Catalog
concept#Governance#Delivery#Product

Conflict Resolution

A structured approach to identifying, analysing and resolving conflicts within teams and organizations.

Conflict resolution is a structured approach to identifying, analysing, and resolving disputes within teams and organizations.
Established
Medium

Classification

  • Medium
  • Organizational
  • Organizational
  • Intermediate

Technical context

HR tooling for documentation and follow-upIncident and ticketing systemsCommunication platforms for facilitated sessions

Principles & goals

Early identification and transparency about conflictsClear escalation paths and responsibilitiesFocus on interests rather than positions
Run
Enterprise, Domain, Team

Use cases & scenarios

Compromises

  • Reinforcement of power imbalances under poor facilitation
  • Superficial compromise without addressing root causes
  • Loss of information or one-sided narratives
  • Initiate early, neutral facilitation
  • Prioritize root causes over symptom fixes
  • Outcome-oriented agreements with clear follow-up

I/O & resources

  • Concrete incidents, communication logs, tickets
  • Stakeholder requirements and business context
  • Role descriptions and existing process documentation
  • Agreed actions, responsibilities and timelines
  • Documented lessons learned and prevention measures
  • Improved collaboration and escalation rules

Description

Conflict resolution is a structured approach to identifying, analysing, and resolving disputes within teams and organizations. It includes preventive measures, mediation techniques, and escalation paths to restore collaboration, decision-making and product quality. It supports both operational incidents and strategic disagreements, fostering trust, transparency and clear accountability.

✔

  • Faster restoration of collaboration
  • Reduction of recurring disruptions
  • Increased transparency and trust within the team

✖

  • Requires time and facilitation capacity
  • Not all conflicts can be resolved internally
  • Success depends on the willingness of participants

  • Time to resolution

    Average time from identification to closure of a conflict.

  • Conflict recurrence rate

    Share of similar conflicts that reoccur after resolution.

  • Satisfaction with the resolution process

    Qualitative rating by participants after closure.

Retrospective resolves recurring tensions

Team uses a structured retrospective to clarify underlying value and priority conflicts and adjust rules.

Service ownership clarifies responsibilities

Introducing clear service-owner roles reduces interface disputes and speeds up decisions.

Facilitated leadership round for strategic disagreements

Impartial facilitation leads to documented compromises and an aligned communication plan.

1

Define goals, escalation paths and facilitation roles

2

Train internal mediators and establish templates

3

Pilot in one team and gradual rollout with lessons learned

⚠️ Technical debt & bottlenecks

  • Undocumented rules lead to recurring conflicts
  • Missing training resources for facilitators
  • Outdated escalation paths that no longer reflect roles
Lack of facilitation skillsUnclear responsibility boundariesCultural barriers to open communication
  • Using conflict resolution as a pretext for layoffs
  • Only formal procedures without genuine mediation
  • Disclosing confidential information instead of protecting it
  • Escalating too early before gathering sufficient facts
  • Biased facilitators lacking independence
  • Lack of follow-up after agreements
Facilitation and mediation skillsConflict analysis and root-cause skillsCommunication and negotiation competence
Transparent decision processesClear roles and responsibilitiesFast communication channels during incidents
  • • Time availability of participants
  • • Confidentiality and data protection requirements
  • • Legal constraints in sensitive cases