Tipsheet: Best Practices for Productive Conflict

Laying the Groundwork: What Leaders Can Do to Set Teams Up for Productive Conflict

These are practices leaders can embed into team culture over time to reduce avoidable conflict and prepare teams to navigate it well when it does arise.

  1. Create Conflict Ground Rules
    Establish clear guidelines for acceptable behaviors during conflicts, such as active listening and respecting diverse viewpoints. Regularly revisit these rules. E.g. “What are the productive ways we want to disagree as a team?”

  2. Clarify Team Goals and Priorities
    Start meetings by reiterating the team’s goals. Clear, shared purpose keeps conversations grounded when conflict surfaces. “Today we’re focusing on finding a solution; we’re not focusing on who is to blame”

  3. Clarify Decision-Making Roles
    Define who has input, influence, and authority. Tools like RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) help reduce confusion and prevent power struggles. 

  4. Build Trust Consistently
    Trust is built over time but erodes quickly. Make sure team members feel heard, respected, and valued to create a foundation for healthy disagreement. 

  5. Introduce “Plussing” (Pixar’s Creative Process)
    Model how to add to ideas constructively instead of shutting them down. This helps normalize disagreement and collaborative iteration. For example: “Yes, and what if we piloted it first?” This keeps conversations creative and solution-focused.

  6. Lead From Purpose, Not Pride
    Remind your team that conflict isn’t about winning—it’s about aligning around shared goals. Choosing purpose over ego strengthens relationships. 

  7. Reframe Conflict as Opportunity
    Normalize the idea that conflict is a natural part of growth and progress. When teams view conflict as something to engage with rather than avoid, they build resilience.

In the Moment: What Leaders Can Do to Guide Teams Through Conflict

These are real-time coaching moves and prompts leaders can use during active tension to keep conversations grounded, respectful, and solution-focused.

  1. Name the Tension and Normalize It

    As a leader, don’t shy away from acknowledging when things feel tense. Say something like, “I can tell there’s some healthy disagreement here—and that’s not a bad thing. We’re talking about this because it matters.” Reinforce that brave, direct conversations are welcome—as long as they stay respectful and productive. 

  2. What DO We Agree On?
    Even small shared agreements—2% is enough—can create a foothold for collaboration and forward movement. 

  3. Differentiate Fact from Fiction

    Teach your team to pause and ask: What’s fact? What’s fiction? What else might be true? This habit defuses assumptions, reduces reactivity, and encourages more thoughtful, grounded responses—especially when interpreting tone, intent, or silence. 

  4. Focus on the Problem, Not the Person
    Keep the conversation anchored in the issue—not blame. This helps prevent emotional escalation and keeps collaboration intact. 

  5. Use “I” Statements
    Model and encourage language like, “I felt concerned when…” to reduce defensiveness and increase openness. 

  6. Ask Open-Ended Questions
    Prompt your team to go deeper and stay curious. Questions like, “What’s important about this to you?” open space for dialogue. 

  7. Reflect to Confirm Understanding
    Teach team members to reflect back what they hear—e.g., “So what I’m hearing is…”—to ensure mutual understanding and prevent misinterpretation. 

  8. Seek to Understand Before Being Understood
    Slowing down to fully hear the other person can shift the emotional tone and create room for real dialogue. 

  9. Disagree Respectfully
    Coach teams to share differences of opinion without judgment. Phrasing like “I see it differently” or “My take is…” helps keep it constructive. 

Scenarios (For Group Discussion)

Scenario 1

WeRise is preparing for a product launch. During a key meeting, Sarah avoids raising concerns but later questions leadership’s decisions privately. Javier, a junior team member feels torn between following the plan and Sarah’s doubts. As uncertainty spreads, morale drops, and leadership senses rising tension but can't pinpoint its cause.

Scenario 2

The team at HopeWorks is divided on how to approach a new fundraising campaign. Kai wants to move quickly and start executing, but Maya insists on more research and planning before taking action. Their conflicting approaches are creating tension, causing frustration, and stalling progress as the deadline looms.

Scenario 3

Isabel, a fast-paced, results-driven fundraising leader, grows frustrated with James, a steady and people-focused colleague in a support function. She feels he’s slowing things down, while he feels intimidated by her pressure and makes mistakes. Their conflicting styles are causing tension and affecting both their work.