I am interested on your thoughts about ” The team working together.” How can you keep it simple but still hear everyone’s opinion without bad conflicts?

The Team Doc Says…

Every team has team members who are vocal and those that aren’t. To find the balance and make sure every team member’s voice gets heard, you can institute some structured processes into the communication methods for your team. You’ll need to do this deliberately and plan ahead for it to work.

For starters, it would be a good idea to identify what team member has the most expertise in what topic. That way when a topic is up for discussion you can make sure that team member contributes.

There are several methods you can use to ensure you get a contribution from each team member. Here are three you could try.

• Collect information before the discussion via email or one-on-one interaction.
• Use brainwriting to help those team members who a shy about speaking up in a meeting.
• Use one-on-one partnering during a meeting to solicit ideas.

No matter what type of team you are working in, conflict is inevitable. The problem is that most people consider conflict in teams to be a bad thing. Conflict is not bad for a team. Unresolved conflict is what will derail even the best of teams. So your key to ensuring there are no “bad conflicts” is to make sure that they are addressed and resolved in a timely manner.

What other suggestions do you have? Please leave a comment.

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3. Team Leader and Team Member Conflicts Can Be Sticky
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5. 30 Minute Meetings Need Structure for Success