Have you ever been given a team that was in conflict with each other?

One nonprofit I was working for was going through a merger with one major hiccup.

The HR team and finance team were having trouble working well together to get payroll systems connected.  

This is a big deal, because messing with people’s paychecks is a huge No-No.

I was called in to lead the team months after they started work because they weren’t getting anywhere and for better or worse, I had a reputation for getting things done.  

So, early September, I was brought in.  

The catch?  It had to be done by January 1.  

Why is that bad?  

Because the team had already been working on this since March with barely any progress.

Here’s what I had working against me:

• I had no idea what any of them were talking about in terms of technical data
• I was stepping into a years-long feud between them
• There were A LOT of hard feelings between them
• I had no formal authority over any of them
• At best, I was peers with a few of them
• A lot of eyes were watching this

You can’t imagine how stressful it was during the last few months trying to herd and refocus them.  

I spent more than a few nights not sleeping well.

But we did it, and with only a slight delay – we got it done and with no large mistakes with anyone’s paycheck.

Here’s what I learned about managing a team in conflict:

1. Teams need a goal to unify behind

Sure, they knew the basic goal of merging systems.  But along the way, they actually focused more on fighting with each other and trying to push certain responsibilities onto each other.  I spent a lot of time refocusing them onto the main goal and getting them to ignore unnecessary goals.  

2. In the middle of hard deadlines, talking about the past isn’t always useful

Both sides often wanted to talk about how things used to be done and why something shouldn’t be their responsibility.  And in a larger process discussion, those things are important (in fact, during my after action interviews with everyone, it became clear the issue was an oversight in the system that was nobody’s fault).  

But in the moment?  It wasn’t important.  

I focused all my energy into getting them to look at the problem ahead and how we’ll all solve it TOGETHER.

Don’t misunderstand – I also acknowledged the conflict and made it clear we wouldn’t be able to solve that now.  But that also wasn’t the goal at the moment.

3. People need to be reminded how they’re alike

I’m personally not a fan of team building activities.  I don’t think they work very well.  

But every meeting, I started with some question or activity that focused on what shared experiences they had (like the worst job they ever had).  It took less than 5 minutes and they started seeing each other as people and teammates, and not strangers or enemies.

4. Setting ground rules is VITAL

I set very early on the tone and rules.  Both in individual meetings and as a group.

I took their suggestions and we crafted it together.  But I made it clear.

I didn’t care about the past, I only cared about working together to solve the problem.  

And I called people out if needed, but that only happened once.  

The rules are the container that helped people feel safe.

5. Familiarity is the basis of relationship

Before I came on board, they were only meeting once a month.

I changed that to meeting every other week at first and increased to weekly the last month.

It helped with managing the project and timelines for sure, but I wanted them to also see the work that other people were doing.  

I wanted them to see that everyone else was working just as hard as they were.  

I know there’s probably lots of other things I could have done to get the team to function well together.  

All I know is, these things worked and they can work for you if you’ve inherited a team in conflict.

What did I miss?  Are there other strategies that have worked for you?

Cheers,

Chris

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PS – Whenever you’re ready, I have 3 ways to help you:

1. Free Strategy Assessment >>  If you’re a nonprofit leader, take a free, 5-minute quiz to evaluate your nonprofit’s strategy implementation plan
2. 1-hour Effective Performance Coaching Course >> If you’re a manager looking for strategies to be better at coaching your employees, take this free 1 hour course to boost up your coaching ability
3. Podcast: The Art and Science of Difficult Conversations. >> If you’re interested in more ways to manage difficult conversations, I also have a podcast,  Available wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube