Step 7
Leverage Strategies to Develop Teams and Deal With Conflict
Overview
• Follow the stages of team development.
• Recognize behaviors that enhance or hinder effectiveness.
• Identify and manage difficult participants.
Effective groups don’t just happen. Any time a work group is formed, individuals bring their own preconceived thoughts and beliefs to the table. Depending on the organization, there may be additional group dynamics at work, such as norms and organizational culture. The size of the group, whether it is formal or informal, and the type of leadership also affect the group.
Facilitators need to know enough about the group to maximize group participation, productivity, and satisfaction; they also need to have a solid understanding of people, groups, facilitating styles, and the stages of team development.
Stages of Team Development
Teams often generate a tremendous amount of positive energy when they are first formed. Members are excited, motivated, and ready to roll up their sleeves and tackle tasks immediately. As individuals join together, the group takes on a new life of its own. Groups can even go through stages of development comparable to the stages of individual growth: infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Each stage has its own characteristics and requirements, and each builds on the preceding phases.
Although the stages of development are sequentially predictable, each group is unique in how it progresses and regresses through these stages. Some phases can be more painful than others; sometimes groups get stuck in a particular stage and cannot advance.
Although numerous classifications of group development stages exist, Bruce Tuckman and Mary Jane Jensen (1997) have identified five stages that capture strategies for dealing with group conflict:
1. forming
2. storming
3. norming
4. performing
5. adjourning.
Forming
During this stage, group members tend to be extremely polite. They seek guidance and may be reluctant to participate. Serious topics and expression of personal feelings are avoided. At this stage, the group needs to get acquainted, share personal information, and begin to develop relationships (the acquainters discussed in step 3 are good tools for this stage). Members should explore their similarities and orient themselves toward the task they’ve been assigned. To grow to the next stage, group members must be willing to confront threatening topics and risk the possibility of conflict.
Facilitators can support forming by:
• planning introductions, sharing members’ skills, background, and interests
• reviewing the agenda and stating the desired outcomes
• using warm-up activities
• soliciting and listening to expectations from the participants
• establishing ground rules
• agreeing on decision-making methods.
POINTER
Establish ground rules. Ground rules detail the standards of behavior that the group expects of each participant. The group should develop the ground rules and can add to them as needed. The facilitator’s role is to enforce the ground rules, but often the group self-polices.
Storming
As groups move from the forming stage, they may ask questions such as:
• Who is responsible for what?
• What are the rules?
• What are the “hidden agendas?”
• Are there “invisible committees?”
During this stage, some of the initial excitement from the beginning of the meeting has worn off and the reality of the tasks at hand sets in. Personalities begin to emerge; boundaries are tested, power struggles or conflicts develop, and cliques form. Some members may remain silent, whereas others attempt to dominate. As a facilitator, you are not spared from the conflict of this stage. Participants may question or test your authority. Groups often fail at this stage because they encounter conflict they cannot resolve. Participants may feel frustration or anger with the team’s progress and may begin to wonder if the group can achieve its goals.
Conflict at this stage is normal; in fact, if a group is so polite that they try to avoid any conflict (and therefore this stage of group development), they are less likely to accomplish their task. Avoidance usually results in more significant conflict later in the meeting or after it ends, which is difficult to resolve.
To grow from this stage to the next, group members must be willing to give up personal preferences in favor of the requirements of the total group. The group members need to listen, avoid defensive attitudes, confront others in a positive way, and be willing to influence and be influenced. Keep in mind that not every conflict is harmful—conflict can be healthy!
At this point in the process, facilitators can help guide the group by addressing the storming issues of the group, modeling appropriate behavior, and promoting good conflict-resolution processes, including:
• separating problems from the individuals
• not taking storming issues personally
• enforcing ground rules
• acting as the process expert.
Norming
When groups move from storming to norming, they begin merging into a cohesive team with more cooperation and understanding. The group has negotiated roles, successfully manages differences of opinion, develops both written and unwritten rules, recognizes the need for interdependence, and masters decision-making mechanics. The group is now ready to tackle the task and feels more confident about its ability to achieve its goals. Storming sometimes overlaps with norming; if new tasks are introduced, requiring participants to demonstrate new strengths and weaknesses, conflicts may emerge again. Hopefully, each time this happens the group will be able to resolve with increasing ease and efficiency, as participants get to know each other and understand how to work together.
Unfortunately, many groups do not make it to this stage. If a group has not established positive relationships during its early stages, or if conflict remains unresolved, these factors will impede the group’s ability to make effective decisions.
