“The best time to stop team conflict is before it starts.”

Have you heard that advice before?  Much easier said than done!

How do you stop something before you know it’s happening?

Here are some early warning signs that resentment or disagreement is starting to affect your staff and volunteers and that you, as leader, need to intervene with conflict management strategies.

Eye rolling.

Watch people’s body language.

If person A makes a suggestion and person B rolls their eyes, crosses their arms or makes other signs of annoyance, it’s an indication that B dislikes or lacks respect for A.

If it only happens once, B may simply be having a bad day. When the behaviour continues, it’s time to step in and have a discovery meeting with B to find out what is causing the resentment and devise a solution.

Cliques form.

People within the team start breaking into groups and siding with each other against other groups. Left unchecked, those cliques are going to start putting their own individual interests ahead of the organization’s mission.

Gather the team together, express your concern, and remind everyone of the goals and importance of the project.

Allow everyone to express their opinions and concerns in a respectful way.

The earlier this is done, the easier it will be, so try to catch it at the start.

Individuals being isolated.

If you notice that one or two people tend to be left out when the team gathers for social interaction, it’s a sign of trouble.

There are two common reasons. One: the person is disagreeable to be around or doesn’t pull their weight. Two: the person is different than the group in some way (ie: a person of colour, a member of the LGBTQ community, etc) and there is underlying bigotry within the team.

If it’s the first, have a chat with the person to see if there is a way to mitigate the issue. For example, if the person complains a lot or is pessimistic, brainstorm ways for them to be more positive.

The second reason is more challenging to deal with.  There are no simple solutions for bigotry.

If this is the issue that’s facing you, I encourage you to do your research, talk to your superiors and come up with a strategy to deal with the issue on an organizational-wide basis. Quickly, before it becomes endemic.

Back-handed compliments and/or condescension.

If you hear comments such as “Oh, Mary is really good at that”, or “Bob, your English is so good!” then you know that the speaker lacks respect for the other person.

There are many reasons for this, but in all cases, a lack of respect for another team member will lead to conflict and jeopardize your team’s success. Pull the speaker aside and find out what’s behind it, and how it can be improved.

It isn’t always easy to see conflict before it becomes a major issue, but it’s one of the skills that good volunteer leaders need.

Pay attention to the small signs of resentment and disrespect that may show up and you will be able to prevent catastrophe and ensure that your team has consistent success.