Group collaborative work — where team members with diverse experiences and points of view try to solve complicated, weighty problems — often involves conflict. Though many working professionals express discomfort with conflict, healthy forms of conflict allow groups to test and refine ideas, and to agree on a way forward. Knowing that some conflicts can be good for us, the question becomes: How do we engage with those conflicts? Further, how do we create
an environment where healthy conflicts can occur? Through looking at the literature on conflict and by talking with professionals who have expertise in this area, we will gain a better understanding of why conflict arises in collaborative work and how better to engage with it.