LEARNING OBJECTIVES                                                                                                                                   

This workshop will be split into three main parts:

1. Defining team dynamics and conflict resolution.
2. Skills for conflict resolution.
3. Conflict resolution.

This picture perfectly summarizes the differences between an unhealthy and healthy conflict. In a healthy conflict, you work together to tackle the problem and find ways to get around it.

Conflicts are an unavoidable part of any team but they do not always have to be negative. We do not want to avoid conflicts, we want to embrace them and turn them into something constructive and positive.

_{1. Osborne, B. (May, 2020). “What are team Dynamics and Why are They Important?”. Rally Bright. Retrieved from https://www.rallybright.com/understanding-team-dynamics.}

_{2. Juneja, P. (2015). “Understanding Conflict – Meaning and Phases of Conflict”. MSG. Retrieved from https://www.managementstudyguide.com/understanding-conflict.htm} 

ACTIVE LISTENING                                                                                                                                          

Leadership is not a single skill, rather it is a combination of soft skills such as empathy, insight, and communication skills. Therefore, anything that can be used to effectively lead and manage people. Active listening is one of those many skills that cone under the broad umbrella of leadership skills and is used to encourage better communication within the group. Actively listening means showing that you are attentive, receptive, and respectful.

In total there are three levels of listening which we will be going through in detail.

_{Terrel, S. (November, 2008). “What is Interpersonal Intelligence and How to Develop It?”. Mind Valley. Retrieved from https://blog.mindvalley.com/interpersonal-intelligence/}

THE 3 LEVELS OF LISTENING

Level 1 – Internal Listening                                                                                                                              

Level 1 is when you listen in order to speak. This happens when someone is speaking to you and in your head, you are mostly thinking about the next thing you are going to say in response. It also means you are focusing on your own thoughts, feelings, and opinions. This level comes naturally to us and it is where most people are. However, we want to build up from here in order to be better listeners.

In order to figure out which level you are at, we have listed some key identifiers for each level of active listening.

The key identifiers for Level 1 are:

1. You are focused on self – mostly thinking about what you are going to say next instead of trying to understand the feelings of the other person.
2. Interrupting the speaker mid-sentence. For instance, instead of waiting for the cue to speak, you interrupt the person and speak your mind.
3. Lastly, you pass opinionated input without regard for the feelings of the other person.

Level 2 – Focused (Active)                                                                                                                                  

Level 2 is when we start to get into active listening. It also means that you are listening in order to hear.  What this means is that it requires that you listen intently to another person and fully focus on what the other person is saying to you before thinking about your own judgment and opinions. This level also teaches you how to silence your inner voice so that it is not clouding your judgement and your conflict resolution approach unintentionally.

The key identifiers for Level 2 are:

1. You are focused on the speaker rather than self.
2. You use attentive and open body language and non-verbal cues to show you are listening. Some non-verbal cues would be, nodding your head to show you agree with them, or turning your body towards them when they speak to you to show they have your full undivided attention.
3. There is minimum to no interruptions – you simply wait for the cue to speak before giving a response or asking questions.

Level 3 – Interactive (Fully active)                                                                                                                  

Level 3 means you are not just listening to respond or hear, but you are also listening to understand. This is considered to be the highest level of active listening and where we ideally want to be when we are communicating. It means to listen with authenticity, meaning that we are listening because we are curious and we care, not because we have to. Lastly, it also means to consider context and therefore, do not just interpret their words but also their body language and expressions.

The key identifiers for Level 3 are:

1. Restating or paraphrasing the speaker’s point to verify that what you understood was correct. For instance saying something along the lines of “What you are trying to say is ….” is an effective way to verify.
2. Acknowledge the other person’s feelings with non-verbal communication such as mirroring their expressions or using short verbal cues such as I understand, or I agree.
3. Giving responses and asking open ended follow up questions to show that you understand how the other person feels without interruptions and in a respectful manner.

_{Russel, M. (November, 2017). “Strategic Leadership: The 3 Levels of Listening”. Start It Up. Retrieved from https://medium.com/swlh/strategic-leadership-the-3-levels-of-listening-e3f0c27f8d01}

ACTIVITY 1: ACTIVE LISTENING                                                                                                                  

The worksheet version for activity 1 can be found here.

Active listening means treating listening as an active process, rather than a passive one. Active listeners show they are listening, encourage sharing, and strive to understand the speaker.

Before watching the interactions, go through the table of non-verbal and verbal cues so that you know what to look for in the videos. 

_{Adapted from Frances Westley, Co-Founder of the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience, University of Waterloo.} 

Interaction 1: 

Interaction 2: 

REFLECTION                                                                                                                                                       

1. Summarize the main points made by the speaker (what were they trying to get across). Include how the points were presented such as emotional content (e.g., tone, verbal, non-verbal and body language).
2. What did Listener 1 do well?​ What could they improve on to make the speaker feel more comfortable?
3. What did Listener 2 do well? What could they improve on to make the speaker feel more comfortable?
4. What level of active listening is each listener at? What is your reasoning?
5. Reflect: How do you feel when you are being actively listened to?

ACTIVITY 1: KEY TAKEAWAYS                                                                                                                         

Hopefully by now you are able to tell the difference between the 3 levels. Active Listening is a skill we all possess naturally. Everyone starts at Level 1 but Level 3 is where we ideally want to be. This requires practice and self-discipline. Building up to level 3 is important because in order to become active engineering leaders, we should care about the performance of the entire team, not just our own and for that we need to be good listeners.

