#210 – Conflicts in the Team

After having rightfully empowered Scrum Masters to manage conflicts in the team, managers should help them be successful at it by sparring, mentoring, coaching and sharing their own experiences of resolving conflicts. Having constructive conflicts is a natural part of being a healthy and mature Scrum team, as long as the conflicts are entered and exited in a respectful manner.

As Scrum Master, you should get comfortable with conflict by believing that your Scrum Team will survive despite having conflicts. Take the facilitator stance and make sure that everyone involved in conflicts is heard, and that any personal attacks are addressed. Help the involved parties reach an agreement; sometimes, this happens “automatically”, but if not, you’ll need to proactively facilitate that a collective agreement is reached (e.g., by asking the team vote) so you can move forward.

Remember that having the team members discuss these types of topics following a conflict and come up with solutions together will build Courage, Openness and Respect among them.