Tips for Managing Conflict in Collaborations

Resource
Collaboration Handbook: Creating, Sustaining, and Enjoying the Journey

Contents
Four Steps to Resolving Conflicts
    1. Expect conflict
    2. Clarify the issues
    3. Create a conflict resolution process
    4. Resolve the unresolvable
When to Use Outside Help

From Becky Andrews, Marketing Manager, Fieldstone Alliance:

COLLABORATIONS, by their nature, are a breeding ground for conflict. Not that conflict per se is bad—in fact it can be quite useful. But let's face it, most of us are uncomfortable dealing with it. This issue of Tools describes typical sources of conflict in collaborations and suggests ways to resolve them. The information is from pages 76-89 of Collaboration Handbook: Creating, Sustaining, and Enjoying the Journey by Michael Winer and Karen Ray.

Four Steps to Resolving Conflicts
According to Winer and Ray, conflict in collaborations is inevitable and, actually, highly desirable. Lack of conflict often indicates that issues are buried. And, you can be sure these issues will surface at some point.

To resolve conflicts, the collaboration needs to:

Expect conflict
Clarify the issues
Create a conflict resolution process
Resolve the unresolvable

1. Expect conflict
Collaborations must form a new culture distinct from the cultures of their home base organizations. Conflicts arise as this new culture is created.

In one collaboration, a vocal member kept saying: "We have to call these groups, get input on what we're proposing, and go after funding sources." Two other members argued it was too early to act—they weren't ready. After some discussion, they defined the conflict as a difference in preferences. The first person wanted to move on; the other two wanted to involve everyone in a carefully worded vision statement.

As individuals and representatives of organizations, people bring to their collaboration different preferences, histories, communication patterns, and experiences with decision making. When these differences aren't resolved, they divert time and energy away from the goal. For success, conflict cannot be about right and wrong; it must be about differences.

By not allowing conflict, we limit our ability to change. Participants must build conflict into the life of the collaboration and recognize that they may not, and perhaps should not, resolve some conflicts. Rather, they need to expect, promote, and manage conflict throughout the life of the collaboration.

2. Clarify the issues
There are many types of conflict in a collaboration. In order to resolve these disagreements, you must first clarify the conflict. Often conflict is masked and takes time to manage. Some people are quiet. Others simply stop coming to meetings. While difficult to do, someone—the initiator, the convener, a member of the group—must find the courage to ask, "What’s going on here?" This simple question is often enough for people to start talking and dealing with the conflict.

Investment in time and discussion to understand and resolve conflict is crucial. Through conflict we gain clarity and build new skills. To proceed, define the sources of conflict in the total group and agree to limit the scope of the discussion to the specific conflict at hand. Avoid blaming anyone, but do define the process for immediately dealing with the issues.

The chart below shows the typical sources of conflict in the early stages of a collaboration and suggests ways to resolve them.

Typical Sources of Conflict	How to Resolve the Issues
Power struggles	Address power needs
Members act out of their "shadow" power. ("Shadow" power and its counterpart, "sunshine" power, are explained in-depth in the book. To summarize, sunshine power moves things forward. Shadow power is used to hold things back, to control and manipulate others. For example, one type of power is "charisma." The positive, or sunshine use of charisma is to charm others with enthusiasm and confidence. The shadow use is to seduce others.)	Look for underlying issues, such as history of conflict, fearing loss of control or autonomy, need to obtain funding for own operation, and so on.
Personal customs, languages, preferences are not being met.	Take time to review the customs of the members; define frequently used terms; acknowledge different styles and decide when each will best be used.
The wrong people	Choose new people
People were not well chosen in the beginning.	Have the initiator look at her or his reasons for choosing people—be honest! Review the selection factors; ask people to choose replacements who bring the needed attributes. (This is difficult to do for risk of offending the person, but crucial.)
Low trust	Enhance trust
The meeting convener lacks the needed skills.	Choose a new convener; ask the group to take greater shared responsibility for the meetings.
Meetings are boring and do not accomplish steps.	Review the characteristics of effective meetings and make needed changes; attend to rituals that enhance trust (rituals can be simple things, such as bringing refreshments to meetings).
Self-interests are not being disclosed.	Disclose the culture, gain, diversity, and perception each person seeks.
Communications are poor.	Practice communication skills; review how communications are being managed with the home base organizations.
Vague vision and focus	Strengthen vision and focus
The members and organizations frequently call the vision and focus into question.	Review the destination; remember that conflict is often not about wording, but about the scope of effort where some people want specific, readily achieved results while others prefer larger, more complex efforts; set short-term results.
Incomplete desired results and strategies	Revise desired results and strategies
Desired results and strategies are frequently debated, even though they are in writing.	Review desired results for specificity and strategies for attainability; people get “burned-out” when they cannot see concrete accomplishments.
Lack of clear authority	Clarify authority
Home base organizations pressure the collaboration for quick action.	Reaffirm the value of planning.
People attend infrequently, or representation from the organization changes so that new people continually have to be updated.	Ask those with authority in the organization to commit to consistent representation; clarify that a collaborative culture is being built.
Demands are placed on members to work for the collaboration and still fulfill all home base job duties and responsibilities.	Request that member organizations reduce other duties; formalize those responsibilities in writing

3. Create a conflict resolution process
Collaboration members often respond to conflict by complaining to staff at their home organization. Instead, members need to risk working out as many disagreements as possible during their meetings. How to do this?

Revisit the goal. Ask, "If we want to achieve these results, what must we do about this conflict?" Then determine which issues the collaboration must resolve to do its work.

