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Last updated on Jan 7, 2025
  1. All
  2. Engineering
  3. Engineering Management

Your agile team is clashing over different working styles. How do you resolve these conflicts?

When your agile team clashes over different working styles, fostering harmony and productivity is essential. Here are some strategies to resolve these conflicts:

  • Facilitate open discussions: Encourage team members to voice their concerns and preferences in a safe environment.

  • Establish common ground: Identify shared goals and values to align team efforts.

  • Adapt agile practices: Tailor agile methodologies to fit the team's diverse working styles while maintaining core principles.

How do you handle working style conflicts in your team?

Engineering Management Engineering Management

Engineering Management

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Last updated on Jan 7, 2025
  1. All
  2. Engineering
  3. Engineering Management

Your agile team is clashing over different working styles. How do you resolve these conflicts?

When your agile team clashes over different working styles, fostering harmony and productivity is essential. Here are some strategies to resolve these conflicts:

  • Facilitate open discussions: Encourage team members to voice their concerns and preferences in a safe environment.

  • Establish common ground: Identify shared goals and values to align team efforts.

  • Adapt agile practices: Tailor agile methodologies to fit the team's diverse working styles while maintaining core principles.

How do you handle working style conflicts in your team?

Add your perspective
Help others by sharing more (125 characters min.)
25 answers
  • Contributor profile photo
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    Sameer Goyal

    Senior Director | Global Head of Banking Technology at Acuity Knowledge Partners | Product Engineering, Cloud Solutions, AI/ML, Risk Tech | ISO 27001 & SOC2 Expert | Proven Leadership in Driving Technology Excellence

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    Resolving Agile Team Conflicts 1. **Identify Root Causes**: - Actively listen to team members. - Analyze patterns triggering conflicts. 2. **Foster Open Communication**: - Create safe spaces for sharing concerns. - Use agile ceremonies like stand-ups and retrospectives. 3. **Set Clear Expectations**: - Define roles and responsibilities. - Agree on team norms and guidelines. 4. **Promote Collaboration**: - Encourage pair programming. - Conduct team-building activities. 5. **Continuous Improvement**: - Use retrospectives to discuss improvements. 6. **Address Issues Promptly**: - Facilitate conflict resolution with mediation techniques. 7. **Monitor and Adjust**: - Regularly assess team dynamics.

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    Anthony Yazbeck
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    Having Different sets of mind or styles within a team is normal in many cases beneficial and dynamic. This leads to innovative solutions and out of the box ideas. Though, when this leads to a conflict this is mainly a communication issue not related to differences ,as they can never be absent in a workplace, but learning to communicate and showcase each point of view is key.

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    ZIAD GHANDOUR

    Chief Operating Officer / Chief Transformation Officer / Chief Technical Officer

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    Even in agile teams with overlapping responsibilities, defining functional leadership is crucial to fostering alignment. A nurturing leadership role ensures the team speaks the same business language, minimizing misunderstandings. Semantic alignment—agreeing on terminology, practices, procedures, and policies—reduces wasted discussions and prevents conflicts over working styles. Agility doesn’t inherently lead to clashes; rather, clear communication and shared understanding create cohesion and efficiency.

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    Aaron Etzkorn

    Pioneering the Clean Energy Movement || Leading Willdan's Charge to Sustainable Energy || Learn More About Sustainable Energy Solutions at Willdan.com || President @ Willdan Performance Engineering

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    Agile only works if the team does. When working styles clash, it’s not about picking sides—it’s about alignment. Get everyone in a room and strip it down to the basics: what’s the goal, and what’s actually slowing things down? Some thrive on structure, others on flexibility. Find a workflow that respects both. Daily stand-ups? Keep them short and focused. Too much process? Cut the fluff. Too little? Set clear non-negotiables. The best agile teams aren’t uniform—they’re adaptable.

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    Umar, I. PMP, CSCP®, CSSMBB®

    13 Yrs Business Transformation | 7 Sectors | $2M+ Impact | 20% Cost Reduction | Ops Excellence, Program Management & Digital Transformation (AI, ML, RPA)

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    While scaling an agile billing automation team, tensions rose between fast-paced developers and detail-oriented auditors. I hosted a retrospective focused solely on work styles, not deliverables. We mapped out each member’s preferences using DISC profiles, then adjusted sprint rituals shorter scrums for devs, structured syncs for audit. This mutual awareness built empathy, and output quality improved without sacrificing velocity. Agile isn’t rigid it’s adaptive to people first.

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    John Preen

    Quality and Culture shaping facilitator (retired from engineering since July2014) Currently teaching dance classes.

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    According to many 'performance ' specialists, there are only 4 main behavioral styles as follows: 1) Controlling - Decisive but generally impatient, they operate at pace and can be abrupt, they ask What and they aim to save time. 2) Analysing - Organised but risk averse, they like to plan and can be methodical, they tend to ask How and aim to save face. 3) Supporting - The team builders and are focused on the people, they tend to ask Why and aim to save relations. 4) Promoting - The idea generators but are often quite poor planners, they like to take risks but are not motivated by long term mundane tasks. Strength of one can be the weakness of another, styles should be seen as complimentary. It is not the person, it is just their style

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    Atiqul Hassan MIEAust AMIRSE

    Rail Signal Engineer

    • Report contribution

    The working principle can be varied but need to consolidate the outcome with different approaches or methodologies. Once each different idea achieves this, then they can have a forum to discuss each ideas’s pros and cons and select the most efficient one. Different ideas can be picked up for different stages as well which is the agile approach. On the behavioural part, everyone needs to be active listener and agree or disagree respectfully.

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    Sumit Kandwal

    Certified SAFe® Agilist | Certified SAFe® Scrum Master | Agile Mindset

    • Report contribution

    Resolving conflicts over different working styles in an Agile team requires a balance of communication, facilitation, and alignment with Agile principles. 1. Acknowledge and Understand the Conflict.Encourage open discussion where each team member can express their concerns 2. Remind the team of Agile principles like collaboration, self-organization, and customer focus. 3. Facilitate a Collaborative Discussion Use a retrospective meeting. Encourage a safe space where team members feel heard and respected. 4. Define Team Agreements establish working agreements on communication, decision-making, and task ownership,DOR and DOD. 5. Encourage Adaptability & experimentation. 6. Focus on behaviour, Not on individual.

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    Laertes L.
    • Report contribution

    Na minha experiência para evitar o conflito na equipe, é indicado criar normas e regras para todos seguirem, focando no respeito entre as pessoas. Usar a tecnologia a favor do trabalho colaborativo em equipe é também uma ótima solução para acabar com conflitos. Interagir com uma ampla variedade de pessoas regularmente, então você precisa esperar que surjam conflitos de tempos em tempos. Nenhum local de trabalho está completamente livre de conflitos, não importa o quão felizes os funcionários possam parecer. Mas as melhores empresas não se orgulham de ter conflitos, elas se orgulham de suas habilidades de resolução de conflitos.

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    Ketul Patel

    Production Technologist @ cellcentric GmbH & Co. KG | Masters in Energy Management

    • Report contribution

    To resolve working style conflicts in an agile team: * Talk openly: Discuss concerns and preferences. * Find common ground: Focus on shared goals. * Be flexible: Adjust agile methods to fit different styles while staying true to core principles.

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