What is Conflict Management?

Reviewed by: Madhur Kathuria (CST, CEC, CTC)

Conflict management is the process of navigating and resolving disagreements in a way that promotes understanding, collaboration, and progress. While you may not eliminate conflict altogether, you should know how to handle it so that your team can keep moving forward. 

Conflict is a natural part of working with others. Anytime you have different people with different perspectives, you’re going to have tension from time to time. And that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s often a sign that people care about the work and have strong ideas about how to do it well.

In highly collaborative workplaces, especially agile environments, conflict is part of the process. When conflict is handled well, teams make better decisions, deliver more meaningful value, and keep small misunderstandings from turning into major obstacles. But when it’s left unchecked or handled poorly, conflict can slow everything down, create confusion, and damage trust. That’s why conflict management is such a powerful skill. It supports your team’s ability to grow, adapt, and thrive together.

What is conflict management?

At its core, conflict management is the ability to recognize, address, and resolve disagreements in a manner that is constructive and respectful. Rather than trying to “win” an argument or sidestep a tough conversation, the focus is on guiding the disagreement toward a resolution that works for everyone involved and strengthens the team as a whole.

Good conflict management means knowing when to speak up, when to step back, and how to listen in between. It’s a skill that helps teams navigate tension without losing momentum. And like any skill, it gets better with practice.

Why does conflict management matter at work?

Every workplace has its share of challenges, but one of the most common is the day-to-day friction that happens between people. It might be a disagreement about how to approach a task. It could be a personality clash that no one talks about openly. Or it might be a series of small misunderstandings that slowly build into frustration.

Trying to work through any of those tiny irritations while dealing with project deadlines, shifting priorities, and the pressure to innovate in the workplace is challenging in itself. Add in the complexity of hybrid or remote work, and it becomes even more important to communicate clearly and address issues early.

Imagine you’re part of a high-performing agile marketing team. During a remote kickoff meeting, a new marketing manager makes a demeaning comment to one of your long-time teammates. The moment is tense. Do you speak up and risk upsetting a more senior manager? Do you stay quiet and hope it blows over? If no one addresses the situation, the teammate who felt disrespected may start to withdraw. Psychological safety, something your team has worked hard to build, starts to erode. And with it, the openness, trust, and collaboration that fueled your success.

Conflict management skills help you prevent that scenario or recover from it quickly. Agile teams in particular benefit from these skills because they rely so heavily on collaboration, fast feedback loops, and collective decision-making. Without the ability to manage conflict, even the best-laid sprint plans fall apart. 

Getting the work done is important, but how conflict is handled also affects how people feel at work. When disagreements are resolved respectfully, team members feel heard. They feel safe offering new ideas, even if those ideas challenge the status quo. That sense of trust and openness supports engagement, reduces burnout, and fosters a sense of shared ownership. All of that leads to stronger teams and better outcomes.

When conflict is managed well across teams, organizations are better equipped to meet their goals. Miscommunication doesn’t stall critical projects. Teams stay aligned and focused on delivering value. Instead of spending time navigating interpersonal tension, people can invest their energy in solving problems, innovating, and moving the work forward. In the long run, a culture that supports healthy conflict resolution contributes to stronger performance, faster decision-making, and more sustainable growth across the business.

Conflict management strategies (and when to use them)

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to managing conflict. Depending on the situation, different strategies may be more effective. Sometimes, the best move is to step away and give the issue space. Other times, you need to have a direct conversation to move forward.

One helpful way to think about conflict styles comes from the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, or TKI. It outlines five common approaches people use when navigating disagreements: avoidance, accommodation, competition, compromise, and collaboration. Each one has its place, and the right choice often depends on the situation.

• Avoidance involves stepping back and not addressing the conflict right away. Sometimes issues resolve themselves. Avoidance can be helpful if emotions are high and people need time to cool off. But if overused, it can allow issues to fester.
  
  
• Accommodation means putting someone else’s needs ahead of your own to keep the peace. It’s useful when the stakes are low, but shouldn’t be the default, especially if it creates resentment.
  
