Understanding Conflict
and Conflict Management
2
What is conflict?
Conflict is…
● A normal, inescapable part
of life
● A reality in any relationship
● An opportunity to
understand opposing views,
values, and ways of
accomplishing goals
3
Why is conflict so common?
“Faced with the choice between changing
one’s mind and proving that there is no
need to do so, almost everybody gets
busy on the proof.”
John Kenneth Galbraith
4
Conflict and Communication
Conflict: Often caused by miscommunications and
misunderstandings, both of which can be reduced
through active listening.
Just as we vary our communication strategies based
on the environment and audience, our listening
strategies vary as well.
5
Listening and Conflict Management
Think about the following:
How do we listen when we listen in class?
→ Are we working to understand the feelings of the
instructor and our classmates?
How do we listen when we are at work?
→ Are we always trying to understand our coworkers’
thinking, or do we just want to keep it moving?
6
Sources of Workplace Conflict
● Goals
● Personality conflicts
● Scarce resources
● Styles
● Values
7
Conflict Management Styles
There are many different ways to handle conflict at
work.
Here are 5 you may find useful:
● Accommodating
● Avoiding
● Collaborating
● Competing
● Compromising
Here’s another way of looking at Conflict
Management
8
Conflict Management Styles
9
Consider these questions:
● What conflict management styles did you see
these co-workers engage?
● What mistakes did you see?
● What opportunities did you see?
● How could you have used active listening and
a different conflict management style to
better manage these conflicts?
10
Work Scenarios: Discussion
● What conflict management styles did you see
these co-workers engage?
● What mistakes did you see?
● What opportunities did you see?
● How could you have used active listening and a
different conflict management style to better
manage these conflicts?
● How would you handle this situation differently?

5a conflict management

  • 1.
  • 2.
    2 What is conflict? Conflictis… ● A normal, inescapable part of life ● A reality in any relationship ● An opportunity to understand opposing views, values, and ways of accomplishing goals
  • 3.
    3 Why is conflictso common? “Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everybody gets busy on the proof.” John Kenneth Galbraith
  • 4.
    4 Conflict and Communication Conflict:Often caused by miscommunications and misunderstandings, both of which can be reduced through active listening. Just as we vary our communication strategies based on the environment and audience, our listening strategies vary as well.
  • 5.
    5 Listening and ConflictManagement Think about the following: How do we listen when we listen in class? → Are we working to understand the feelings of the instructor and our classmates? How do we listen when we are at work? → Are we always trying to understand our coworkers’ thinking, or do we just want to keep it moving?
  • 6.
    6 Sources of WorkplaceConflict ● Goals ● Personality conflicts ● Scarce resources ● Styles ● Values
  • 7.
    7 Conflict Management Styles Thereare many different ways to handle conflict at work. Here are 5 you may find useful: ● Accommodating ● Avoiding ● Collaborating ● Competing ● Compromising Here’s another way of looking at Conflict Management
  • 8.
  • 9.
    9 Consider these questions: ●What conflict management styles did you see these co-workers engage? ● What mistakes did you see? ● What opportunities did you see? ● How could you have used active listening and a different conflict management style to better manage these conflicts?
  • 10.
    10 Work Scenarios: Discussion ●What conflict management styles did you see these co-workers engage? ● What mistakes did you see? ● What opportunities did you see? ● How could you have used active listening and a different conflict management style to better manage these conflicts? ● How would you handle this situation differently?

