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Managing Conflict During (and After) Non-profit Mergers and Collaborations

Claudette Rowley June 26, 2013

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Claudette Rowley Coach, Consultant, Author

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Managing Conflict: During (and After) Non-profit Mergers and

Collaborations

Today’s Takeaways

The top three causes of conflict during mergers/collaborations and how to avoid them

How to manage conflict in ways that bring deeper issues, concerns and understanding to the surface

A process for successfully managing the three C’s of collaboration and merger: communication, conflict and culture

Addressing the Human Element

Allows the merging of operational and technological functions to happen more easily.

When the human element isn’t fully addressed, results can include:

employee disengagement

systemic organizational conflict

a merger or collaboration that falters

Top Three Causes of Conflict

1. Complexity of the process is underestimated

2. Differences in organizational culture

3. Communication isn’t clear, effective or affirming

Complexity of the Process

Planning doesn’t start early enough in the process or doesn’t capture the necessary level of detail.

Successful plans address:

- executive and name identification

- governance structure

- how staff and systems will integrate

- communication planning

- analysis of cultures

- legal and financial issues

Differences in Organizational Cultures

Culture develops over time as:

organizations integrate individuals into the larger whole

as they adapt to the (often changing) external environment.

Over time, organizations create a set of shared assumptions and beliefs we call “culture”.

Differences in Organizational Culture

No two organizations share exactly the same culture – just as no two families are alike.

Research shows that cultural alignment can be the most challenging aspect of a merger or collaboration.

Failure to create a new culture can derail the merger or collaboration process.

Communication Isn’t Clear, Effective or Affirming

Effective communication:

Sets expectations, maintains credibility, and reinforces trust among staff and other stakeholders

A communication plan helps reduce resistance, fears, and changes beyond employees’ control

The goal is to prevent misinformation and drama.

How to Manage Conflict

When conflict occurs, it can be used as an opportunity:

To surface deeper issues and concerns

Create understanding that moves organizational functioning forward

To understand the change that is trying to occur

Tips for Managing Conflict

Seek to understand by listening, asking questions and acknowledging others’ point of view

Give others a chance to tell their story without interruption

Stay off of the “Four Horses of the Apocalypse”: Stonewalling, Defensiveness, Blaming/Criticism, Contempt

Tips for Managing Conflict

Listen for and document agreements.

Where do we agree?

Listen for and document differences.

What’s most important?

What do we need?

What can we each give?

What needs to be addressed?

What’s not clear?

Tips for Managing Conflict

Phrases to use:

What’s really important to me is…

I need help with…

What I find most challenging is…

Tips for Managing Conflict

Try to bring empathy into conflict. Even when it doesn’t look like it, people are often doing the best they are capable of doing at a particular moment in time.

This isn’t an excuse for negative behavior.

Empathy can allow for objectivity and alternative perspectives to emerge.

Tips for Managing Conflict

Invite people to step outside of the situation:

“If we were on the outside looking in, what would you see? What would we say about what we observed?”

The goal is to bring deeper understanding and new perspectives.

Tips for Managing Conflict

During times of change and uncertainty, it’s easy to get rooted in a position or perspective.

Encourage people to make a list of perspectives.

Without judgment, what are five or ten other ways to view this situation?

Manage the three C’s: Culture, Conflict, Communication

Culture, communication and conflict – Which comes first?

Because they so deeply affect each other, it can be difficult to address one without addressing the other two.

1st C: Culture

Culture is everything that surrounds the workplace – values, attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, norms and that define and influence how an organization operates.

During merger and collaboration, the goal is to create a new culture together.

Cultural Issues to Address

Business environment and organizational strategy

Skills that are valued

Ongoing rites and rituals (spoken or unspoken)

Style of staff – close, distant, collaborative, siloed, mission-driven, creative, analytical

The ways information is communicated

Hierarchical or flat structure?

What are the core values?

Management style

Decision making: formal, informal, ad hoc

Ways to Address Cultural Issues

If these cultural issues needs to be addressed, organize a meeting to discuss. Identify the right stakeholders to participate in the meeting. Focus on where there’s cultural “agreement” and where there are cultural “gaps”.

Assess the state of your new organizational culture. How is it functioning? Are staff comfortable? Is a new identifiable culture emerging?

2nd C: Communication

Part one: Assessment

What’s the communication plan?

Who owns it?

How is it working?

Is communication clear?

Are people engaged and comfortable?

Are they confused, overwhelmed or apprehensive?

Communication Guidelines

Part two: Communication Guidelines

Are communication guidelines in place? Guiding principles can include:

Values (respect, truth, clarity, seek to understanding, effective listening)

Time frames (responding within 24 hours business hours)

Communication Guidelines continued

Methods (when to email, when to speak, how to conduct important conversations)

Handling important conversations (includes known conflict, content could be emotionally charged, complex or easily misinterpreted)

3rd C: Conflict

Conflict signals a need for improvement, situations or relationships that need attention or aren’t working.

Having a set of Conflict Guidelines in place can be helpful: “In our organization, here’s how we handle conflict…”

Address Conflict

Address conflict by:

Scheduling a time to talk

Preparing for the conversation

Seeking to understand

Asking questions

If you need help, ask for it – your manager, your human resources representative, an outside consultant

Tips for the 3 C’s

Below are concrete steps:

Identify who can shepherd culture, communication and conflict. A leader? A manager? An outside consultant?

If you are a leader, what attention do you need to devote to communication, culture, and conflict?

Suggest a course of action to the leaders in your organization.

Tips for the 3 C’s

Be solution-focused. Select one area to address first. Making a positive shift in one area will often lead to a positive changes in the other two areas.

Small shifts can make a big difference – what’s one small change that can be made?

In Closing…

A successful merger or collaboration is one in which the new organization is more robust than the sum of its parts.

It’s a new organization in which people address differences by saying “Isn’t this interesting? Let me investigate?” instead of “I don’t understand this.”

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