Conflict handling

Conflict is inevitable in any organisation because, well, we’re all human and from time to time, fragile, sensitive; even a bit stupid :)

The way we deal with conflict is super important - some conflicts are healthy and productive and drive improvement - other conflicts are shitty, political and suck the soul out of the culture. We want more of the former and less of the latter.

With everything bottom-up, with no management or managers, no place to “escalate”, conflict handling can sometimes get a bit tricky.

Inspired by the book Reinventing Organizations, we’ve learned that self-organisation at scale benefits from an explicit conflict handling strategy, a simple process that everyone needs to understand and commit to.

We agreed on this 3-step conflict escalation process:

Our conflict handling process

Step 1: If I have an issue or a problem, I take responsibility for bringing it up and getting it sorted with the involved person(s) ASAP. Or, I accept it and let it go for real (seriously … you really let it go). On the other hand, if someone brings up an issue with me, I commit to meeting up.

In this phase the two people sit together and try to sort it out privately. The initiator has to make a clear request (not a judgement, not a demand), and the other person has to respond clearly to the request (with a yes, a no, or perhaps a counterproposal.)

… if the conflict didn’t get solved:

Step 2: Invite a facilitator/mediator that both parties trust. The facilitator’s role is to help the parties find a mutually acceptable solution, not try to force his/her own solution upon the conflicting parties.

… if the conflict didn’t get solved:

Step 3: We fondly call this a Sev 1 with the involved parties.

There’s nothing worse than stuff that festers so this is treated with extraordinary priority. A panel of 3 is convened asap; their role to listen and help shape abn agreement. The panel cannot force a decision but usually carries enough moral weight for matters to come to a conclusion.

There’s no need yet for a Step 4 …