POINTER
Establishing trust is critical to reducing conflict in groups; this is especially true with virtual meetings. Be sure to establish and follow ground rules to help foster a respectful environment.
At this point in the group development process, the facilitator should:
• Observe emerging norms.
• Encourage the expression of differences positively.
• Encourage group cohesiveness.
• Facilitate negotiation.
Performing
The move from the norming to performing is characterized by a high level of trust. Members are recognized for, and encouraged to use, their unique talents; they also understand one another’s strengths and weaknesses and how each contributes to the group. The team is typically able to resolve or even prevent conflicts, and members may also feel positive about the group’s progress. Once the group has reached this stage, it’s possible for much of the work to be accomplished and a consensus reached.
Paradoxically, when a group is highly cohesive and long lived, it is also susceptive to “group think.” Group think occurs when individual members suppress their objections and criticisms so that the group can reach agreement with minimal conflict. As a result, the group will make riskier, less thoughtful decisions.
Facilitators should support the group by:
• guiding the group through effective processes to accomplish the desired outcomes
• avoiding the temptation to mediate unless the group is truly stuck and floundering.
Adjourning
During this last stage, the group prepares to wrap up. In a facilitated session, groups typically adjourn at the scheduled time or once the work is complete. Groups that meet regularly over a long period of time may disband because their work is complete, because the company’s needs have changed, or because group members no longer feel challenged by the task. As the team adjourns, members may feel satisfied with the work accomplished; although as this stage approaches, some team members may lose interest, thinking the bulk of the work has already been done.
To aid groups through these developmental stages, facilitators can:
• Establish a climate that encourages and recognizes participation.
• Make sure tasks are completed.
• Listen intently, synthesize, and restate various viewpoints.
• “Take the group’s pulse” to understand and recognize where members are and where they need to be.
• Describe what is going on and what is unspoken.
• Find areas of agreement and common threads.
• Design and apply a variety of techniques and processes to encourage creativity and productivity.
• Be flexible.
Research suggests that virtual teams do not develop exactly as in-person teams. According to Russell Haines (2014), the virtual context—including the limitations of using phones or computers to communicate—increases pressure to conform. Trust develops as the team successfully makes progress toward its goal, and, as the team continues to achieve, the trust bonds increase. To help virtual teams develop healthy dynamics, Haines suggests facilitators set clear, specific goals; help participants speak freely to each other; and, if groups will work together again in the future, encourage participants to value the team development.
Recognize Behaviors That Enhance or Hinder Group Effectiveness
How do facilitators determine exactly whether participants are either increasing or decreasing the group’s effectiveness throughout the stages of team development? Successful facilitators follow these phases:
• Phase 1: Observe Behaviors
• Phase 2: Track Frequency of Behaviors
• Phase 3: Determine Whether It Is Appropriate to Mediate
• Phase 4: Describe the Behavior and Provide Feedback.
Phase 1: Observe Behaviors
The ground rules established at the start of the facilitation session outline one set of agreed-upon behaviors. Participants displaying behavior counter to those ground rules are most likely being ineffective or disruptive. Tool 7-1 summarizes behaviors common in a typical group in three broad categories:
• Task functions—Facilitate the group in selecting, defining, and solving a common problem.
• Maintenance functions—Alter or maintain the way in which group members interact.
• Individual functions—May help or hinder the group’s progress.
TOOL 7-1
SUMMARY OF TASK, MAINTENANCE, AND INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORS
| Functions | Behavior | Definition | |
| Task Activity | Initiating | Proposing tasks or goals, defining the problem, suggesting a procedure or ideas for solving the problem | |
| Information seeking | Requesting facts, seeking relevant data about a problem, asking for suggestions or ideas | ||
| Clarifying | Clearing up confusion, indicating alternatives, giving examples | ||
| Summarizing | Restating suggestions, synthesizing ideas, offering a decision or direction for the group to accept or reject | ||
| Consensus testing | Setting up straw men to see if the group is near conclusion, checking to see how much agreement has been reached | ||
| Maintenance Activity | Encouraging | Being friendly, recognizing others | |
| Expressing group feelings | Sensing moods, feelings, relationships with others, sharing feelings | ||
| Harmonizing | Reconciling disagreements, reducing tensions, getting others to explore their differences | ||
| Compromising | Admitting error, disciplining oneself to maintain group cohesion | ||
| Gatekeeping | Trying to keep communication channels open, suggesting procedures or inducing discussions of group problems | ||
| Setting standards | Expressing standards to achieve, applying standards to evaluate the group and its output, evaluating frequently | ||
| Coaching and consulting | Working with group members and management outside the building | ||
| Individual Activity | Blocking | Interfering with group progress by arguing, resisting, disagreeing, or beating a dead horse | |
| Avoiding | Withdrawing from the discussion, daydreaming, doing something else, whispering, leaving the room | ||
| Digressing | Going off the subject, filibustering, discussing personal issues |
When observing participants’ behaviors, it’s important for facilitators to embody a listening mindset. Listening shows an interest in the person who is speaking and a respect for others’ experience. When observing your group, listen not only to what is being said but how it is being said.
