When Conflict Jeopardizes Success 

Kimberly Douglas • Mar 16, 2015

Let’s just assume for a moment that your team has been working very hard on improving the creativity and collaboration among one another, and that you have found great success through your efforts. Now, you could really be effective if it weren’t for that other team, department, or business unit messing things up. Why can’t they get their act together? It sure would be easier if you didn’t have to interact with them at all. But that’s not possible, is it? So what can you do?

Often, you’ll find that there is a lot of very unproductive conflict at the edges, where the work of your team bleeds over into the work of other teams. And with the increase in matrix organizations— where the line blurs between the projects for which your group is responsible versus mine—this situation will only be on the rise. Therefore, it’s important to be aware of examples of inter-team, and what can be done to resolve it.

One such example involves a session bringing together the 50 senior most leaders of the IT organization for a large financial services company: something that had never been done before. One of the IT business goals for this fiscal year was to “Leverage Technology as a Strategic Business Tool.” The infighting among the departments had reached such intolerable levels that it was severely jeopardizing the success of several very large, costly IT projects that the business desperately needed in order to remain competitive, and they understood that teamwork is one of the most critical elements for success in meeting the needs of the lines of business and the customers.

Each of the attendees received pre-work assessments in which they were asked to measure the current level of team effectiveness and the alignment of the strategic priorities across the entire IT organization. The IT team as a whole was only rated “very effective” 6% of the time versus 34% for the team of which each participant was a member versus 57% for the team they managed. The comments accompanying these results told overwhelmingly about the lack of coordination, cooperation, and communication between teams—and how this was adversely impacting the ability for IT to optimally perform.

Two key sections of the session agenda were especially effective in positively impacting the perceptions that came out of this gathering. On the first day of this two-day meeting, a diversity exercise was conducted to help the team learn more about each other, see their colleagues as people, and improve their ability to value and capitalize on the different thinking styles that existed within the team. When it was time for the people who most identified as analytical, logical thinkers, to gather in one area, there was a lot of movement to this spot. When the call came for those whose strength was in planning and organization, again, a large number of people gathered, in a very organized, orderly manner.

However, when it came time for those with interpersonal skills to come together, no one moved! Out of a group of 50 people, no one had self-identified as having strong interpersonal skills and an aptitude for teamwork. This indicated that those who did feel they possessed those strengths wouldn’t want to let anyone in the company know it. This is the consequence of undervaluing interpersonal skills: they go underground. In our next post, we’ll discuss how a leader can shift the team environment to allow for the reemergence of these and other skills that will help the team to shine.

Let's talk! Reach me by email or phone: 770-989-7030.

leader standing in from of questioning team
By Kimberly Douglas 24 Apr, 2023
Are high potential leaders naturally expected to know how to lead teams? According to HBR's researchers analyzing their High Potential Leadership Program, more than 30% cited leading teams as a core challenge. Kimberly Douglas, CEO of FireFly Facilitation offers her a free e-book to help jump-start leading teams for your leadership program and can guide you through the rough patches to help build team effectiveness and your team into a higher performing one.
Roadmap cover page to High Performance Teams ebook Kimberly Douglas
14 Apr, 2023
Leading teams was the #1 challenge for 30% of the High Potential program attendees, as cited by researchers of Harvard Business School's High Potential Program over 20 years. Kimberly Douglas, CEO of FireFly Facilitation, offers a download to her e-book Roadmap to Building High Performance Teams and guides leaders on missing the road's potholes.
Tsunami wave of excitement for responses from ChatGPT and Kimberly Douglas discussion.
By Kimberly Douglas 08 Feb, 2023
Kimberly Douglas shares her fascinating discussion with the artificial intelligence program Chat GPT on the important topic of team effectiveness. In addition, to Kimberly's question as to what data supports the importance of team effectiveness, the new program shares research that validates the critical necessity of working as a team for business success.
By Kimberly Douglas 12 Dec, 2022
Strategic Planning is a critical part of an organization's success. It results in creating a mission, vision, values, and priorities. Kimberly Douglas, CEO of FireFly Facilitation and expert facilitator in strategic planning, can guide your organization through its strategic review and planning session. In this newsletter, she identifies deliverables and 3 key points that will maximize the ROI of everyone's time. Also in this newsletter is a free download of her Strategic Planning e-book where she recommends 5 key changes every team should make to their next annual strategic planning session.
Show More
Share by: