4 Common Types of Team Conflict — and How to Resolve Them

Peterson, R S, Shah, P P, Ferguson, A J and Jones, S L (2024) 4 Common Types of Team Conflict — and How to Resolve Them. Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012

Abstract

Managers spend 20% of their time on average managing team conflict. Over the past three decades, the authors have studied thousands of team conflicts around the world and have identified four common patterns of team conflict. The first occurs when conflict revolves around a single member of a team (20-25% of team conflicts). The second is when two members of a team disagree (the most common team conflict at 35%). The third is when two subgroups in a team are at odds (20-25%). The fourth is when all members of a team are disagreeing in a whole-team conflict (less than 15%). The authors suggest strategies to tailor a conflict resolution approach for each type, so that managers can address conflict as close to its origin as possible.