Did you know that conflicts are a natural part of team dynamics, especially due to the diversity in perspectives, backgrounds and skills? In fact, research records at least 85 statistical workplace conflicts to date.

Some potential negative effects of unresolved conflicts are decreased productivity and morale within the team. According to Consensio Partners, the overall health of 84% of workers was impacted by workplace conflicts, either mentally, physically or both. This caused them to take time off work and, at worst, to quit their jobs.

Singapore’s office culture emphasises workplace harmony, making conflict resolution skills essential. Therefore, this article equips you with practical, actionable conflict resolution strategies to manage and resolve team conflicts, enhancing teamwork and collaboration.

Understand Conflict in Teams

Common sources of team conflict stem from three main sources: miscommunication, differing priorities, and personality clashes.

Miscommunications often lead to misunderstandings that create frustration among team members. Whereas, differing priorities emerge when individuals focus on separate end goals for a project or task. Personality differences affect how people work, with varying styles and ideas sometimes creating incompatibility.

Examples of conflicts naturally arise from:

Miscommunication: Unclear messages create frustration and wasted effort
Differing priorities: What’s urgent for sales may be less critical for operations
Personality clashes: Creative thinkers and analytical minds often approach problems differently

So why is it important for you to recognise conflicts early on? This boils down to two important reasons. First, early identification helps prevent situations from escalating. Second, it contributes to maintaining a healthier, more productive team environment.

These 5 different strategies for conflict resolution will help you navigate team conflicts effectively. Let’s dive in!

The 5 Strategies for Conflict Resolution

Every team conflict requires a tailored approach. The key to effective conflict management lies in selecting the right strategy for the situation—whether the priority is speed, relationships, fairness, innovation, or emotional de-escalation.

These five proven methods, adapted from the Thomas-Kilmann model, give you a complete toolkit to transform tensions into productive outcomes:

1. ASSERTING (also known as Competing)

Asserting is for when quick action is needed or to defend one’s rights or principles. Use it when the outcome is critical to the team’s success.

When to assert yourself:

A project manager insists on extending a deadline because the current timeline would compromise the quality of the final product.
A team member may need to assert their stance on an important issue (such as meeting safety standards) even if it means overriding the team’s consensus.

Ways to use assertion effectively:

Decide on the change and its fairness
Stating your wants and feelings in a concise and open manner
Learn how to say no and to listen to others’ opinions
Be calm and take risks
Give and take both compliments and fair criticisms

Pro Tip: Assertion works best when paired with active listening. Acknowledge others’ perspectives before stating your position.

Now let’s explore the next approach.

2. ACCOMMODATING

Use the accommodating strategy in two key scenarios: when de-escalating tension is your priority or when preserving relationships matters more than the issue at hand. This approach demonstrates emotional intelligence by valuing team harmony over personal victory.

Pro Tip: Accommodation does not equate to self-neglect and being disrespected. Protect your boundaries while being flexible.

Here’s how to accommodate others wisely:

1. Establish boundaries through self-reflection:

What concessions align with your values?
What crosses your personal limits?

2. Assess the situation by:

Seeking others’ perspectives on the proposed solution
Evaluating short-term vs. long-term relationship impacts

3. Choose your battles using this test:

Does this issue affect core objectives?
Will conceding create future precedents?

4. Find mutual gains by exploring:

Alternative solutions that partially satisfy all parties
Future opportunities to balance current concessions

When Accommodation Works Best:

A team member agrees to take on a difficult task to help another colleague with a personal issue, but clarifies that this is a one-time gesture.
A team member chooses not to push for a personal preference during a team meeting in order to allow others to have their way on a less critical issue.

While accommodation preserves relationships, sometimes deeper conflicts require the balanced approach of our next strategy: compromising.

3. COMPROMISING (The Middle-Ground Approach)

Compromising requires both parties to sacrifice something to reach a middle ground, creating an equal middle ground. Unlike accommodation, compromising is where the parties involved do not achieve their original full goals.

This middle-ground approach means neither side will get everything they want, but both gain enough to move forward.

Pro Tip: Compromising is a practical and balanced approach as it encourages equality and mutual chances to discuss any disagreements and maintain workplace harmony .

Ask yourself: “What can we both live with that still moves us toward our shared objectives?”

When to choose to compromise:

Budget Disputes: Two departments agree to share a budget for a project, deciding on a smaller initiative that both can benefit from.
Resource Allocation: Two team members might split and share a set of resources when both initially wanted them in full, leading to a balanced solution.

How to implement effectively:

1. Identify Core Needs

Before negotiating:

Separate must-haves from nice-to-haves: “We must meet safety standards, but the deadline has some flexibility.”
Rank priorities: Use a 1-3 scale (critical/important/optional)

2. Brainstorm Trade-Offs

Use the “If-Then” framework: “If we extend the timeline by 2 days, then can we reduce the feature scope?”
Explore creative alternatives: Instead of splitting a budget 50-50, propose staggered funding by quarter.

3. Document Agreements

Capture specifics: “Marketing gets 60% of Q3 budget, R&D gets 60% of Q4”
Clarify contingencies: “If project A underperforms, we reallocate 20% to project B”
Assign accountability: “Team X owns monitoring timelines, Team Y tracks quality metrics”

While compromise resolves deadlocks, some conflicts demand a more creative approach, like our next strategy: collaborating.

