The Difference Between Constructive and Destructive Conflict at Work

Conflict is common and even expected in the workplace. When people with different life experiences, backgrounds and opinions work together, there is bound to be some disagreement. However, conflict doesn’t have to be a negative experience. In fact, conflict, when approached correctly, can serve as a powerful driver of team growth, connection and success.

When leaders recognize the difference between constructive and destructive conflict at work, they can build a culture that enables healthy, productive disagreements. With conflict management skills, leaders can guide conflict to be rewarding and insightful, creating positive impacts for the team.

Not All Conflict Is Bad

While conflict in the workplace is inevitable, not all conflict is inherently bad. In fact, conflict can be constructive. It can also be destructive. It just depends on how it’s handled. 

For example, two employees want to take different approaches to completing a project. This is the initial conflict. This conflict becomes constructive if the employees agree on common ground in their strategies and find an innovative solution together. It becomes destructive if the employees get defensive of their stance or make personal attacks, derailing the project’s success.

Understanding the difference between constructive and destructive conflict in the workplace is the key to creating a healthy workplace culture and team productivity.

The Value of Constructive Conflict

Constructive conflict is a dispute or disagreement managed to be positive, productive and respectful. The goal of constructive conflict is to solve problems, improve relationships across the team and find better approaches and outcomes for projects.

Constructive conflict has a positive effect on the individual or group by encouraging differing perspectives in a mutual attempt to understand each other and create the best possible outcome. Constructive conflict looks like:

• Addressing issues rather than people




• Supporting ideas with evidence-based rationale




• Encouraging multiple perspectives




• Being willing to accept new ideas




• Focusing on solutions rather than blame or punishment




• Listening to questions and criticisms of ideas

When teams see conflict as an opportunity for positive change, it can drive positive results for your company. The benefits of constructive conflict include:

• Teamwide growth: Teams can approach conflicts with a focus on learning and understanding. This mindset sparks growth by helping teams identify the problem, brainstorm effective solutions and work collectively toward a positive outcome.




• Psychological safety: When your team members view conflict as an opportunity, they’re more likely to stay calm, comfortable and confident in the face of a disagreement.




• Impactful responses: Since these conflicts don’t resort to personal attacks, employees can remain objective and offer thoughtful responses to the discussion that keep the conversation moving in the right direction.




• Improved relationships: Tackling the problem, respecting various opinions and considering other points of view foster positive relationships between employees, allowing the team to stay connected and collaborative when disagreements occur.

The Damage of Destructive Conflict

Destructive conflict is a disagreement that devolves into antagonism and negativity. This type of conflict is often driven by intense, unregulated emotion. It can involve avoidance or escalation.

Destructive conflict has a negative effect on the individual or group and fails to move the issue toward resolution. Conflict becomes destructive when it involves:

• Antagonizing others




• Making personal attacks




• Dismissing others’ perspectives




• Creating competition




• Shifting blame instead of being accountable




• Making arguments based on emotion instead of logic

Destructive conflict can have many negative consequences for your team, as it can:

• Damage trust and morale: Negative conflicts can erode trust between employees and cause team members to lose their confidence in their team and enthusiasm about their work.




• Create ineffective solutions: Destructive conflict prioritizes “winning” an argument over problem-solving. In the attempt to see a certain position or idea prevail, teams can lose sight of the project’s needs and objectives, leading to stalled progress and less-than-ideal results.




• Reduce productivity: Destructive conflict can distract employees from being as effective as they can be in their role and increase absences from work, making it more difficult for employees and the team overall to meet organizational goals.




• Decrease teamwork: These conflicts affect more than just project success. They can make it difficult for team members to willingly work together in the future, as the personal nature of destructive conflicts can permanently impact relationships.

Build Culture, Not Chaos, With The Center for Leadership Studies

Leaders play a key role in modeling healthy conflict and turning destructive arguments into constructive conversations. Instead of ignoring rising tensions, leaders can embrace conflict as a tool for growth and inspire their team to do the same.

To guide conflict toward a constructive outcome, however, leaders must develop effective conflict management skills. The Managing Conflict Effectively course from The Center for Leadership Studies (CLS) teaches a conflict-resolution framework that provides leaders with the tools they need to manage conflict with confidence. Participants will learn how to steer disagreements toward more productive outcomes, encourage communication and enhance collaboration.

Explore CLS leadership courses, and contact us for more information.