The critical role of conflict resolution in teams: A close look at the links between conflict type, conflict management strategies, and team outcomes

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Behfar, Kristin J.; Peterson, Randall S.; Mannix, Elizabeth A.; Trochim, William M. K.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Irvine; University of London; London Business School; Cornell University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.93.1.170
• 发表日期: 2008
• 页码: 170-188
• 关键词: team conflict; conflict management; team viability

摘要

This article explores the linkages between strategies for managing different types of conflict and group performance and satisfaction. Results from a qualitative study of 57 autonomous teams suggest that groups that improve or maintain top performance over time share 3 conflict resolution tendencies: (a) focusing on the content of interpersonal interactions rather than delivery style, (b) explicitly discussing reasons behind any decisions reached in accepting and distributing work assignments, and (c) assigning work to members who have the relevant task expertise rather than assigning by other common means such as volunteering, default, or convenience. The authors' results also suggest that teams that are successful over time are likely to be both proactive in anticipating the need for conflict resolution and pluralistic in developing conflict resolution strategies that apply to all group members.