew their specific tasks and how they contributed to the overall goals.

For resource allocation conflicts, leaders encouraged cross-departmental collaboration. They organized resource planning sessions where departments could discuss their needs and find mutually beneficial solutions. This approach helped in building a culture of shared goals and teamwork.

3. Lessons Learned and Future Prevention:

From these conflicts, I learned the importance of proactive communication and clarity. To prevent similar conflicts in the future, I plan to:

• Enhance Communication Channels: I will advocate for the use of collaborative tools and platforms that ensure everyone has access to the necessary information and can communicate effectively.

• Clarify Roles and Responsibilities: I will work with my team to ensure that everyone understands their role and how it fits into the larger picture. Regular check-ins will help in addressing any confusion early on.

• Promote Collaborative Resource Management: I will encourage a culture of collaboration where resources are shared and allocated based on collective priorities. By fostering a team-first mentality, we can ensure that resources are utilized efficiently and effectively.

By taking these steps, I believe we can create a more harmonious and productive workplace where conflicts are minimized, and collaboration thrives.

I forgot to add my paper to the Talkboard reply

@rob-hughes You are correct, trust is not there. However, trust is earned. We (or I) need to walk the talk. It will take time to build trust. So far, I can confidently tell you that the trust from my direct reports is not there yet, but I have the trust of the people working for my direct report. I just get to know each person. It will take a while to earn the trust of my direct reports, because each of them told me that they can do my job.

@rob-hughes Rob, when there is a lack of honesty, I believe that is incumbent on the leader to meet with the person to find out the reason why. There are many reasons for why someone may be dishonest which stems from a character flaw to a culture that allows it. The leader can help with the solution by identifying what is occurring so that the person doing it doesn't think they are getting away with this and to come up with solutions that cause it to diminish or disappear.

Jim

@infoprestiziainsurance-com John, excellent identification of problems and offering solutions in your paper. It is interesting that communication comes up so often as a source of resolving challenges within an organization. It is so important so why is it a problem for most organizations? I think that the fast paced world in which we work that it takes time from getting things done that it is often ignored. If it is addressed, some of the communication solutions become time wasted rather than fixing the problem so people are resistant to sessions that allow for communication. We can fix this by making our sessions meaningful to those who attend.

Jim

Thanks for the feedback.  I do agree with your comments.  Thanks.