Disagreements among people are a good thing — really, they are — because they show that people are actually invested and interested. “Whatever” is the absolutely worst statement you want to hear during a discussion / debate, because it signals that the person speaking has decided to exit the conversation and feels unheard and not listened to. Again, that’s a bad outcome.

But just as disagreements are a good thing, keeping them festering and unresolved for too long can cause great damage to the forward progress of the team, and the relationships among team members.

Two key things are needed:
1. An agreement upfront that disagreements are valid and to-be-expected, and that people should stay in the argument and not prematurely exit; and
2. That disagreements won’t be swept under the proverbial carpet, but will be argued out until everyone understands what the other parties are saying, and either that there is a clear way forward, or someone — a manager or leader on the team or that the team reports to — hears the two sides and makes a binding decision.

It’s unlikely that two people on a team will ever perfectly agree, but they should have total permission to argue a position or idea.

What Do I Need To Do?
Stay attentive to how disagreements are handled within your team. If you sense that others are not being listened to, even if you don’t agree with their position, speak up for their right to speak.

Debate the idea; don’t destroy the person. A vital outcome of a healthy team is the willingness to work together again on another project.

Listen for the cues that others are giving up because people with bigger mouths and better words are steamrolling what they are saying. Suggest a switch to a written mode if one person has vastly superior verbal skills and the other person is a better writer. Get both parties to document their arguments.

See A-Z of Virtual Teams: Summary for the complete list.