When you have people, you have conflict. That’s not fatalistic; it’s realistic! Diversity in thought, experience, and skills is the spice of a good team, but it also tends to breed internal disagreement. And that’s not necessarily bad. What does have negative consequences is letting internal strife and struggle spiral out of control or become destructive instead of constructive. There is no single right way for handling conflict within project teams, but there are wrong ways: ignoring it, or on the other extreme, firing people. What’s in the middle?

Problems tend to fall into two main categories: technical and personnel. If there is an issue, you have to ask:

• Is this a skill set issue?
  • Does this individual have the technical capabilities to implement the project or work on this team?
• Or is it a personality issue?
  • Is this a behavioural problem?

Here’s the good news: my career has spanned 40 years, and I’ve seen very few people let go for technical reasons. Most people, if properly managed, mentored, led, and trained, step up to the plate. Even when circumstances change, as they are wont to do in project situations, if people know what is expected of them, they bring their A+ game.

Behaviour is a different beast. You might have people grumbling about loathing this project, disliking this person or that, even hating the company. You ask: how long has this individual been on the project? What is their knowledge or subject matter expertise? If we bring someone else in, what is the learning curve? This is an important consideration, because technical skills are important, but culture is huge. Would a new person fit in? Would the team let a new person fit in?

In some cases, I’ve taken the person at the centre of a lot of strife and had him/her report directly to me. I let them do their thing; they take their vitriol out on me. It’s fine. I’m not there to win friends. As long as individuals do their job, we can accomplish objectives and move ourselves forward. The point here is that a lot of people who may be causing or contributing to trouble can perform and will. When they’re given the opportunity, when someone recognizes their skills and expects that they can do high-level work, they do tend to step up too.

The key is to be fair. A team member may not like you personally. Who cares? So you won’t get a beer with him after work. But if he regards you as fair, honest, and consistent, then he’ll work. That tends to resolve the issue. When the team sees this person performing and trying to mend fences, they allow that to happen. Most people want the project to succeed, and if they have to bend a little backwards or sideways to make that happen, they usually do.

People don’t join a team with the intention of doing poor work or causing trouble. The vast majority just wants to do their jobs; they want the project to succeed. A team’s ability to handle conflict is directly related to its ability to make decisions and achieve goals. When a leader fosters an atmosphere of respect, trust, and, above all, effective communication, it will help them pull together and get the job done.