Building Conflict Competent Teams

building CONFLICT COMPETENT TEAMS Successful teams know that conflict is not to be avoided but embraced and explored. In fact, conflict often results in new, previously unimagined opportunities, solutions, and results. Building Conflict Competent Teams provides team members with the skills to engage the inevitable conflicts and develop conflict competence. The authors demonstrate why conflict emerges within teams and how to respond in ways that will leverage conflicts to a team's advantage. Filled with stories, interviews, and examples that provide entertaining and thought-provoking insights about the nature of conflict within teams, this resource contains a wealth of techniques and processes for addressing team conflict that has gone awry. Runde and Flanagan also include useful tips and tools for assessing a team's current state of conflict competence and suggestions for addressing the challenges of today's virtual and geographically dispersed teams. Building Conflict Competent Teams is a guide for anyone who wants to develop the self-control, self-awareness, and constructive behavior patterns that will enhance their team experience. Keep up with new developments in conflict competence at the authors' Web site—www.conflictcompetentleader.com. The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) is a top-ranked, global provider of executive education that develops better leaders through its exclusive focus on leadership education and research. Founded in 1970 as a nonprofit, educational institution, CCL helps clients worldwide cultivate creative leadership—the capacity to achieve more than imagined by thinking and acting beyond boundaries—through an array of programs, products, and other services. Ranked among the world's top providers of executive education by BusinessWeek and the Financial Times, CCL is headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., with campuses in Colorado Springs, Colo.; San Diego, Calif.; Brussels, Belgium; and Singapore. Its work is supported by more than 500 faculty members and staff.

The Authors CRAIG E. RUNDE is director of new program development at the Leadership Development Institute at Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida. TIM A. FLANAGAN is director of custom programs at the Leadership Development Institute at Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Preface ix 1. A Team in Conflict 1 2. Where Conflict Comes From, And Why It Is So Hard To Manage 19 3. Creating the Right Climate 43 4. Constructive Communication 75 5. Techniques for Staying on Track 119 6. Special Cases: Virtual and Global Teams 171 7. Getting Started on the Road to Conflict Competence 189 Epilogue 209 Resources 213 References 217 The Authors 225 Index 227 About the Center for Creative Leadership 235