3.2 Team conflict
Teams are made up of individuals: they have different personalities, backgrounds, experiences, statuses, values and beliefs, expectations and perceptions about their own degree of power within a team. Many teams experience conflict, in particular due to power differences between team members. In some teams, the source of the conflict is due to the different statuses (e.g. seniority) of team members and how they might use their power. Other team members may feel they cannot speak, or are not listened to if they do, because of their professional status, gender or ethnicity. This can lead to complete disempowerment in a team and probably its failure.
You will find out more about conflict in Week 8.