Eastyoke writes:
The context in The Economist is hospital surgical teams – but we believe it has wider relevance.
“. . . predominantly male surgical teams that were led by a man proved twice as likely as similar teams led by a woman to experience conflict . . . whereas in female teams there was no difference, regardless of leader.” It goes without saying that conflict within a surgical team is associated with poorer patient outcomes.
The findings chime with our own experience across other industries; it can be more challenging working with an exclusively male team; the project manager is likely to encounter a higher degree of conflict within the team - and should anticipate a greater need for conflict resolution.