Constructive vs. Destructive Conflict

When I work with Agile teams on their interpersonal skills and team mastery, the subject of conflict is always a 'hot potato', to use a weird english phrase 🥔 . Conflict in the workplace is inevitable, but it isn't always a bad thing 😅 ! Being in SLT and heading up Agile Delivery teams, I've experienced conflict as a great way to work through important problems and issues. Equally, I've seen it divide teams and negatively impact collaboration and morale 😩 .

Traditionally, conflict was seen as dysfunctional and a way to avoid problems. If teams are struggling to resolve or manage conflict, we need to look at how it's manifesting. If conflict becomes divisive, not constructive or simply avoided 🙄 , we need to work through the issues being faced, and move the needle towards an environment for constructive conflict within the workplace 🙌 . See below 👇 for some thought-starters to get the conversations going around conflict in your workplace.