C3: Mediating conflict between two team members
Use when: Two people on your team can't work together.
The questions
- What is each of you trying to accomplish, and where do your goals overlap?
- What assumptions are you making about the other person's intent, and what facts do we have?
- What does each of you need to feel respected and able to do your work?
- What new working agreements would prevent this from recurring (handoffs, decision rights, communication norms)?
- What small experiment will you both try for the next two weeks, and how will we debrief it?
Research basis
Peterson et al. 2024; PON Staff 2025; Brodrick 2024; Gallo 2024; Patterson et al. 2021
Get the full field guide
The complete PDF covers 24 situations, 153 questions, and the four listening moves (reflect, summarize, validate, clarify). Download The Questions Leaders Ask field guide.
Workshop
Want your leaders practicing these out loud, with their team in the room? See how Kestryl Edge workshops work.