📑Process for Resolving Conflicts
Here is Tech Fleet's standard process for resolving conflict on Agile teams. Read more below.
Process for Resolving Team Conflicts
Take ownership of your experience from the beginning. Recognize that every situation has different perspectives. Start by naming your own experience. For example, “I notice that when I am coming to this meeting I am feeling a sense of dread that I may not be heard,” instead of “you don’t listen to me.”
Do not assume a position of power-over, even if you are a lead. By this, we mean do not threaten, coerce, or direct others to do things as though you are in command. Do not assume that anyone on the team has more “say” by virtue of their role.
Focus on the problem and factual information not other people’s personalities or your interpretation of other peoples’ behavior. For example, you may feel that someone is being too pushy. You might say, “I am noticing that I don’t feel good or comfortable with this direction yet. Can we consider what we would need to know to make a good decision?”
Use the situation to learn. Humility is an essential aspect of service leadership. Remember, we all come into situations with our own lived experience and triggers. How can this situation help you to see how you might solve a problem like this at work or in your other relationships? What could you do differently to be more encouraging, supportive, or helpful to others on your team?
Avoid blame. When we do root cause analysis, we may see that the structures we’re working in are leading to some of the behavior we don’t like. Look for ways for everyone to benefit, and avoid win-loss or “grudging compromise.”
Seek support. If you are in a situation where you feel that you’re not being adequately considered, seek support. This does not mean “build a case for why you are right.” Get personal support and perspective by consulting with a peer. This might be your group lead or project coordinator, or the Agile Coach if your project has one.
Ask for help. If your issues can’t be resolved in the group, or if you are overwhelmed and you need someone to listen, you can reach out to the Conflict Resolution Support Team. For violations of our Cultural Agreement, you report anonymously through our support form. Note that the support team is not here to direct or manage the team. As a community-driven org, our goal is to support one another to find good ways to handle tension and conflict, not to fix situations by making decisions for the team.
A few other guidelines
Do not use text-based communication to resolve conflicts. If there is an issue, use voice and ideally video to communicate.
Get into the right headspace. When you are feeling agitated, wronged, or angry at another person, you may not act as your best self. Take time to calm down. If you’re in a meeting, you might say, “I need some time to consider this” or “I’d like to talk about this when I am feeling more centered.”
Report explicit violations. If someone is violating our community pledge, i.e. by harassing or abusing others, or by sharing sensitive data, or other explicit violations, please use our reporting process ASAP.
Use discretion to decide if you should address issues one-on-one or with the team. If you can share what you’re noticing compassionately and with openness to the perspectives of the other person, then a one-on-one dialogue can be great. Imagine how you would want someone to share an issue with you. If it feels like the group is being disrupted by a conflict, it can be very helpful to do a group exercise, such as TRIZ. Remember that our goal is always to find a way forward, not to assign blame.
Clarify the processes of the team. Before the project starts, have a plan for dealing with conflict.
Recognize different communication styles. Some people may simply be very passionate about a particular issue, and may not see their behavior as being “difficult.”
Collective Agreement Violations
Per our Collective Agreement, these are the explicit violations that should lead to reporting:
Primary Violations
Violence: intentionally hurting or endangering any persons, groups, or ”types of people”.
Unapproved sharing of confidential information.
Characterizing anyone’s personality or behavior on the basis of immutable identities or perceptions such as race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation or national origin.
Unnecessary personal attention or harassment after any clear request to stop it.
Legal endangerment: Openly illegal activities, fraud, or hate speech.
Secondary Violations
Failing to responsibly package and present media which includes, links or describes any Primary Violations.
Preventing others from participating through coercion, threat, or suppression.
Ignoring or neglecting a message of concern from any of our trusted community leaders (including the Board, staff, and Guild leadership).
Circumventing a removal by using another identity, account or profile.
How to report explicit violations
Report issues to safespace@techfleet.org, and/or submit a ticket in #create-a-ticket for support in Discord. If you would like to report something anonymously, see our guidelines for reporting.
Report exactly what happened, and where. (Screenshots and links help!) If the Violation(s) aren’t self-explanatory, explain your complaint.
Actions taken once violations are reported
Support Team will review the report and seek additional information if necessary.
Possible actions include:
No action (no violation found)
Invitation to parties for a mediated conflict resolution process
Encouragement to resolve the conflict as a team
Suspension from the project
Permanent removal from the project
Suspension or removal from Tech Fleet
Problem examples:
Conflict Examples
When you should deal with something one-on-one or among the team, using principles of steward leadership:
You perceive a team member to be too controlling or directive
You find yourself in frequent conflict with a group member
Someone on the team is not doing work they agreed to
Someone on the team is not showing up to meetings
A person doesn’t know how to do the work they agreed to do
You perceive a team member to be speaking disrespectfully to you
You disagree with someone’s opinion and you feel they are not listening to you
When you should involve your project coordinator or the Support Team:
A lead is withholding information from apprentices
Attempts at resolving conflict using all the steps outlined in our conflict resolution approach have failed
You believe someone is lying or acting in bad faith to the team
Someone on the team is not using good data security practices
You believe the project is in jeopardy of not being completed or being materially delayed
Violation Examples
Someone on the team is using language that disparages others based on race, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or other immutable aspects of others’ identities
Someone is sharing private data outside of the project
Someone is preventing other people on the team from participating
Someone on the team is using threats, ultimatums, or other forms of dominance or coercion to obtain compliance to their directives
Someone on the team is ignoring the communicated policies of Tech Fleet from the Board or Executive team
You have documented evidence of deceptive or antisocial behaviour that affects the team or project (being clear that this may be subject to further investigation)
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