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    Interactive assessment

    Conflict Diagnosis Tool

    Identify what type of conflict is present in your team and match it to the right intervention. Four categories, four different solutions.

    Not all conflict is the same. Task conflict (disagreement about what to do), process conflict (disagreement about how), relationship conflict (personal friction), and status conflict (competition for recognition and authority) each need different responses. Treating relationship conflict as if it were task conflict, or vice versa, typically makes things worse. This tool helps you diagnose which type is dominant before you decide how to respond. Adapted from De Dreu and Weingart (2003) and Thomas (1992).

    Questions or items
    20 questions or items
    Completion time
    Around 10 minutes
    Dimensions
    Task Conflict, Process Conflict, Relationship Conflict, Status & Power Conflict
    What you receive
    Personalised results with configured interpretation bands, section scores and development guidance.

    What it covers

    • Task Conflict
    • Process Conflict
    • Relationship Conflict
    • Status & Power Conflict

    Rate each statement from 1 (Not at all true of our team right now) to 5 (Very true of our team right now). You can complete this individually or share it with the team for a collective view.

    Results: Personalised results with configured interpretation bands, section scores and development guidance.

    How this interactive diagnostic works

    This page provides the documented overview before the interactive experience is loaded. It lets you read the purpose, the material covered and the way the result is presented without entering answers or sending a request. When you choose to continue, the interactive version uses the same material shown here. It records your selections while you work and only calculates its result when its required items are complete.

    Analytics consent is required before the interactive experience is mounted. Declining consent does not start the diagnostic or its tracking. If you continue, the existing experience remains responsible for its own input, score and lead-capture step. Where the route requests a first name and work email, its existing form handles validation and submission. This overview does not replace those steps or submit a lead.

    Statements in this diagnostic

    The interactive version groups the statements below by section. Read them in relation to the situation named in the instructions, then use the response scale shown by the diagnostic. The section descriptions are part of the existing configuration and explain the aspect each group is intended to examine.

    Task Conflict

    Task conflict is disagreement about goals, priorities, and what the right outcome looks like. In moderate doses it improves decisions; at high intensity it paralyses progress.

    1. The team frequently disagrees about priorities and which work matters most right now
    2. There are genuine differences of opinion about the right approach to key decisions or projects
    3. People have different views about what success looks like on current work
    4. We often reach alignment slowly because underlying disagreements about goals aren't resolved
    5. There are unresolved questions about what the team's goals or direction should be

    Process Conflict

    Process conflict is friction about how work gets done: who does what, how decisions are made, what the process should be. It's often mistaken for task conflict but the intervention is different.

    1. There is friction about how work is organised or who is responsible for what
    2. Roles and responsibilities are unclear or regularly disputed
    3. There are ongoing debates about the right process, method, or way of working
    4. Coordination is difficult because people disagree about how decisions should be made
    5. Time is lost to re-doing work or duplicating effort because accountability isn't clear

    Relationship Conflict

    Relationship conflict is personal friction, distrust, and tension between individuals. It's the most damaging type for team performance because it persists even when the task or process issue is resolved.

    1. There is personal tension or hostility between individuals in the team
    2. Trust between team members is genuinely low
    3. Disagreements frequently become personal rather than staying focused on the issue
    4. There are people who actively avoid or undermine each other in this team
    5. Past incidents continue to colour how people interact now

    Status & Power Conflict

    Status conflict is competition for recognition, credit, authority, and influence. It often runs underneath other types of conflict as a hidden driver, and it's rarely named directly.

    1. Competition for recognition, credit, or influence is causing problems in the team
    2. There are disputes about who has authority to make certain decisions
    3. People feel their contribution is undervalued compared to others
    4. Competition between individuals or factions gets in the way of collaboration
    5. There are unresolved questions about seniority, decision rights, or who leads on what

    How the result is read

    The interactive diagnostic totals the selected item scores by section and across the whole assessment. It then matches those totals to the configured interpretation bands and shows the section-level results alongside the overall result.

    • Low Conflict, 20 to 39: Your team has low levels of active conflict. This is healthy provided it doesn't indicate people avoiding difficult but important conversations. Your section scores will tell you which type shows the most friction. A score of 0 across all sections would be unusual and worth questioning.
    • Manageable Conflict, 40 to 59: Moderate conflict is present. Your highest-scoring section identifies the primary type. Task conflict at this level can actually improve decisions if channelled well. Process or relationship conflict at this level needs proactive attention before it escalates. Look at your section scores to identify the intervention.
    • Significant Conflict, 60 to 79: Conflict is affecting team performance. Your highest-scoring section is your most urgent focus. Relationship conflict at this level almost always needs facilitated conversation, not just a process change. Process conflict at this level needs clear role and accountability mapping. Task conflict needs a structured conversation about goals and priorities.
    • High Conflict, 80 to 100: This team has serious conflict across multiple dimensions. At this level, conflict is costing the team in morale, decision quality, and output. External facilitation is often the most efficient path. Your highest-scoring section reveals the type that is driving the most damage, but multiple types are likely reinforcing each other.

    Sources named in this diagnostic

    • De Dreu, C.K.W. and Weingart, L.R. (2003) 'Task versus relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction', Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(4), pp. 741-748.
    • Thomas, K.W. (1992) 'Conflict and conflict management', in Dunnette, M.D. and Hough, L.M. (eds) Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press.
    • Jehn, K.A. (1995) 'A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict', Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(2), pp. 256-282.
    • Edmondson, A.C. (2012) Teaming. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Where to take the next step

    Our management development programmes build practical skills for conversations, feedback and team performance.

    Explore Management Development

    Frequently asked questions

    What does the Conflict Diagnosis Tool measure?

    Not all conflict is the same. Task conflict (disagreement about what to do), process conflict (disagreement about how), relationship conflict (personal friction), and status conflict (competition for recognition and authority) each need different responses. Treating relationship conflict as if it were task conflict, or vice versa, typically makes things worse. This tool helps you diagnose which type is dominant before you decide how to respond. Adapted from De Dreu and Weingart (2003) and Thomas (1992).

    How many questions are in the Conflict Diagnosis Tool?

    It contains 20 questions grouped into 4 dimensions: Task Conflict, Process Conflict, Relationship Conflict, Status & Power Conflict.

    How is the Conflict Diagnosis Tool scored?

    Responses are scored within each section and totalled across the diagnostic. The total is compared with the configured interpretation bands.

    What happens after I complete the Conflict Diagnosis Tool?

    After the required items are answered, the existing first-name and email gate is shown before the results are displayed. The result includes an overall interpretation, section scores and development guidance.

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