When collaboration turns to conflict

“I put in so much of effort, and then the ‘darned department’ just did not respond.”

“The head of other department is a sadist; he loves to hate us.”

“What can I do when half of my work depends on clearance from the other departments, and they are so dumb and slow.”

As a coach these are the frustrations I hear from people all the time. Most people feel that they want to do their utmost. Most also say they put in their best. Unfortunately, results do not reflect their efforts. When I probe on the reasons, non-cooperation from other departments is one of the key hurdles. Getting cooperation from your team is a big focus area. Having a conducive relationship with your customers hogs all the attention, research and training. One overlooked strategic area, both in strategy and in training, is how to get other departments to collaborate and cooperate with you.

Are fellow departments less important in getting your results? Is this a secondary backbencher topic that hardly comes in the mainstream? Who is responsible for making these departments cooperate? These are all questions that need to be answered. As we say results come due to the performance of the whole value chain. If the front office is getting orders, but those orders are getting delayed due to the non- cooperation of fellow departments, result will be affected. It is known as the value chain effect. Each link in the chain is linked to the other. Even if one link is weak, the chain will break. Departments not being on the same page is an under-addressed issue. Behind the smooth crossfunctional meetings are some very un-smooth operations. The apparent bonhomie in meetings hides the quiet clash of egos and expectations.

According to a Stanford study, 75% cross functional teams are dysfunctional. This has huge impact on the morale of people doing their own job well but are sick of the departmental conflicts. A study published in the journal “Behavior Analysis in Practice” found that 62% of workers openly admitted that workplace conflict made them consider leaving their job. The worst part is that despite this huge cost, managers are not equipped to deal with these issues. According to a study conducted by DDI (Development Dimensional International 2025), 49% of managers fail to demonstrate effective conflict resolution skills. There are four major areas to work upon to ensure people identify and deal with issues to achieve the needed collaboration from peer departments:

Collaboration1–The Responsible Mindset: The real barrier is the set-minds of employees. They see their work within department boundaries. Sales people focus on customer relationship, business development and team development. As per their job descriptions, they are responsible for targets and they put most of their time in achieving them. Their priority list is pleasing the boss and pleasing the customer. If their work is stalled in other departments, they just shrug their shoulders and keep on saying “It is they who are not doing their job.We have done our job”. That needs to change. Responsibility of getting things done is not defined by the function to which you report to. Neither is it defined by the four walls that the team sits in. It is defined by the ability to get the job done. That many times means going beyond your job description.

The minds set of getting results and the mind set of ticking the check list of JD tasks are dramatically different. When the goal is to get the result and not just the task, the responsibility shifts to ourselves. That means that the person has to be responsible for not just his own function but ensuring that other functions are doing their job in time to make the whole customer experience great.

Collaboration2–The Relationship Equation: Once you own upto the fact that my job doesnot end at my department’s doorsteps, the next step is what is the next step? The next step is to assess the level of relationship with other departments. The principle is the same. The quality of cooperation that you will get from other departments depends on the quality of relationship with that department. We all know practically that the departments who get along with us do our work on priority.

Similarly those departemtns with whom our relationship is not good, delay and create hurdles in the work. That is why the first thing is an honest assessment about the level of relationship. There are four levels –hostile, indifferent, transactional and collaborative. Putting departments in these categories need to be backed by some measurable criteria. Then identify which departments are important to get the job done. If the category is in the cadre of hostile and indifferent then they should be prioritized and approached.

Collaboration3–The Shared Vision: Fellow departments are your internal customers. With external customers you just donot send the product and think they will buy it. Similarly fellow deparments are sometimes like tough customers. These customers buy when they think what they want matches with what are you selling. Similarly find out what are your most important department’s interests/needs. Go to them. Develop a communication based on their interests. Make them your mentors. Talk about their hobbies whether cricket or football etc. Over a period of time it will change from indifferent to collaborative.

Collaboration4–The Mutual Celebration: The best relationships are when you share challenges as well as your wins with them. When business is gained, the sales people hog all credit. Deparments like IT or procurment etc. feel left out. Include them in the credit. Thank them personally. Give them credit publicly. Celebrate together to create a partnership feel. The more you make them feel a part of it the more results will become a mutual target.

Managing and leading is a 360 degree people connect business. A leader, at any level, has to manage their team, their boss and their peers. Most leaders give a lot of attention to managing and up and managing down, but none to managing across. They either take their peers for granted or develop a blame game attitude. It backfires. A study by Fierce Inc. says 86% of respondents blame lack of collaboration within departments or ineffective communication in teams for workplace failures. Leaders go first. Culture shows first. Get the culture to live, breathe and demonstrate the motto of “stop complaining, start collaborating”.