Successful cooperation is both a path and a goal. Good methods and tools make it much easier for a team to organize itself. Encourage your team to take the first steps in this direction and experience the difference.

As long as things are simmering in the underbelly of a team, you should first make sure there is sufficient peace before introducing other changes. Good conflict resolution unites more than it divides. Classic non-violent communication is well suited to this, especially when emotions are involved. Non-violent communication, or as it should better be called: Non-Dominance Communication, does not attempt to reconcile opposing opinions and evaluations, but is only intended to help people coordinate their further joint actions after the participants* have gained a sense of each other. This can be achieved with the NVC Magic Circle, for example, as long as the porcelain is not broken. However, it is not so easy to gain a deeper understanding of the tension structures that fuel the conflicts. Wherever people gather, different systems of togetherness inevitably form, such as partnerships, families, groups, teams, communities, schools, companies, etc. A good understanding of conflict is not possible without a good understanding of systems. Within these systems, people communicate and interact with each other whether they want to or not. Different cultures and structures develop within these systems. These organize the interaction and facilitate it, but also shape and limit it. A system is good when people live together and organize themselves in a good interactive quality. The greater the tensions in a system, the poorer the quality of interaction will be. As a result, communication and performance will also deteriorate. Instead, the participants look to protect themselves individually, defend themselves or flee inwards or outwards. Parties, sympathy groups and splits emerge and the system disintegrates, even if the outer shell still speaks of unity. This means that there is a systemic and a personal part to conflicts. Today, we tend to overlook the systemic part and focus too much on the personal. Some tend to blame themselves, others their counterpart or the whole world. This is why good conflict analysis is not so easy and is a matter of experience, even if many people have great faith in their own ability to understand conflicts. Only success proves you right. (Incidentally, it is typical for a solvable conflict to be seen as absolutely insoluble). A conflict analysis should actually open up changes towards peace and these changes should not be based on separation and isolation. Statements about a conflict that do not offer any solutions do not actually explain anything. There is no need for them. Furthermore, conflict resolution should be sought beyond guilt and shame, i.e. beyond a moral right and wrong. In cooperation, on the other hand, there are right and wrong actions. If the company burns down, you cannot say that everything went well. So there may be no moral culpability (culpa), but there is certainly a responsibility (obligatio) and a debt to be discharged (deber). The ability to take criticism is also a virtue that requires conscious training on the one hand and a caring team culture on the other. Conflict should not be allowed to become chronically entrenched in the team/company like a disease. That's why I recommend calling in a specialist very quickly if your own efforts fail or don't work. However, this specialist should think less psychologically than systemically and have the appropriate tools for conflict resolution. If in doubt, I would be happy to advise you on this, as it is unfortunately a difficult topic. However, if a team organizes itself with NVC- plus, conflicts will automatically become less frequent. This is partly due to the caring culture and the fact that the participants know each other's utopias, their Must-Haves and No-Gos and also their pain points. This makes a team resistant to conflict. In addition to a simple discussion between colleagues, there are three elements that can help: Take a look at these four elements and discuss them with your team. If you are interested in this topic, sign up for the newsletter and find out more about NVC-plus and the organic self- organization of teams and companies.