Bubbling Conflict
Scenario
Negativity is escalating between members in the health and wellness department. Behaviors include showing up late or not at all to meetings, talking negatively about one another, and challenging decisions and actions. Their work is suffering and the conflict is escalating. Carole, Assistant HR Director has conducted interviews and has decided to facilitate a conversation between team members related to getting the issues out in the open and beginning to rebuild trust. Ultimately, she wants the team to work together and commit to positive action.
The Strategy
Carole selected the strategy of Grounding in the Building Community section to begin the meeting, set the tone, and establish respectful listening. She used the Interest-based Strategy in the Developing Shared Understanding section to surface issues and move team members to interests and options. She presented them to the team within the agenda so they knew the structure of the conversation.
The Payoff
The Grounding helped each person feel more comfortable and establish a pattern of speaking without interruptions or being challenged by others. Each person was given had ample time, and Carole solidified her facilitation role by staying true to the process and keeping the team on task.
The Interest-based Strategy along with communication skills such as paraphrasing and summarizing allowed each person to express their feelings and individual perspective of the situation, interests, and ideas for working together in the future. Individuals left the meeting feeling listened to and with more understanding of how they each contributed to the situation. The team members agreed to actions to improve how they treat one another and work together in the future.
Reflection
Carole acknowledges that this session is a good beginning. She recognizes individuals will need processing time and more healthy meeting processes. She commits to continue to work with the team and will also assist the facilitator in designing future productive collaboration.
