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Value Conflicts

In teams, as well as in organisations, a core task is to process value conflicts. This task is uncomfortable, because no system likes to do without, or neglect, something ‘good’. This is why value conflicts easily become relationship conflicts in teams and team conflicts in organisations.

In teams then, some are for quality, the others for speed, some are for clear rules, the others for creative individual solutions. The question: “What is really important in this team and takes priority over everything else in an emergency?” should therefore be answered the same way by all members of a team. If this is not the case, there exists a value conflict, which must be processed in the team.

Organisations, on the other hand, must decide if they work with focus on one value or with the focus on ‘solidarity where there are opposing interests’. Then a team, for example, can know whether their own value takes priority or not in the case of conflict or whether one must compete with another team intensively for priority in the face of the actual situation.