IDENTIFYING & RESPONDING TO CONFLICTS                                                                                          

Any conflict you have ever been in can be grouped into one of these 3 major types of conflicts:

1. Task conflict: a conflict that occurs because of WHAT – related to the actual work that gets done.
2. Relationship conflict:  a conflict that occurs because of WHO – related to any interpersonal tension within the team.
3. Process conflict: a conflict that occurs because of the HOW – related to how the work gets done. 

Sometimes you can even have a mix of two or more different conflict types. It all depends on your situation.

1. TASK CONFLICT 

Task Conflict is a conflict around a particular task. This can appear as:

• Disagreements over the goal or objective of the task – usually due to lack of alignment on a project’s desired outcome.
• Contents of decisions made in a team. For example: you are working in a team, and the task is figuring out what material to use for your project. One person might say use 3D printed parts while the other might say use Meccano pieces to build the project. Due to the disagreements, a conflict occurs.
• Different interpretations of facts surrounding the task, this leads to people performing tasks differently which creates a conflict.

Any conflict around what needs to be done is know as a task conflict.

2. RELATIONSHIP CONFLICT 

The second type of conflict is a relationship conflict which is a conflict around relationships with other team members involving:

• Different attitudes such as discrimination due to seniority, meaning somebody who is senior is getting treated differently than others simply because they have been in the company longer.
• Different beliefs and biases – if someone’s strong belief on a particular social issue or religion is affecting the team or project at work, it becomes a relationship conflict.
• An absence of a shared vision – this ties the importance of taking the time at the beginning of the project to build a positive team dynamic. You would experience less of this kind of conflict if you take your time to do so.

This conflict is around:

• Delegation and logistics of task completion – who will do what, time allotted for each task, and setting deadlines.
• Responsibilities: who gets the final say, who has the authority to make the final call, and who is in charge.
• Strategies – what approach of strategies should be taken to best handle a task.

Any conflicts that revolve around these aspects of a project are called process conflicts. 

The 4 step resolution process works for any of the 3 conflicts listed above.

STEP 1 – We are aware that there is a conflict, now we need to actively listen in order to identify the type of conflict. Is it a task conflict, relationship conflict, or a process conflict? Once you know the type of conflict, you will be able to identify the root cause of the problem much easier.

STEP 2 – Discuss, acknowledge, and manage emotions of self and team as an impact of conflict. This is when you discuss with the team how they feel about the conflict. For instance, is it something that needs to be addressed now or can it wait until the end of the project? Or is it affecting the project and their performance?

STEP 3 – Individually get each views of each party directly involved on how to resolve the conflict.

STEP 4 – Once you have a list of solutions from both sides, the next step is to identify solutions that both parties support and to agree on a final action to take.

_{Adapted from Tiefenbacher, W. (2017). “Team Conflict: Understanding the types of conflicts and how to manage them sustainably”. CQ Net. Retrieved from https://www.ckju.net/en/dossier/team-conflict-understanding-types-conflict-and-how-manage-them-sustainably} 

RESOLUTION STRATEGIES

A lot of the times, there is no perfect solution that all people agree on. In those cases, you have to resort to using one of these 3 resolution strategies.

COLLABORATION – Both parties win without having to give up anything. This is considered as the best case scenario. The only drawback is that it takes time and effort to discuss and come to an agreement that works in favor of both parties.

COMPROMISE – Adapted when there is limited time and a decision needs to be made quickly. By compromising, both parties win but they also have to give up something. This means that you might not be choosing the top solution in the list of various solutions but you compromise and settle for a solution that partially satisfies both parties.

ACCOMMODATING – One party gives the win to the other in this scenario. This happens in situations where when neither parties can decide on a single solution. For the sake of the project and team, one party backs out and yields the win to the other party. This usually happens in cases where one party is more passionate about the matter than the other.

_{Retrieved from https://www.engineering.com/story/resolving-conflict-in-your-engineering-career}

ACTIVITY 2: CASE STUDIES                                                                                                                            

The worksheet for activity 2 can be found here.

In this activity, you will read and reflect on a case study of your choice. Then you will identify the type of conflict they are facing and create a 4 step resolution process.

CASE 1: 

CASE 2:

CASE 3:

CASE 4: 

4 STEP RESOLUTION PROCESS:

REFLECTION                                                                                                                                                       

Here are some questions to consider after you have completed the second activity:

1. What strategy of conflict resolution do you use most in daily conflicts?
2. How are you using active listening skills and interpersonal intelligence in your day-to-day life?

ACTIVITY 2: KEY TAKEAWAYS                                                                                                                         

We can now observe that conflicts can be resolved by identifying and using different resolution strategies. You can practice leadership by learning to mediate conflicts instead of avoiding them altogether. The catch here is that we want to embrace conflicts not avoid them. Learning to respond to conflicts is critical to engineering as it builds emotional intelligence and increases productivity in teams.

WORKSHOP KEY TAKEAWAYS                                                                                                                        

There are some key takeaways that we wanted to highlight.

1. Take initiative as a leader to unite team as conflicts occur naturally throughout the project – understand that conflicts are unavoidable and allow a space for discussions to happen. The catch here is to remember to embrace conflicts, not avoid them.
2. Actively listening in the context of the speaker’s surroundings and emotions is important in order to become better listeners. By being better listeners, you are being a better leader, engineer, and overall a better person.
3. A leader must develop and guide the full potential of their team through disagreements in an engineering context – so learn to identify conflicts and act before healthy team disagreements turn into something that is destructive for your team.

RESOURCES                                                                                                                                                        

Click here to access the workshop worksheets.

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF THIS WORKSHOP!