Facilitators listen actively throughout the meeting, showing a high level of interaction with the speaker, and listen for content, meaning, and feelings. They observe who spoke, exactly what was said, how long the person spoke, at whom individuals look when they speak, who supports whom, any challenges to group leadership, nonverbal communication, side conversations, and lack of participation. Facilitators may ask questions, restate what has been said, summarize positions, or reflect a speaker’s feelings. They may also keep track of the different roles group members play.
Occasionally, meeting participants fail to listen to one another or otherwise demonstrate disruptive behavior that requires the facilitator to interrupt a group’s discussion or activity because it’s no longer effective or appropriate. This means the facilitator must pay careful attention to the group’s overall demeanor, as well as the interactions among individual group members.
POINTER
Groups and individual participants will exhibit behavior that at times may hinder the group. As a facilitator, do not take this behavior personally! Observe the group and participant behaviors and intervene when necessary to resolve conflicts in a healthy manner to keep the group on track.
Phase 2: Track Frequency of Individual and Group Behaviors
Many facilitators use checklists to track the behaviors—both good and bad—of group members. This allows the facilitator to provide accurate feedback at the end of a meeting. Keeping track of behaviors can make criticism and feedback specific, objective, and, therefore, easier to take. Although charting is a helpful technique, facilitators should get the participants’ permission to use it—especially in the early stages when participants may not completely trust each other.
You may want to use Tool 7-2 to track the behaviors of the group you are facilitating. Notice there is one column for group members’ names and one column to track the general behavior of the group. During the session, tally how many times an individual or the group engages in a particular behavior. For example, group members may feel that, as a group, they interrupt each other too much. The facilitator may be asked to note that one aspect and report to the team at the end of the meeting. Facilitators can also use the tallies on this worksheet as a confidence builder by tracking various desirable leadership behaviors and reporting back on them. The chart also records any anti-group roles adopted by individuals.
TOOL 7-2
TRACKING GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIORS
When using this tool, be sure to gain the group’s approval and agreement on how the data will be used and discussed. During the session, tally how many times an individual or the group engages in a particular behavior.
Phase 3: Determine Whether and When to Interrupt
Facilitators often must gently interrupt a group’s activity or discussion, for example to redirect the group’s focus back to the task at hand or to engage passive participants.
Here are four types of mediations:
• asking the group to examine its dynamics and improve its performance
• encouraging member participation
• encouraging problem solving and decision making
• ensuring compliance with procedures, policies, and ground rules established at the beginning of your meeting, or those set by the organization.
POINTER
Charting is a helpful technique to “keep score” of group members’ individual behaviors. This technique attempts to quantify participant contributions and to provide objective feedback to help the group function more efficiently.
These disruptions are intended to alter the flow of events. They may quicken the development of the group, change the course of the discussion, increase the group’s energy, or help the group become more aware of how it is functioning.
Facilitators should not interrupt unless there is reason—for example, when the group wanders off track, when two participants are in conflict, when an individual isn’t participating or is angry, or when a participant becomes autocratic. Timing is everything; depending on what is occurring, facilitators may choose to mediate the issue before, during, or after the meeting.
When you do have to interrupt, knowing how to do so carefully and professionally is a required skill of successful facilitators. Consider these guidelines on how to mediate in a group’s process:
• Describe process obstacles—If nothing is happening, describe the next step and perhaps encourage the contributions of several participants.
• Encourage participation—Begin at the start of the meeting and plan activities to maintain that participation throughout the session.
• Use body language—Engage people by moving closer to the table or particular participants to either support those who are under fire or to quiet down disruptive members.
• Discourage personal attacks—Remind individuals and the group of the ground rules and refocus the discussion on the issue to dissuade personal attacks.
• Suggest a break—End a deadlock or simply reenergize the group. Refreshment breaks are common, but others work just as well, such as moving to small breakout groups for a few minutes or taking a five-minute joke break.
• Summarize—Go over any problems and solutions that the group generated. Groups may get lost in discussion; summarizing helps the group refocus and keep moving.
