The High Costs Of Unmanaged Conflict In Your Organization
/[Forbes.com article by Mark Batson Baril, February 16, 2021]
Teams conflict can result in positive or negative outcomes, but unmanaged conflict nearly always results in negative outcomes that can be measured in the form of real dollars lost. Conflict is a given, but the outcomes of that conflict are a choice. What are the consequences of choosing to ignore conflict?
Estimating the costs of unmanaged conflict
We have developed a survey tool to help our clients (team leaders, startup partners and other professionals) identify and quantify the likely costs of conflict to their particular organization. Our "Cost of Conflict Calculator" tool estimates costs using averaged industry data and a team's dynamic information. The survey questions are designed to collectively support an estimate of past and future dollar costs of the conflict their team is experiencing.
This is by no means a research study, rather, these are my takeaways based on the clear themes that have emerged out of the aggregate intel from over 2,000 responses, coupled with my own years of experience as a conflict resolution practitioner. I hope these insights will shed light on the practical importance of looking at the state of conflict management in your teams and in your workplace.
Caveat: Because the assessment is confidential and no user information is collected, it is impossible to identify the exact nature of the conflict, the position of the user or the authenticity of the answers.
What's the cost of attrition, termination or turnover?
Survey question: Has anyone quit or been fired because of this conflict?
About half of the team conflicts reported responded that they had lost people as a result (whether quitting or getting fired was not indicated — still, a stunning number that grabbed my attention). The Cost of Conflict Calculator measures 37 costs of conflict. Turnover due to conflict rises near the top of the list in terms of the most clearly measurable costs, and includes:
• Severance/termination packages (voluntary or involuntary).
• Recruitment and staffing.
• Onboarding, training and development associated with new replacement employees.
• Loss of human capital investment in skilled employees.
• Loss of opportunity for billable hours during transition and training.
• Distraction and loss of momentum in coming to market.
Challenge for team leadership: The response to this question tells me that team leads may be waiting too long to resolve conflicts. Understanding that it's natural to try to weather a small storm of disagreement, the idea that nearly half of respondents had lost people because of the conflict speaks volumes to the need to address how conflict is handled before you lose your highest-performing teams and best talent.
What's the cost of ongoing conflict?
Survey question: How long has the conflict been going on?
Response choices indicated the following:
• No conflict
• Hours
• Days
• Weeks• One month
• Months+
• Months++
• Years
We saw that most of the teams experiencing conflict have been in it for months, and in 16% of cases, years. The costs? When conflict festers, it complicates everything — unmanaged, the ripple effect of conflict may extend organization-wide. Unsuccessful efforts at resolving the conflict at an early stage only prolong the conflict and make it worse.
Among the clearly measurable costs identified by the Cost of Conflict Calculator are the potentially crippling legal fees incurred from dispute resolution and lawsuits which can result from protracted disputes.
Challenge for team leadership: If you knew that an unmanaged conflict in your team was going to cost you in 37 different ways, would you act sooner? My experience shows the following as reasons that leaders don't act sooner, and I offer them as a cautionary tale:
• Team members are hiding the conflict from team leads or management.
• Team leads don't have the experience to recognize that conflict exists or where it sits on the destructive scale.
• The team, management and/or entire organization do not have a conflict management policy or training in conflict competence — which makes this a systemic problem.
What's the cost of loss of trust within your team?
Survey question: Have any team members lost trust in each other?
Of those who identified conflict in their teams, the impressive 68% who answered "yes" supports the anecdotal evidence we see in our work: Trust is a key factor in responsive, high-performing and forward-thinking teams.
In many conflicts there is a point at which at least some of the parties involved lose trust in one another, making it harder to negotiate a resolution. Without trust, the expectation is lost that the other party will act in good faith, keep their agreements or are even safe to be around.
Conflict resolution practitioners can often detect this loss of trust in our first intake meetings with leaders and teams, but it is not always evident to those involved because they're in the thick of it. Nevertheless, it is critical for team leads to understand that distrust exists, whether or not they can see it, because it indicates that conflict is entrenched. It means an impasse is happening or imminent, and immediate focus needs to be put toward resolution before the loss of trust spreads any further.
Challenge for team leadership: What if you were up against a difficult business calculation: What is the value of your team member(s) compared with the cost in time, effort and money to fight off entrenched conflict, losing good talent, or building back lost trust?
Address conflict early. And if at all possible, build a conflict management system into your team before conflict turns to dispute and trust is lost.
When we join a company, partnership or team, our expectation is that everyone involved will exhibit professional behavior toward us and each other. Instead, it’s highly possible that we may become one of the more than 60 million adults in the United States who are affected in some way by bullying behavior at work.
What kind of behaviors are we talking about? Our definition is any interpersonal behavior that causes emotional distress in others sufficient enough to impede their productivity or disrupt organizational functioning. It isn’t just a personality conflict — it’s a chronic pattern of disrespectful behavior.