Decide who will facilitate the process for resolving the conflict. Ask a group member or a third party facilitator, mediator, or arbitrator to lead the group. Or hold an outside session just for those directly involved in the conflict.

Separate the conflict from concepts of right and wrong. Such separation helps the group avoid personalizing the issues, since some people tend to view conflict as a threat to long-held beliefs.

Make sure everyone is heard. Limit those who talk and invite the participation of those who do not. (For example, give everyone the same amount of poker chips, and when they have used up their chips, they cannot speak again.)

Don't burn bridges. Remember, everyone must continue working together during and after the conflict. So create rituals for healing and forgiveness. And don't forget humor.

4. Resolve the unresolvable
Sometimes personal enmity and other conflicts cast a long shadow on a collaboration. Because we cannot avoid the conflict, we feel stuck, as the following anecdote reveals:

In a literacy collaboration, two high-level managers from large agencies would not trust each other. Allegations of secret deals, incompetence, and favoritism raged. The other members felt powerless, and the group developed deep schisms. People waited it out, and eventually one person changed jobs.

To resolve what appears to be an unresolvable problem, consider the following alternatives:

Confront the situation outright. Call a meeting and insist that the warring factions agree on a process to settle the dispute; consider an outside facilitator. If settlement is impossible, create a working agreement and agree to disagree while working together in the collaboration. This can and does work.

Confront the situation through people of influence. Collectively, ask important people (board members, legislators, peers) associated with each of the warring organizations to intervene. This option allows the conflicting parties to fight in another and more appropriate arena than the collaboration.

Alert funders and donors to the problem. While our group might not want to admit that we have a conflict, many funders are knowledgeable enough to know what is really happening. They can influence people who may otherwise seem immune to change. Still, funders give money at their discretion, so weigh carefully the relative advantages and disadvantages of this option.

Work without the warring members. A simple story illustrates this alternative:

Two teachers initiated a very effective collaboration despite the disapproval of their bosses, who disliked each other. The teachers decided to quietly work together and gather data about their success. When they had enough information, they made joint presentations to their bosses and asked for permission to continue. They also sent word to the local newspaper, which reported the emerging success. The pressure forced the bosses to begin working together. One final word: wisely, the teachers credited their bosses for the success so that all were rewarded for collaborating!

When to Use Outside Help
If the conflict is entrenched, we may need a neutral party (someone with conflict resolution or mediation skills). Use an outside facilitator or mediator when these conditions occur:

Group leaders are directly involved in the conflict.
The group is not very skilled in conflict resolution.
Impartiality is essential.
Only a few people say there is a conflict and a facilitator is needed to ensure fair representation.
Cultural equity—giving equal value to different backgrounds—needs to be assured.
Resources allow hiring a practitioner or seeking a volunteer.
The group wants instruction in conflict management.

Take care choosing a facilitator because he or she can never be totally removed from the conflict, and has the potential to add to the conflict.

Where to Learn More

Fieldstone Alliance
Articles:
Four Keys to Collaboration Success
How to "Nimble-ize" a Collaboration
Six Best Practices for Complex Collaborations
What Makes Collaborations Succeed

Books:
Collaboration Handbook
Collaboration: What Makes It Work
The Nimble Collaboration

Consulting services:
Fieldstone Alliance’s consulting services have assisted hundreds of collaboratives develop partnership plans, assess progress, train members, develop collaboration agreements, and evaluate impact. If you're thinking about a collaboration or are in the midst of one, we can help you strengthen your process and increase your impact. For more information, please contact Sandy Jacobsen at 651.556.4510 or sjacobsen@FieldstoneAlliance.org.

Karen Ray, Karen Ray Associates
http://karenrayassociates.com
Karen Ray, co-author of Collaboration Handbook, is a training and organization development consultant. She specializes in innovation and problem-solving in nonprofit and government agencies. Most of her current work focuses on inter-agency collaboration.

Michael Winer, 4Results Together
www.seeingresults.com
Michael Winer, co-author of Collaboration Handbook, helps collaborations work more effectively. "Core concepts govern the dynamics of people working together in partnership. When you get a handle on these, your group will achieve results faster and more easily - and find personal satisfaction along the way."

All the best,

Becky Andrews
Fieldstone Alliance

July 23, 2008

Tips for Managing Conflict in Collaborations

Resource Collaboration Handbook: Creating, Sustaining, and Enjoying the Journey

Contents Four Steps to Resolving Conflicts 1. Expect conflict 2. Clarify the issues 3. Create a conflict resolution process 4. Resolve the unresolvable When to Use Outside Help

Four Steps to Resolving Conflicts According to Winer and Ray, conflict in collaborations is inevitable and, actually, highly desirable. Lack of conflict often indicates that issues are buried. And, you can be sure these issues will surface at some point.

1. Expect conflict Collaborations must form a new culture distinct from the cultures of their home base organizations. Conflicts arise as this new culture is created.

3. Create a conflict resolution process Collaboration members often respond to conflict by complaining to staff at their home organization. Instead, members need to risk working out as many disagreements as possible during their meetings. How to do this?

4. Resolve the unresolvable Sometimes personal enmity and other conflicts cast a long shadow on a collaboration. Because we cannot avoid the conflict, we feel stuck, as the following anecdote reveals:

When to Use Outside Help If the conflict is entrenched, we may need a neutral party (someone with conflict resolution or mediation skills). Use an outside facilitator or mediator when these conditions occur: