What is conflict in business?

Think of a ‘conflict’ and what do you picture? Brewing resentment between teams? A clash of ideologies? Two colleagues shouting the odds?

Conflict not only comes in many forms, but means different things to different people. Indeed, your experience of conflict may be different from your nearest team member’s. After years advising senior leaders in high-pressure environments, we’ve witnessed these many interpretations of conflict, and how they emerge, first-hand.

So, what do we mean by ‘conflict in business’, and why does it arise?

Defining conflict in business

At Integrity, we believe that a conflict situation is any situation arising in a business environment where unresolved negative behaviour or discord is perceived.

The conflict may arise amongst any tier of an organisation. It might be between commercial stakeholders, or between a business and a third party. Conflict might be instantly recognisable as a dispute between parties, or (perhaps of more concern) it might be brewing beneath the surface in yet unspoken dissatisfaction.

Why does business conflict arise?

There are multiple reasons why a conflict might emerge. Discord could emanate as:

• an active serious disagreement or argument between valued employees
• a cultural or communication clash between two or more teams or individuals from different business backgrounds working together, e.g. a large management consultancy advising a project run by a charity or public sector organisation
• a team of leaders challenged by a change at the top of the organisation
• an individual stakeholder who senses that their relationship with another or others has changed for the worse
• as a result of a leader who is not communicating effectively with their team
• a business supplier who has not checked their understanding of the goods and services they are required to supply
• an internal conflict or conflict of interest within an individual, leading to decision paralysis

This list is by no means exhaustive. But it does show the wide range of circumstances in which conflict in business can – and does – arise.

Why and how does conflict escalate?

The reasons for conflict may be varied, but they have at least one thing in common. Absent from any unresolved conflict situation is the ability of the parties to achieve common ground through conversation about the issues.

Sometimes, a conversation is never entered into by the parties – perhaps through difficulty in finding the right opportunity, the right language, or perhaps through reluctance to upset the status quo.

Other times, a conversation may be attempted but fail for similar reasons, or due to an imbalance in hierarchy, goals, judgements or behaviours of those conversing. Or perhaps simply because the parties just don’t understand each other’s conversational cues – that is the message in not only what is said but what is left unsaid.

Whatever the reason, when commercial conflict is not resolved through conversation, relationships suffer and when no common ground can be found, the parties generally resort to allocating blame. Often, they turn too early to litigation and the courts to help sort the problem out.

At this point, acrimony can take over, conflict can spiral out of control and opportunities to reframe adversity can be missed.

Conversation: the key to conflict resolution

So, conversation in conflict situations is paramount. Yet, whilst we as a species have been communicating with each other for millions of years, conversations, especially high-stakes conversations, such as those addressing conflict, still involve a richly complex and multi-faceted dynamic which require careful preparation, patience, and above all, skills to master.

Fortunately, those skills can be acquired and practised by leaders looking to leverage conflict conversations to enhance business relationships, to the advantage of all concerned.

How can Integrity help?

Becoming competent in conflict management is a leadership skill. Integrity was founded to equip leaders with the tools to enhance your conflict communication skillset, break down barriers and seize the competitive edge.

So, whatever conflict means to you, we’ll empower your leaders to rise to the challenge and master conversations.

Facing your own conflict challenges or just simply want to learn more about how to communicate better in business relationships? Talk to the Integrity team today.