Stop, Collaborate and Listen

  • Published
  • By Maj. Michael Tomm
  • 436th Contracting Squadron commander
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  One of the greatest weapons I have in my arsenal is teamwork.

Teamwork's interaction of multiple agents, or in my case base customers, and their combined endeavors generate an effect that is greater than the sum of their individual effort producing synergy. A team of focused and motivated individuals can indeed become a powerful tool for any leader.

But as is often the case with power, an enemy always lurks, seeking to wrestle that power away and teamwork's enemy, more often than not, is conflict. Nothing is more destructive to a team's success than conflict, and it can strike from any avenue of approach. I think some conflict is to be expected, but if conflict is allowed to remain, it will prevent any team from reaching its ultimate goal.

Responsibility rests with the team leader to ensure that conflict serves its purpose and then is removed so the team can stay on track. The avenue conflict uses to disrupt is nowhere near as vital as the approach leadership takes to manage it.

There are many different ways to approach conflict management. The approach usually reflects the attitude of those wanting to bring resolution to conflict. Many times the style of conflict management depends on the level of assertiveness of the team, the amount of cooperation they are willing to give to those with whom the conflict lies, and the value they place on resolving the conflict. Teams must make sure they choose the right pattern, because no single conflict management style is fitting for every conflict in every occasion, at any time in any situation.

It has been my experience that compromise is the conflict management style most widely used. However, that does not necessarily mean that compromise is the most appropriate method to use, because some conflicts are simply more important than others, and we need to use our time, energy and resources carefully and productively to resolve them. I have found that collaboration is the best pattern to use. This pattern may take longer and be more complex, but it allows both sides of the conflict to gain what they must have without giving up something they desire. It is always the abandonment of that desired state that makes the compromise pattern the less favored of the two.

Power remains a necessary part of any group process, but power can become one of the biggest sources of conflict. Power in group conflict manifests itself in many different forms and although we all hold power in different degrees, we translate that power into different currencies, or values, when we trade, spend, or use it in groups. These degrees of power are varied and each has their own positive and negative influences on the group because groups are systems of interdependent relationships and every part affects every other part, even those who withdraw and refuse to participate are exercising power and influencing the group interaction.

So how do we proceed in managing conflict when one of conflict's greatest sources of strength is such an integral part of the team process? The answer lies in the transfer of power through team member collaboration. This is the process where the leader or expert fills the role of teacher and mentor and passes their knowledge on to an apprentice on the team. In this setting an expert teaches and then assists one or more novices as they attempt to learn the leader's role.

This method is most successful where the expert demonstrates to the learners how to perform, then allows the apprentice to imitate those behaviors with the master observing and providing coaching. Individualized coaching provides assistance at the most critical level -- the skill level just beyond what the teacher could accomplish by themselves. The advantage of this approach is the practical application and coaching given to trainees. With the right leader in place the benefits certainly outweigh the associated risks, because the teaching process includes additional modeling as necessary, corrective feedback, and reminders, all intended to render the apprentice's performance increasingly similar to that of the master's.

Eventually the leader fades into the background, providing support as necessary, as the apprentice begins to confidently practice the newly learned strategies competently on his own. Although there will surely be setbacks and mistakes the expert must allow the apprentice to endure those as part of the process. Then, most importantly, they allow the apprentice to stand on their own as the apprentice becomes more skilled through the repetition of this process, the master 'fades' continually providing feedback and instruction until the apprentice is, ideally, independently performing the skill at a level approximating that of the master.

So are you a team member? One that collaborates, one that leads and shares the power?