• Have the group manage the process—Do this as the group matures. Turning over some facilitation duties indicates both trust and respect for the group and its interactions.
• Debrief the group—Examine what is happening. Debriefing requires all group members to reflect on the meeting and is usually done at the end of the session. Debriefing may also be useful at natural breaks in the meeting agenda.
• Search for common threads—If the group is wandering, stop the meeting and ask for the group to search for what the solution or problem definitions have in common.
• Present a straw man—Develop (or suggest that someone develop) a draft problem description or solution during a break. A straw man encourages the group to criticize the plan, attack it, and pull it apart.
• Act stupid—This may help participants who are uninvolved or may not understand what is happening or what someone is saying. These participants may not want to volunteer their ignorance. Ask for clarification of issues, problems, terminology, or anything else that may get in the way of consensus later in the process.
• Get specific—This will help clear up hard-to-grasp issues, problems, and solutions.
Phase 4: Describe Behavior and Provide Feedback
When providing feedback regarding disruptive behaviors, you should be descriptive, specific, and mindful of the needs of the group—not individuals. You need to describe what you privately observed in phase one that led you to interrupt. Remember to always use the ground rules that the group agreed to when explaining your observation and interpretation of the behavior. You are using the ground rules to test your assumptions—so this is not a personal attack, just a professional observation to try and help the group function more efficiently. At this point, test whether the group agrees with the observations.
Keep in mind that group members may see things differently. Ask the group whether you have accurately captured the exchange or behaviors. If you misheard or misinterpreted something—and the group calls you on it—then that is a success! The group is policing themselves and sees things differently than you do.
Once you have provided feedback regarding the disruptive behavior and gained group or individual feedback on your observations, the next step is to help the group decide whether to change the group behavior and ground rules. Remember, your role as a facilitator is to guide the group toward successful decision making. An effective facilitator can maximize participation, productivity, and satisfaction and should focus on managing the decision-making process and supporting the group through the various stages of group development.
Embrace Productive Conflict
Managing disruptive behavior isn’t easy. It’s a challenge that is unique to each facilitator and each group. The key is to recognize the individual and group thought processes occurring and to select the appropriate response or time to intervene.
The phrase “managing conflict” may be a bit of a misnomer when facilitating meetings. Productive meetings don’t necessarily quash conflicts—rather they provide an opportunity to air disagreements and express opinions. The dynamics and synergy result in large leaps forward and generate a plethora of ideas.
To reap the value of conflict, facilitators need to create an environment that allows participants to disagree publicly. In fact, the facilitator’s role is to encourage and protect minority opinions. How do facilitators walk a fine line to encourage conflict and opinions while avoiding destructive conflict? Consider these guidelines:
• Look for shared goals and win–win situations.
• Clarify, sort, and value differences.
• Gain commitment to change attitudes and modes of communication when necessary.
• Openly praise group members who are willing to suggest new and different approaches.
• Analyze why conflicts keep occurring—usually participants aren’t fighting about what they say they are fighting about.
• Encourage individuals to take the initiative to change personally.
• Model the kind of behavior that shows a comfort level with conflict.
When possible, encourage the use of “I” statements rather than “you” statements to depersonalize conflict. Using “I” statements means turning statements from accusations (“you did … ”) into statements of fact or personal feeling (“I felt this way when this happened … ”). Depersonalizing a conflict involves looking at a problem objectively.
POINTER
Anticipate conflicting views, problems, and challenges. Successful facilitators not only spend time anticipating the differing views and issues that may come up during a facilitation session, but they actively plan which facilitation tools and techniques will be most effective to combat these challenges.
Identify and Manage Difficult Participants
Individuals in a group often have their own motivations and agendas. How you react to challenging individuals can either enhance or undermine your credibility and either enhance or disrupt the group processes.
POINTER
There will be times when your judgment as a facilitator may be called into question—when you believe you must act more firmly or leniently than you would like. Don’t let that dissuade you from intervening when the group or individual participants need guidance to get them back on track.
Do not take disruptive behavior personally, even if a participant seems to focus on you. Address the specific behavior of the person in order to suggest it’s not the person who is disruptive, but what is being done or said. For example, rather than saying “You are interrupting our meeting,” say, “I’m having a hard time listening to the group discussion right now. Can the side conversation be postponed until after the meeting?”