4. COLLABORATING

The collaborating strategy is to achieve a win-win situation by joint problem-solving and creative solutions. Collaboration drives better outcomes by uniting parties to solve the underlying issue together.

It targets the root cause, not just the symptoms of conflicts. Unlike compromise, it achieves full-value solutions by addressing root causes, not just symptoms, while preserving all parties’ core goals.

How to collaborate effectively:

Align on the goal first: Start with shared objectives. Reach a common understanding with open minds.
Talk openly, listen actively: Have an open communication with each other. Encourage all voices to be heard.
Solve problems jointly: Have the willingness to work together for collaborative problem solving. Use whiteboarding or brainstorming sessions.
Build trust through transparency: Create and build trust between involved parties. Share progress and roadblocks openly.

When collaboration works best:

Cross-department projects: The marketing and product teams collaborate on a campaign, combining their ideas and insights to create a strategy that benefits both departments’ objectives.
Technical problem-solving: A team of engineers and designers works together to resolve a technical issue by pooling their expertise and ideas to create a better solution.

For less complex issues where collaboration isn’t feasible, consider our final strategy: avoiding.

5. AVOIDING (The Strategic Pause)

There are times when certain conflicts are minor, emotions are running high, and none of the above 4 strategies are helping to defuse the tension. Avoiding is a deliberate choice to temporarily disengage from conflict when emotions threaten productive resolution.

This strategy is most effective for minor issues where the cost of confrontation outweighs potential benefits, allowing time for perspective without relationship damage.

When to avoid:

Space disputes: A manager sees two employees arguing over office space and suggests taking a short break before reconvening the discussion later. This prevents irreversible damage from heated words.
Minor issues: A team leader chooses to delay a discussion on a minor issue until everyone is calm, preventing an emotionally charged conversation. This buys time for perspective for all parties involved.

How to Implement Effectively:

Set a specific time to revisit (within 24 hours)
Use the break to gather objective information
Return to the discussion with fresh framing:
“How can we solve this in a way that works for everyone?”

Pro Tip: When tensions flare, remind everyone: “We’re on the same team working toward the same goals.” This simple reframe helps diffuse emotions while maintaining unity.

Remember: Avoidance is temporary. Always circle back to resolve paused conflicts.

Now that we’ve explored all five strategies, let’s examine how to choose the right approach for different situations.

Additional Tips for Conflict Resolution

1. Proactive Engagement Through Communication

Conflict resolution begins with intentional communication. By focusing on clarity and mutual understanding, you can transform disagreements into opportunities for team growth.

Key Practices

Active Listening:

Paraphrase to confirm understanding (“What I’m hearing is…”)
Ask open-ended questions (“Help me understand your perspective on…”)

Clear Messaging:

Use “I” statements (“I feel frustrated when…” rather than “You always…”)
Address issues early before they escalate

2. Leadership’s Role in Conflict Resolution

Leaders set the tone for healthy conflict resolution through their actions and attitudes. With a team, the role of leadership in conflict resolution is to be a role model and an example to be followed.

What Effective Leaders Do

Model constructive behaviours:

Demonstrate calm problem-solving during disagreements
Admit mistakes openly (“I mishandled this situation—here’s how we’ll improve”)

Create psychological safety:

Establish ground rules for respectful discussions
Intervene immediately when conversations turn personal

Facilitate fair resolutions:

Hear all perspectives before deciding
Focus on interests, not positions (“What does each team really need?”

Example: A manager resolves interdepartmental tension by having both teams list their top 3 needs, then finding overlapping priorities.

3. Overcoming Biases and Preventing Escalation

Unconscious biases can distort conflict resolution. Recognising and addressing them leads to fairer outcomes.

To overcome biases in conflict situations, there are techniques for staying neutral, remaining calm and addressing the root causes of conflict:

Self-assessment: Ask, “Would I judge differently if this involved someone else?”
Seek diverse input: Consult team members who aren’t directly involved
Focus on facts: Document specific behaviours/events, not personalities
Implement checks: Have a colleague review your proposed resolution

When Biases Surface:

Pause the discussion
Acknowledge the potential bias (“I notice I’m having a strong reaction—let me examine why”)
Restart with neutral framing

Mastering these additional skills will strengthen your ability to implement the five core strategies effectively.

As we’ve seen, conflict resolution isn’t about eliminating disagreements but transforming them into opportunities for growth and innovation.

Wrapping Up

Mastering these five conflict resolution strategies empowers you to transform workplace tensions into opportunities for collaboration and growth.

By understanding when to assert, accommodate, compromise, collaborate, or strategically pause, you’ll foster healthier team dynamics where diverse perspectives drive innovation rather than discord.

Here’s a recap on the 5 Strategies to Conflict Resolution:

Remember:

Each resolved conflict strengthens team trust and productivity
The right strategy depends on the situation’s urgency and importance
Leaders who model constructive resolution inspire their entire organisation

Your Next Step

Don’t let unresolved conflicts limit your team’s potential. @ASK Training will be your suitable ally in this journey with our range of Communication Management courses!

Our Constructive Conflict Management is designed to help you resolve conflict by handling or managing it in productive ways.

Don’t let fear hold you back. Enrol today and start your journey to becoming a more effective team player or leader today!

Related Courses

◆◆◆

5 Proven Strategies for Conflict Resolution in Teams