  
• Competition takes a more assertive approach, where one party pushes hard for their perspective. It can be effective in emergencies or when a strong decision is needed quickly, but it risks damaging relationships.
  
  
• Compromise is about finding a middle ground. Each party gives up something to reach a solution. It’s practical, but doesn’t always address the deeper issue.
  
  
• Collaboration, on the other hand, aims to find a win-win solution. It requires more time and effort but tends to lead to better, more lasting results.
  

In agile environments, collaboration is often the go-to approach. Because teams are already working closely together and sharing accountability, they’re well-positioned to resolve conflict by listening openly and problem-solving together. Consider a scrum team, for example. Frequent feedback loops, such as daily scrums, sprint retrospectives, and sprint reviews, make it easier to spot tension early. That gives teams a chance to deal with it before it becomes disruptive.

None of these strategies works without a foundation of emotional intelligence. The ability to stay calm, stay curious, and avoid making assumptions can completely change the course of a conflict. Active listening also plays a big role. When someone feels genuinely heard, they’re more likely to engage constructively. Add in strong facilitation skills, and you’ve got the tools to guide even the trickiest of conversations toward a better outcome.

A built-in approach to conflict in agile teams

Agile teams are designed to navigate complexity, and part of that complexity is the human element. That’s why the values that guide agile—things like transparency, collaboration, and respect—also support healthy conflict resolution.

When a team works transparently, there’s less room for hidden agendas or backchannel frustration. Everyone sees the work. Everyone sees the progress. And if something isn’t working, it’s easier to speak up.

Collaboration, too, lays the groundwork for conflict resolution. A collaborative team doesn’t see conflict as a sign of failure. It sees it as part of the process. The question isn’t “How do we avoid this?” It’s “How can we work through it together?”

Respect is what holds it all together. When people treat each other with respect, even disagreements feel safer. You can challenge an idea without attacking the person. You can ask tough questions without putting someone on the defensive. That kind of culture doesn’t happen by accident but is shaped by the way teams interact every day.

Agile practices also offer built-in moments to surface and address conflict. For example, as part of the agile framework called scrum, sprint retrospectives are one powerful way for a team to discuss conflict and work interactions. Retrospectives give the team space to reflect not just on the work, but on how they’re working together. If there’s tension, it’s a chance to talk about it in a focused, time-boxed way. And because retrospectives happen regularly, there’s always another opportunity to try again or improve.

The scrum master plays a key role in this process. They’re not there to solve every conflict, but they can help the team recognize when something’s off and create the conditions for a productive conversation. Sometimes that means facilitating directly. At other times, it means supporting team members as they talk things through themselves. Either way, the goal is to help the team build its own capacity for managing conflict.

Self-organizing teams rely on one another to stay aligned, solve problems, and deliver results. Healthy conflict plays a vital role in that process. When team members feel safe challenging each other’s ideas, they uncover blind spots, strengthen ideas, and push the work to a higher standard. Disagreement becomes a catalyst for growth, not a sign of dysfunction. Over time, that kind of honest, respectful challenge helps the team raise its own bar and builds a culture where continuous improvement is a shared habit.

Conflict management training for any workplace

Conflict management is a valuable skill for anyone who works with people, whether you’re leading a department, supporting a team, or collaborating across roles.

Scrum Alliance’s Conflict Management Skills microcredential is a flexible, expert-designed course that helps you build confidence in your ability to handle tension constructively. You’ll learn practical strategies, develop your emotional intelligence, and gain tools you can use in real conversations, not just in theory.

The course is designed to fit into your schedule, and upon completion, you will earn a lifetime microcredential badge. It’s a credible way to show that you’re equipped to support your team through conflict and collaboration.

If you’ve ever walked away from a tough conversation wishing you’d handled it differently—or avoided a disagreement entirely because it felt too uncomfortable—this course is for you. And if you’re already confident in your conflict skills, the course can help you level up and support others in developing theirs.

Ready to get started? Learn more about our Conflict Management Skills microcredential and take the next step toward building stronger, more collaborative teams.

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