INFORMS Open Forum

Hi INFORMS and all, I am Ian and just recently joined INFORMS! I am currently studying for my Masters degree in Business Analytics in UC Davis

As part of our curriculum, we have a lot of group working opportunities, I wanted to ask if you could kindly share one of your experiences facing conflicts in a group setting and any innovative ways you resolved the situation! Thank you! 

Heyy Ian,

Glad to see you join the community. 

In a previous team project, we faced a conflict where there was a disagreement between two team members about the acquired company in the M&A deal. One team member advocated for a local company, while the other preferred an international company. The conflict was causing tension and slowing down our progress at the start.

To address this, we decided to take an innovative approach to resolve the conflict. On the day, each team member had the opportunity to present their ideas and synergies to the entire team. We structured it as a friendly competition, with the goal of convincing our team members that their choice was the better

What made this approach innovative was that it encouraged creativity and critical thinking while also allowing for healthy competition. It also provided a platform for both team members to present their ideas in a non-confrontational setting. After the presentations, we held a discussion where team members could ask questions and provide feedback. I hope it helps. 

Hi Ian, 

 I've worked with many teams and conflicts are natural especially with tight schedule of work and studies. What I would suggest is open communication. You could set up a time where each team member could express their concerns on why they are behind their deadlines and ask them for ideas to improve their schedule. I think this would allow your team to better understand each other's viewpoints.

Hello Yi-Yin (Ian),

    For student group projects, where all group members have equal status, I suggest the following. Prior to a project meeting on a particular topic, see if your group can agree on the following method (process) for resolving issues.

Method:

   - Each person expresses their view about the issue. This should be done in turn. Once one person has expressed their view, that person should be silent until everybody else has expressed an opinion. Then open the topic for further discussion. After a while, you may want to go around the room a second time, each person speaking in turn (one time). Finally, someone can say, "Does everybody agree all views have been expressed? If yes, then let's vote. Majority wins."

Get everybody to accept that process. It should not be hard to get agreement on that in advance of a particular issue being discussed. You might even put it down in writing. Once the next project meeting with an issue occurs, remind everybody at the beginning of the meeting of the process for resolving issues to which everyone has agreed.

Hi John,

Really appreciate your advice and feedback, I like the idea of voting and getting pre agreed terms in writing, I will definitely try this out on my school projects and let you know how it goes!