I am doing an on line management course and the current topic is conflict. I have been given a scenario where there is a company that has historic dislike between marketing and finance teams. The question posed is what you could do to identify the historical conflict/tension amongst the teams? What steps you would take to successfully resolve the tensions/conflicts between the teams and a brief explanation as to the rationale for each step. How would you evaluate the outcomes? I would appreciate some tips as to how to go about this.

The Team Doc Says…

That’s a great business scenario to test how you would resolve a conflict. It is a situation that would really occur in the work environment.

Your first step would be an assessment in the form of interviews with the team members. Your questions for this interview would include things like “How well does the [other] department respond to requests for assistance?” You’ll want to delve into a discussion with the team members to find out the underlying reason for the conflict. Use open-ended questions — who, what, why, how — to get the most information.

Once you’ve found the reason(s), you would detail an action plan for resolving the conflict. It may be as simple as regular communication or it may be complicated such as deep rooted issues between the leaders of the teams.

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