While diverse opinions are crucial for positive outcomes, conflicts within teams can quickly suppress productivity.

Most productive teams have people with diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and points of view. This makes conflict inevitable, but not necessarily bad. As long as it is resolved respectfully, intelligently, and effectively, it can positively impact the outcome of any project or goal.

That’s where conflict resolution comes in. It is important to utilize appropriate conflict management styles when encountering different situations. Let's take a closer look.

1. The Accommodating Style

Team meetings and collaboration among coworkers

Accommodating is an approach in which one party completely satisfies the other, even if it means sacrificing something for themselves.

If you have an accommodating personality, this often means that you are willing to set aside your own needs to bring peace to the situation.

People with accommodating styles desire to please and are motivated by the need for approval—or to see others happy. The accommodating behavior comes to the fore when the relationship is more important than an outcome, or when addressing an area outside of someone’s control or responsibility.

Pros:

  • It allows you to build your cooperation skills.
  • This approach can work very well in collective decision-making, for gaining more perspective on the problems or issues, as these people are very responsible in terms of being sensitive to others' perspectives and feelings.

Cons:

  • This approach is likely to lead to suboptimal outcomes for the parties involved.
  • It can lead to frustration and anger of the sacrificing party if they feel that they are always having to give in.
  • This approach could be seen as a sign of weakness and makes you more vulnerable to having your needs ignored by others.

2. The Avoiding Style

Workplace conflict avoidant personality

We've all been in situations where we need to avoid conflict until we're ready to face the problem directly.

In such cases, evading the problem is the easiest way out. However, it is important to not always drop conflicts where there is an opportunity for improvement.

This style is most appropriate when dealing with situations that may be too trivial, when you're trying to gather more information before you resolve a conflict, or when time is critical. It exercises caution, diplomacy, and tactfulness in responding to potential issues. A good example of this type of conflict resolution is avoiding difficult situations in the workplace by taking personal days or requesting transfers.

On the flip side, a style that completely avoids addressing conflict can be just as damaging to you and your team. To prevent confusion and trivial issues from cropping up in the workplace, it is necessary to communicate the goals and objectives of your organization and encourage a culture of teamwork and collaboration. This will help prevent potential conflicts by giving people the big picture.

Related: What Is a Smart Goal Plan and How Can You Achieve It?

Pros:

  • It prevents the situation from escalating into full-blown conflict immediately.
  • It can help to preserve relationships and reduce undue stress.
  • You can adopt this style to "cool off" a situation, which can result in more level-headed negotiations in the workplace.

It's easy to see why this style is ineffective. While it may work in the short term, it isn't a solution that keeps communication open. Avoiding conflict typically causes problems to persist throughout the workplace, especially when left unmanaged for an extended period of time.

Cons:

  • There is a tendency to procrastinate and worsen problems in the long run.
  • If you avoid addressing issues, it can also be perceived as uncooperative and unassertive.
  • It can also result in a lack of productivity within the company when conflicts reach a point where you need to invest additional time and resources to resolve them.

3. The Compromising Style

workplace meetings and negotiation

You're looking for a solution, and you need it right now. Compromising is the conflict resolution style for your situation.

You should be willing to give up some of your thoughts and opinions on the matter at hand to move forward, as should the other party. This approach works best when time is of the essence, or when you need to get a matter resolved and both you and the other party are willing to take on a more agreeable standpoint.

Pros:

  • You come off as a team player who's willing to make some concessions to achieve a reasonable middle ground that meets at least some of everyone's needs.
  • As with collaboration, compromising requires a good amount of effort to ensure that every participant feels heard (and not just shouted over). This approach gives everyone involved at least some of what they want, so nobody walks away with a sense of defeat.
  • Compromise is viewed positively by many people as it symbolizes maturity and flexibility.

Negotiating can be an important way to resolve disputes, find answers, and reach agreements. Your main focus during a negotiation will be to determine what you need, what you can give up, and how to compromise fairly. The best way to figure this out is to have a negotiations checklist with you—such as this one from Harvard. Not only will it help you prepare for the meeting, but it can also serve as a reminder of your goals throughout the process.

However, this approach is not always what it seems. As a conflict management strategy, the term "compromising" often carries a negative connotation.

Cons:

  • If one or several groups aren't happy with a decision, the conflict resolution style can cause them to feel powerless or resentful about the outcome.
  • Some individuals or groups may have a hidden agenda, whether they're driven by self-interest, fear of failure, or just plain stubbornness.

4. The Collaborating Style

Workplace meetings and collaboration

This style is all about communication and collaboration, as the name implies. The collaborating conflict approach focuses on coming up with the most cooperative solution to conflicts. This can only work if you demonstrate emotional intelligence, which is key to effective negotiating and decision-making. It's also important to maintain a non-judgmental attitude and demonstrate empathy for others.

Teams can use collaborative tools like polling software, collaboration dashboards, and existing internal channels to make sure everyone is heard on issues that matter.

Pros:

  • By focusing on a win-win scenario, collaborative teams can eliminate feelings of negativity, which allows them to preserve relationships.
  • Every team member feels included and valued in the decision-making process.
  • This approach often leads to creative thinking through brainstorming and problem-solving by leveraging other team members' unique talents and skills.

Cons:

  • It can be a time-consuming process of solving a problem.
  • Team members may require help solving the problem and coming to a practical solution that benefits all parties. This can lead to delays in producing work and getting work done by the deadline.
  • It forces team members to review the problem several times, consider solutions and find a solution that is acceptable to everyone.

5. The Competing Style

Team members resolving an issue

A competing style focuses on the outcome, leading to a high degree of conflict intensity, limited concern for the parties involved, and little consideration is given to their opinions or claims. You might use this approach if you know that you are right and need to decide on a problem in a short time frame.

It's a high-control approach and expects compliance with the leader's goal or direction.

Read More: The Best Free Online Meeting Tools to Collaborate With Your Team

Pros:

  • It is often the quickest way to solve a problem.
  • The approach is based on objective criteria.
  • It encourages participation from those who are good at solving conflicts and discourages people who are poor at leadership and decision-making.

Cons:

  • Teams may ignore a significant problem to get on with the task.
  • Differences of opinion can lead to disharmony, and issues may be left to brew.

The use of this tactic should be avoided if emotional factors are involved, as they will likely cause resistance. When this style is used for prolonged periods or with short-lived, minor conflicts, its directness can be viewed as overly strong and may cause people to avoid approaching you when they have issues.

Increase Workplace Success by Managing Conflicts Wisely

When it comes to conflict, how you respond depends on various personal and interpersonal factors. You might prefer an approach that is active and direct—but in some cases, you might be better off with a more passive strategy. Whatever approach you choose, just make sure that you understand the tactics you’re deploying and their long-term consequences. By understanding yourself and others, you can make more effective decisions about how to deal with conflict when it arises.