Even the best facilitators experience difficult participants. What do you do if you’ve referenced the ground rules, addressed the behavior, patiently waited for the disruptor to settle down, but the behavior still continues? First, there are several actions to avoid, including engaging in an argument, insulting the person, or expressing your anger. Second, try to understand whether the conflict is based on a professional disagreement—such as a difference in opinion over a decision made—or a personality struggle between group members. Professional disagreements are healthy and, if the facilitator can continue to engage the group in productive discussions until the conflict is resolved, may result in a better outcome. Personality problems are more difficult to resolve, however. If there’s a conflict between two people, you may ask that they find time to take it “offline,” meaning outside of the meeting.
A final option is to let the group handle it. The disruptor’s own team members will be distracted and most likely annoyed, at least as much as the facilitator, and may ignore that participant, roll their eyes when they speak, or use other negative reinforcement in an effort to quell the disruptor’s behavior.
Tool 7-3 presents many of the disruptive behaviors you might experience, explains why group members may behave that way, and provides suggestions for handling the disruptive behavior.
TOOL 7-3
IDENTIFYING AND HANDLING DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS
| Behavior | Why It Happens | What to Do | |
| Heckler | Is probably good natured most of the time but is distracted by job or personal problems |
Keep your temper under control. Honestly agree with one idea, then move on to something else. Toss a misstatement of fact to the group to turn down. Talk privately as a last resort to determine what is bothering the person. |
|
| Rambler | One idea leads to another and takes this person miles away from the original point |
When there is a pause for breath, thank them, refocus attention, and move on. In a friendly manner, indicate that “We are a little off subject.” As a last resort, use your agenda timetable. Glance at your watch and say, “Time is limited.” |
|
| Ready Answer | Really wants to help, but makes it difficult by keeping others from participating |
Cut this off tactfully by questioning others. Suggest that “we put others to work.” Ask such people to summarize. It keeps them attentive and capitalizes on their enthusiasm. |
|
| Conversationalist | Side chatter is usually personal in nature but may be related to topic |
Call by name and ask an easy question. Call by name, restate the last opinion expressed, and ask their opinion. Include them in the discussion. |
|
| Personality Problems | Two or more individuals clash, dividing the group into factions and endangering the success of the meeting |
Maximize points of agreement; minimize disagreements. Draw attention to the objective at hand. Pose a direct question to an uninvolved member on the topic. As a last resort, frankly state that personalities should be left out of the discussion. |
|
| Wrong Track | Brings up ideas that are obviously incorrect |
Tactfully make any corrections or solicit someone else’s opinion to help convey the correct information to the group. Say “I see your point, but can we reconcile that with our current situation?” Remember, all group members will hear how you respond to this individual. Your response will either encourage or discourage future participation, so be tactful. |
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| Quiet One | Bored, indifferent, timid, or superior |
Gain interest by asking for their opinion. Question the person next to them. Then ask the quiet one to comment on the view expressed. Compliment this person the first time they contribute. Be sincere. Indicate respect for this person’s experience, then ask for ideas. |
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| Bungler | Lacks the ability to put good ideas into proper order; needs help to convey ideas |
Don’t call attention to the problem. Say “Let me see if I understand what you are saying,” then repeat the ideas more clearly. |
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| Mule | Can’t or won’t see the other side; supports own viewpoint no matter what |
Ask other members of the group to comment on their ideas. They will straighten them out. Remind them that time is short and suggest that they accept the group consensus presently. Indicate your willingness to talk with them later, then follow up. |
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| Talker | Highly motivated, show-off, well informed, or just plain talkative |
Slow this person down with some difficult questions. Say “That’s an interesting point. Now let’s see what the rest think about it.” Draw on their knowledge, but relay to the group. In general, for all overly talkative folks, let the group take care of them as much as possible. |
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| Griper | Has a pet peeve, gripes for the sake of complaining, or has a legitimate complaint |
Point out that the objective at hand is to operate as efficiently and cooperatively as possible under the present circumstances. Indicate that you will discuss the personal problems privately at a later date. Have another member of the group respond to the complaint. |
In general, facilitator tactics for handling disruptive behavior should include:
• avoiding one-on-one power struggles
• remaining unbiased, calm, and unemotional
• helping participants define the facts, the supporting evidence, and any assumptions
• using good-natured humor
• asking for clarification, or summarizing the issue to confirm
• connecting with the participant on a personal level
• broadening the participation of the rest of the group
• protecting participants as needed using a separate parking lot to postpone issues until they are appropriate for discussion
• recognizing the individual’s point and then either gaining the viewpoints of others or taking the discussion offline
• creating a safe environment for discussion.
The Next Step
Many meetings today take place virtually, rather than in-person. The next chapter outlines the many benefits of this ever-progressing technology as well as the unique challenges a virtual facilitator faces.