This document provides an overview of conflict management strategies. It discusses understanding conflict, elements of conflict like interdependence and differences. It notes that conflict can be useful in bringing problems to the surface. Most conflicts arise over how to reach goals rather than the goals themselves. Key strategies for resolving conflict include identifying common goals, treating conflicts as challenges to work on together, and seeing situations from others' perspectives. The document also covers power dynamics, conflict styles, dysfunctional strategies, negotiation principles, and tips for managers to prevent and address conflicts.

1. Conflict Management
● Based on the lectures on “The art of Conflict Management” by Michael
Dues, the teaching Company

2. Understanding ConflictUnderstanding Conflict

3. What is a conflict?
● “An expressed struggle between at least two
interdependent parties who perceive
incompatible goals, scarce resources, and
interference from others in achieving their
goals.”
● Or Simply: “discomforting difference.”

4. Elements of Conflict
● Interdependence

5. Elements of Conflict
● Difference

6. Elements of Conflict
● Opposition

7. Elements of Conflict
● Expression

8. Elements of Conflict
● Emotion

9. Conflict may be useful!
● Bringing to the surface, problems that were not
clear before

10. Most conflicts rise on how to reach the goal
not on the goal itself

12. To reach win-win resolution ...
● Identify common goals

13. To reach win-win resolution ...
Treat conflicts as a challenges that you can work on together
to achieve a solution for both.

14. Perhaps our greatest limitation in working toward
win-win solutions is that each of us comes to the
table with deep-seated ideas about conflict and
powerfully ingrained strategies.

15. Conflict does not arise so
much from a difference
itself but from the
perception we have of
that difference

16. To reduce conflict ...
Try to see situation from the other person's
perspective

17. Almost all of us tend to attribute mistakes or
failings on our part to external events

18. ... but we also tend to attribute the behavior of
others to their own character or emotions

19. We’re really emotional beings who have evolved
an ability to reason that helps us deal with our
emotions.

20. Remember that emotion is an internal fact; it’s a
response to perceptions you are having

21. Being angry is not the same as acting on your
anger

22. Power
How Much We Need and How to Use It?

23. What is Power?
● Power can be defined as the ability to cause or
influence an outcome.

24. What is Power?
● Notice the difference between “influence” and
“control”!

25. Kinds of Power
● Personal power, such as talents, skills, or
knowledge that we may have;

26. Kinds of Power
● Relational power, that is, the power that derives
from the nature of the relationship between the
parties;

27. Kinds of Power
● Situational power, the conditions in the conflict
situation that give power to one party or one
issue more than another

28. Five Bases of Power
John French and Bertram Raven

29. Reward power

30. Coercive power

31. Legitimate power

32. Referent power

33. Expert power

34. The important point to remember is that both
parties have power in any conflict and that
power derives from the interdependence
between the two parties in general and the
particular situation they are in

35. For conflict resolution ...

36. ● You do not need more power!

37. ● You need sufficient interdependence!!!

38. The more equal the conflicting parties are in
power, the better the chances are of working out a
win-win resolution

39. Conflict Styles
Thomas and Kilmann

40. Avoidance
Accommodation
Competition
Collaboration
Compromise

41. Dysfunctional Conflict Strategies

42. Avoidance

43. Withdrawal

44. Imposition

45. Triangulation

46. Manipulation

47. Absolute framing

48. Revenge

49. Compromise

50. Principles for Win-Win Negotiations
Roger Fisher and William Ury

51. Separate people from the problem
Focus on events or behaviors rather than the parties
involved.

52. Focus on interests, not positions
Do not take a position and defend it or bargain for it but to
focus on the interest behind the position

53. Generate options for mutual gain
Brainstorm for multiple options, keeping in mind the
goal of mutual gain

54. The choice of objective criteria
Try to identify measurable ways to assess the value of the
suggestions

55. Identify your BATNA
Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement

56. Preparing for Negotiation

57. Conditions of Negotiation
You are willing
and Able to
Negotiate
Other Party is
willing and
Able to Negotiate

58. Step 1
Define the conflict issue (What and Why)

59. Step 2
Identify and evaluate your goals

60. Why do I want to resolve this conflict?

61. What is a good resolution for me?

62. How important is it to me that I reach this
resolution?

63. How do I want to be viewed by the other party?

64. How does this situation affect the way I view
myself?

65. Step 3
Do you want to resolve the issue by negotiating?

66. Consider the degree of interdependence

67. Consider your leverage
The ability to influence the other side to move closer to one's negotiating position

68. Consider the context of the potential negotiation

69. Consider the nature of your relationship

70. Consider the risks of introducing the issue

71. Consider BATNA

72. Step 4
Arrange a meeting with the other party

73. Negotiating Conflict Resolutions

74. Step 5
Conduct the meeting

75. Step 6
Make a contract

76. The contract must be clear

77. The contract must address voluntary behavior
from the present forward

78. The contract must be an unequivocal agreement

79. Step 7
Follow through on the contract

80. Pay attention to the other party compliance with
the agreement

81. If the other party is in compliance, you should
express your appreciation

82. If the other party is not following the agreement,
you should arrange another meeting

83. Managers and Conflict
Management

84. All organizations are like living organisms,
constantly moving, changing, and interacting, and
a change in any one element affects the
organization as a whole

85. Some parts of the system operate informally and
unofficially

86. Managers and supervisors must improve conflict
management within the organization in order to
minimize costs.

87. Seven key principles that can guide top
supervisors and managers ...

88. 1- Prevent unnecessary conflict ...

89. Caused by creating competitive situations

90. