How to have a good fight

Conflict in the workplace is natural—even necessary. Colleagues who challenge one another’s thinking tend to consider a richer range of options, which ultimately lead to better business decisions. What surprises me though is how quickly disagreement takes on a personal tone. And I think we need to put a stop to it—whether it involves our colleagues or within our other stakeholder groups. How do we do that? Mitigate interpersonal conflict is the key and you can do this in a number of ways—think about these*:

Have a common Vision

Have a common value system

Use humour

Focus on the facts

Multiply the alternatives

Create common goals

Balance the power structure

Seek consensus with qualification—that means someone has to make a decision at some point. The talking can’t go on forever.

Now go find someone to have a good fight with ……..

Want me to talk about any of these in more detail – let me know.  Hey come to think about it want me to talk about anything else let me know.

(* With thanks to HBR, 1997 and 2001)