When you have a lot of people who are working together, they will undoubtedly be faced with friction. When a team goes through the process of working together to achieve a common goal, all members soon realize that the whole thing is hard work to say the least. As a leader, it is very important for you to differentiate between the many types of conflict that your team will face and you also need to help the team to move forward as well.

Conflict regarding Strategies

If you have two or even three people who have differing positions and they are all arguing but getting nowhere then as a leader, you need to stop the group and ask every member to explain what they have to say without any interruptions. The rest of the team are supposed to listen and try to understand where they are coming from. It is your job as a leader to personally ensure that every single person is heard and if you don’t then the whole project that you are working on will surely end up in disaster. For this reason, make sure that you are always in control of the situation and give everyone the chance to say what they have to say.

Mistrust

If there are some people in the team who appear to be dominating the conversation while other members of the team just sit there in silence then you need to stop the process and ask every person what they need. You need to ask them what they need in order to feel like an effective member of the group while also finding out how other people can help. The Career Project have plenty of resources available for you to look through if you are unsure as to how to make your job work for you, if you are having difficulty with your position as a leader.

Personality Problems

If you are having to deal with a lot of different personalities then you will need to take this into account while also finding out if there is a common frame of reference for those who have individual differences. If you have conflict issues that revolve around strong personal agendas then you will need to deal with this as well. The truth is that some people just don’t fit well in a team so as a team leader, you have to either move them or offer them a different role. This doesn’t happen very often but it is important to be open to the idea if you want to move forward with your team.

Of course, when you work as a team leader, you have to make sure that you are always taking into account the needs of every single member while also making sure that everyone is working to the highest possible level. This is easier said than done, but by following the above tips, you can be sure to give your team the support and guidance that they need in order to truly feel comfortable in their own working environment. A happy team are also much more likely to stick around, whereas team members that are unhappy are very likely to search for another job.

This post has been contributed by Ryan Gatt, it may contain affiliate links.