Editor's Notes

  • #4 Ask: What do you think this quote means? Do you think that an unwillingness to compromise is primary source of conflict?
  • #5 Discussion-Conflict Management Strategies (20 minutes): The goal of today’s lesson is to equip students with frameworks and tools for navigating conflicts so that they don’t get trapped. Conflict isn’t always something that can be seen. Sometimes, when it manifests as an action, it is obvious. Other times, when conflict manifests in feelings or outcomes, it might be far less obvious, but still just as real for those involved. Often, conflict is caused by miscommunications and misunderstandings, both of which can be reduced through active listening [review active listening from Lesson 1]. Just as we vary our communication strategies based on the environment and audience, our listening strategies vary as well. Ask students to consider the following: · How do we listen when we listen in class? Are we working to understand the feelings of the instructor and our classmates? · How do we listen when we are at work? Are we always trying to understand out coworkers’ thinking, or do we just want to keep it moving?
  • #6 Discussion-Conflict Management Strategies (20 minutes): The goal of today’s lesson is to equip students with frameworks and tools for navigating conflicts so that they don’t get trapped. Conflict isn’t always something that can be seen. Sometimes, when it manifests as an action, it is obvious. Other times, when conflict manifests in feelings or outcomes, it might be far less obvious, but still just as real for those involved. Often, conflict is caused by miscommunications and misunderstandings, both of which can be reduced through active listening [review active listening from Lesson 1]. Just as we vary our communication strategies based on the environment and audience, our listening strategies vary as well. Ask students to consider the following: · How do we listen when we listen in class? Are we working to understand the feelings of the instructor and our classmates? · How do we listen when we are at work? Are we always trying to understand out coworkers’ thinking, or do we just want to keep it moving?
  • #7 Conflict in the workplace can come from a variety of sources: Goals: Conflict can happen as a result of conflicting goals or priorities. It can also happen when there is a lack of shared goals. Personality conflicts: Personality conflicts are common. It can take time to connect with certain colleagues due to a variety of reasons. Scarce resource: Conflict can happen when you are competing over scarce resources, including job responsibilities, office space, a supervisor’s attention, and so on.. Styles: As we have seen, people have different learning and working styles. Your thinking style or communication style might conflict with a colleague’s learning or communication style. The good news is that these conflicts are easy to adapt to when you know how to recognize and find a compromise between the differing styles. Values: Sometimes you will find conflict in values. That’s why a particular business, group, or culture may not be a good fit for you. By embracing conflict as a part of life, you can make the most of each situation and use it as a learning opportunity or a leadership opportunity. You can also use it as an opportunity to transform the situation into something better. Rather than fear conflict in the workplace, recognize that it will happen and instead embrace these instances as opportunities for growth.
  • #8 Conflict Management Styles: Here are five conflict management styles you may find useful (Thomas and Kilmann): 1. Accommodating – This is when you cooperate to a high-degree, and it may be at your own expense, and actually work against your own goals, objectives, and desired outcomes. This approach is effective when the other party is the expert or has a better solution. It can also be effective for preserving future relations with the other party. 2. Avoiding - This is when you simply avoid the issue. You aren’t helping the other party reach their goals, and you aren’t assertively pursuing your own. This works when the issue is trivial or when you have no chance of winning. It can also be effective when the issue would be very costly. It’s also very effective when the atmosphere is emotionally charged and you need to create some space. Sometimes issues will resolve themselves, but, in general, avoiding is not a good long term strategy. 3. Collaborating – This is where you partner or pair up with the other party to achieve both of your goals. This is how you break free of the “win-lose” paradigm and seek the “win-win.” This can be effective for complex scenarios where you need to find a novel solution. This can also mean re-framing the challenge to create a bigger space and room for everybody’s ideas. The downside is that it requires a high-degree of trust and reaching a consensus can require a lot of time and effort to get everybody on board and to synthesize all the ideas. 4. Competing – This is the “win-lose” approach. You act in a very assertive way to achieve your goals, without seeking to cooperate with the other party, and it may be at the expense of the other party. This approach may be appropriate for emergencies when time is of the essence, or when you need quick, decisive action, and people are aware of and support the approach. 5. Compromising – This is the “lose-lose” scenario where neither party really achieves what they want. This requires a moderate level of assertiveness and cooperation. It may be appropriate for scenarios where you need a temporary solution, or where both sides have equally important goals. The trap is to fall into compromising as an easy way out, when collaborating would produce a better solution. By knowing your own default patterns you improve your self-awareness. [Have students refer to their Conflict Resolution Questionnaire results.] Once you are aware of your own patterns, you can pay attention to whether they are working for you and you can explore alternatives. By using a scenario-based approach, you can choose more effective conflict management styles and test their effectiveness for you and your situations. Here’s another way of looking at Conflict Management: http://www.tubechop.com/watch/3018248.
  • #9 Note: Students may find an illustration of these management styles helpful. Please refer to the Lesson 5 Supplemental Materials for more information on these conflict management styles. This illustration should also be on the results of their Conflict Resolution Questionnaire.
  • #10 Ask students to consider the following while watching the videos on the following 2 slides. Use these questions to create a class discussion: · What conflict management styles did you see these co-workers engage? · What mistakes did you see? · What opportunities did you see? · How could you have used active listening and a different conflict management style to better manage these conflicts?
  • #11 Return to the discussion questions. Re-enactment: Have students volunteer to re-enact one of the video scenes, using active listening and effective communication. While it is often easier to see how not to behave, it is important that students are able to model effective conflict management in the workplace. With each re-enactment (at least one per video), ask the class to analyze the communication and listening skills employed. Use these questions to guide discussions · What made the re-enactments models of positive conflict management? · What conflict management styles were used? · Where are there areas for growth?