A safe space to vent: Conciliation and conflict in distributed teams

: This paper considers the nature of conflict in relation to the environments within which distributed teams cooperate. Effective conflict management can bring great benefits to distributed teams, while inadequate conflict resolution strategies can incur significant personal and resource costs. The increased geographical, cognitive and emotional distances between members can stimulate and amplify conflict. Parties may display disinhibited behaviour (flaming) or may be reluctant to accept reconciliatory overtures (low trust). These factors can be attributed to the impact of communication technology on social structures that underlie interaction. Shifting to face-to-face meetings can be impractical or involve prohibitive cost, so it is important to establish how best to deal with conflict in technologically-mediated settings. Dispute resolution practitioners (conciliators) have evolved strategies and techniques to construct and regulate "safe-spaces"; settings that are conduciv...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: ECSCW
• Authors: Matt Billings, Leon Adam Watts
• Keywords: Conflict Management, ECSCW 2007, Effective Conflict Management, Inadequate Conflict Resolution, Software Engineering