Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Tuckman's stages of group development model consists of four stages. Firstly "forming" followed by "storming", "norming" and finally "performing". The storming phase is an inevitable process of any group's development and it is where team members face conflicts while working with each other, partly due to differences in ideas and perspectives. It is crucial how these conflicts are addressed as it will determine how well the team will work together in the future.

One such scenario that I can recall was working as a team for an academic project. At the start of the project, I was confident that our journey would be a smooth one as all of us were relatively good friends and were happy to be grouped together. After our first few meetings as project mates, however, things took an unexpected turn. Our project leader seemed to envision a different outcome for the assignment as compared to how the rest of the project members felt it should be. Furthermore, she made it clear that she dictates the direction of the project as she felt that her way was the best for the project.

As I worked on the project, I found that certain aspects of her direction were flawed because it clearly clashed with the project's requirements. When I raised the issue to our leader, she rejected my claims and was stubborn. I turned to my project members to verify the mistakes made in the project but they were keen to maintain peace with the project leader. Although they were aware that there were indeed some flaws in our project due to misguidance, they followed the leader’s instructions for the sake of ensuring their friendship.

It was plain that there was a collision of priorities and perspectives between the various parties and myself. I was eager to participate productively in the project and score well for one of my favourite modules hence I voiced out my concerns to my project leader despite her controlling personality. My project leader, on the other hand, was unreceptive to suggestions from her project mates because of her rather narrow mindset and lack of teamwork. My project members, instead of supporting me and helping to correct the errors in our project, prioritized their friendship with their group leader and avoided any confrontations with their friend.

When equipped with the necessary Emotional Quotient (EQ) skills, we can easily overcome any forms of interpersonal conflicts and avoid unnecessary hostilities. Think about ES2007S tutorial on building interpersonal communication. If you were me, an eager project member who wanted the best for the project, how you would resolve this interpersonal conflict and get your other project mates to support you as well when the odds are against your favour?