The Importance of Conflict Resolution Techniques in Autonomous Agile Teams

TL;DR

Effective conflict resolution techniques are crucial for autonomous agile teams, and specialized training in negotiation and conflict management can enhance team development and productivity.

Contribution

This position paper highlights the importance of conflict resolution training for software engineers and discusses team-level conflict management strategies.

Findings

Most conflicts originate from team-level factors

Team-level conflict management is more effective than dyad-focused approaches

Training in negotiation skills can facilitate better team development

Abstract

Today, software companies usually organize their work in teams. Social science research on team development has shown that for a team to reach a productive and autonomous stage, it has to be able to manage internal conflicts and disagreements efficiently. To better facilitate the team development process, we argue that software engineers' needs additional training in negotiation skills and conflict resolution. In this position paper, we outline ideas for what aspects to consider in such training. As an example, we argue that a majority of the conflicts originate from team-level factors and that they, therefore, should be managed on the team-level instead of in relation to dyads.