Productive Conflict Amid 2025’s Chaos

Why Conflict Happens in the Workplace

Conflict is an inevitable part of organizational life. Common sources of conflict include:

• Competition for resources: Limited budgets, staff, or supplies can put teams at odds when everyone needs a share.

• Clashing goals or priorities: Different departments or individuals may have conflicting objectives, especially when their tasks are interdependent.

• Unclear or overlapping roles: Gaps or overlaps in responsibility often invite mix-ups and turf wars.

• Status and ego: Hierarchy issues or perceived slights (e.g. someone lower in rank giving direction to a higher-up) can breed resentment.

• Poor communication: Misunderstandings or lack of information easily lead to conflict. Even personal differences in values or work styles can cause team members to get on each other’s nerves.

In turbulent times, these conflict triggers become even more pronounced. People might feel their job security, identity, or territory is threatened amid all the change, so minor issues can flare up quickly. Recognizing the root causes of conflict can help leaders address issues before they escalate.

The Four Phases of Conflict

Workplace conflicts typically follow a pattern of escalation if unchecked. As a leader, it’s useful to understand the four common phases of conflict:

Phase 1 – A Tension Arises: A disagreement or problem emerges between individuals or groups, starting to disrupt workflow. At this early stage, the issue might be subtle and not immediately visible to leadership. 

Phase 2 – Conflict Escalates: The disagreement grows and begins affecting job performance or team dynamics. Often, this is when the leader finally becomes aware of the conflict because it’s now harming productivity or morale.

Phase 3 – Confrontation and Crisis: The leader investigates and addresses the problem by talking to those involved and attempting a resolution plan. If initial attempts don’t succeed, the situation can reach a crisis point that demands urgent intervention and new strategies.

Phase 4 – Resolution: Ultimately, if managed properly, the parties agree on necessary changes in behavior or process, and the conflict is resolved (at least for now). The team can then move forward once the tension is settled.

Not every conflict will progress neatly through these stages, but most heated disputes go through a similar cycle. By intervening early (in Phase 1 or 2), leaders can often prevent a small friction from snowballing into a full-blown crisis.

The Costs and Benefits of Conflict

Conflict often gets a bad reputation, but it has both positive and negative potential. It all depends on how it’s managed:

• When conflict is handled well, it can lead to growth and innovation. Constructive conflict forces people to reconsider their views and seek new solutions they might not have thought of otherwise. Teams that work through differences often emerge with clearer communication and creative ideas to improve processes or solve problems. In this way, productive conflict can break up stagnant thinking and push the organization forward.

• When conflict is left unmanaged or turns toxic, it can exact a heavy cost. Ongoing discord consumes time and energy, causes stress, and undermines team morale. Trust between coworkers erodes if people feel they have to fight each other to be heard or treated fairly. In the worst case, unresolved conflicts lead team members to stop cooperating or sharing information, hurting overall performance. These negative effects don’t just impact those directly involved – they create a tense atmosphere that affects the whole team and organization.

Clearly, conflict is a double-edged sword. The goal is to maximize the upside of conflict (open dialogue, better decisions, stronger relationships) while minimizing the downside. That’s where the concept of productive conflict comes in – making sure disagreements are aired and resolved in a healthy way.

Tips for Fostering Productive Conflict

How can leaders encourage conflict to be productive rather than destructive, especially amid chaotic times? A few proven strategies include:

• Foster a culture of openness: Let your team know that respectful disagreement is okay and even healthy. Normalize the idea that debate and dissent (done politely) are a natural part of collaboration. When people feel safe to speak up, conflicts are more likely to surface early and get resolved constructively, rather than stewing under the surface.

• Address issues early: Don’t wait for a small disagreement to turn into a crisis. Pay attention to early signs of friction and intervene before it escalates. Encourage team members to voice concerns or frustrations at Phase 1 or 2, when a simple conversation can often prevent an issue from exploding.

• Focus on facts, not personalities: When conflicts do arise, keep the discussion on the problem at hand rather than personal attributes. As a mediator, guide the conversation toward specific issues and behaviors. This helps prevent finger-pointing and keeps conflicts task-oriented and solution-focused instead of hurtful.

• Encourage empathy and listening: Remind team members to listen to each other’s perspectives. Often, conflicts diminish when each side feels heard and understood. As a leader, you can model empathy by acknowledging valid points on each side and finding common ground.

• Provide support and training: Sometimes employees need tools to navigate conflict more effectively. Consider providing conflict management training or assessments to build self-awareness around conflict behaviors. For example, the Everything DiSC® Productive Conflict assessment gives participants personalized feedback on their destructive responses and how to reframe them constructively. Building these skills helps everyone respond to tense situations more effectively.

By applying the above practices, leaders can transform their workplace conflicts into opportunities for improvement. Instead of dreading conflict, teams can learn to channel it in positive directions – even when external chaos is swirling around them.