Team Conflicts in the actual and virtual worlds

To Avoid team conflicts in remote work, it is a difficult task to do. Conflict is inevitable because it’s what happens when two or more people disagree on a certain outcome. Not all conflicts are bad and ought to be eliminated as some conflicts are good and lead to a better outcome. As such conflicts occur when it comes to team work and between team mates. It has always taken place in face to face communication between colleagues working together.

In addition to that, with the out burst of the COVID-19 crisis all employees were forced to work remotely and therefore all communications are shifted from on site to off site. In this case, managers and employees solve all disputes and disagreements over the emails, texts and not through face to face communications. Hence, this has also created a room for team conflicts in remote work which are faced by managers worldwide.

What causes team conflicts?

1. Lack of information leads to team conflicts:

Despite all the virtual meetings and the online platforms, lack of information occurs in the remote work environment. This is due to lack of immediate, quick access to the co-workers and the manager whenever a question pops up in your mind.

2. Lack of face to face communication and presence of misunderstandings:

When there is virtual communication like online meetings, there are missing pieces of data that come from facial expression and body language. Therefore, misunderstanding messages is a common threat in remote work. As employees misinterpret each other’s intentions, actions and words and there’s no confrontation. Hence, the conflicts will easily go out of hand because assumptions are easily made and conflicts arise due to these assumptions.

3. Lack of transparency and clarity of division of responsibilities:

Moreover, assigning tasks and dividing responsibilities can be a source of conflict between employees in virtual work. If the tasks aren’t appropriately assigned and clearly communicated, so this causes conflicts among co-workers. It also affects the overall productivity of the team.

When team conflicts are left unresolved, it will negatively impact the well-being and the mental health of the employees. So this will decrease productivity and take up so much energy and concentration.

Five ways in which you can avoid team conflicts in remote work?

 
1.Over-communicating:

Given the circumstances that there are virtual communication and lack of face to face interactions, it’s essential to over-communicate at this point. As a manager, you should check on your team regularly not only on the work but also the personal level. This would create a room for the employees to share what’s going on in their lives. So to avoid team conflicts, managers should schedule both group and individual meetings.

2. Set clear responsibilities to avoid team conflicts:

Avoiding any team conflicts that might be a result of lack of information or lack of clear boundaries and divided responsibilities. Holding weekly calls and monthly reviews can keep everyone accountable of what’s going on in the company. In this case employees won’t complain about lack of transparency and lack of clarity when it comes to the division of work.

3. Be proactive:

Since that the virtual communication and remote work tend to be a ground for misunderstandings, missed signals and miscommunication between the manager and the team members on one hand and the team members together on the other hand. Therefore being proactive is of huge importance.

4. Regular virtual meetings:

If managers want to avoid conflicts at remote work, they will have virtual meetings on regular basis. A way to stay in touch with your team on one hand. On the other hand relationships are formed between team members. The virtually held team meetings don’t have to be about work all the time. As some meeting could just be about chitchatting about different topics or  be about each member introducing himself to other team members.

5. Celebrate wins:

Always have a room for awards and celebrating wins even if they are small ones. Create opportunities for the team to celebrate together their achievements and to receive awards when necessary. Such activities help strengthen team appreciation and avoid team conflict.

If you want to prevent conflicts among your team members, follow the 5 ways in which you can avoid team conflicts.