By Nick Redding While there is considerable research demonstrating that conflicts at work of a personal nature are the most destructive, research on conflicts over the task being performed (i.e. task conflicts) is inconclusive. Previous studies suggest that task-related conflicts in organizations resulted in either frustration, anger, and decreasing satisfaction with fellow team members, or sharing new information, ideas and perspectives. Findings from a recent study have brought some clarity to these inconsistent findings by identifying four aspects of task conflicts that seem to be critical to predicting whether they will be experienced as positive or negative by team members. First, when conflict expressions are less intense, with members freely sharing differing points of view while hearing dissenting feedback – as opposed to forcefully asserting views without hearing from others – conflicts seem more positive. This, in turn, increases the likelihood that alternative views are heard and incorporated into the task. If these two qualities of the task conflict situation are present, a more positive emotional experience seems to then be related to the extent to which 1) others involved in the conflict represent other functional areas of the organization, and 2) there is an active learning culture within the group.
In other words, when task meetings are conducted in the spirit of learning through exchanges across experience and expertise areas, individual team members tend to experience task conflicts more positively. Essentially, these researchers found a “sweet spot” for task conflicts: teams that are diverse, embrace learning, and are composed of members who are less intense during task conflicts, walk away feeling positive, despite disagreement. Based on this work, change leaders and consultants, confused by past inconsistent research around task conflicts, can now bring a more nuanced understanding when working to enhance collaboration within organizational teams – increasing the potential for harnessing collaborative dissent.
  Todorova, G., Bear, J. B., & Weingart, L. R. (2014). Can conflict be energizing? A study of task conflict, positive emotions, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(3), 451-467.
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