Identifying Group Conflicts

Video Transcript

"Okay, let's talk about conflict for a moment. It is probably inevitable that at some point while working in a group, some kind of conflict is going to arise. And I'm going to give you now a few tips on what I like to call fighting fair. The first thing that you need to do when conflict arises is identify the problem. What is the exact problem? Johnny doesn't let me get my work done. Suzy thinks she knows everything and takes over my work and redoes it. What is the problem? What are we dealing with? Because the problem is what we need to attack and resolve. The fact that we're not getting XYZ accomplished, or somebody is redoing somebody's work, or somebody is not meeting their particular deadlines. We want to attack this problem rather than the person. Well, she's just screwing everything up. That's not the problem. That is an attack on a person. What is the problem? How is she screwing everything up? Well, she's not meeting her deadlines. Or she's not taking good notes. Or, whatever it is, identify the problem and focus on it. Leave the person out of it. That's step one. Now let's move on."