Team conflict is inevitable. Every manager, leader and coach needs to be prepared and equipped to resolve conflict — whether between different teams or between members of the same team.

A pragmatic and structured tool for resolving conflict - and even preventing conflict - is called WINFY: What I Need From You, from Liberating Structures(1).

A WINFY story: I was coaching a team where two team members were constantly clashing. They would complain to me about each other, and they would complain to other team members, but they weren’t willing to resolve their issues directly with each other. Sound familiar? Most of us prefer to avoid conflict, so this is common. As a coach, I wanted to resolve this conflict without singling out these two people, and in a way that enabled them to address the conflict directly with each other. Enter WINFY!

I used one of the team’s regularly scheduled retrospectives to facilitate WINFY in a virtual setting using a digital white board with sticky notes.

Part 1: Each person silently writes 1 or 2 things they need from each of their teammates. The names of requestor and requestee are both transparently listed.

Part 2: Each participant replies, by silent writing, to each request with one of these four responses:

1. Yes

2. I will try

3. No

4. Need clarification

Part 3: Each participant verbally acknowledges their responses. On the first pass, do not elaborate — simply read the responses.

Part 4: Depending on time available and the psychological safety level in the team, the “No” and “Need clarification” responses can be elaborated with the group. If some require a deeper conversation, then the facilitator may recommend a one-on-one dialogue to resolve it after this meeting.

Part 5: To end on a positive note, each participant shares an appreciation of at least one teammate. Note: I added this step myself; it’s not included in the official WINFY description.

The results: Our story had a happy ending. The two sparring team members brought their conflict out into the open. The process empowered them to acknowledge the conflict and get past their discomfort about raising it. Once acknowledged, they felt obligated to resolve it, and they reached a constructive agreement. A huge additional benefit is that this process makes it easier to deal with conflict going forward.

WINFY can also be used prospectively, with a new team or with a group of teams, to proactively identify needs and avoid conflicts that otherwise would arise.

What is a situation where you could try WINFY, either preventatively, or to resolve a current conflict? If you’ve used WINFY, we’d love to hear your story. Send us a comment!

(1)Thanks to the brilliant people behind Liberating Structures for sharing the WINFY technique.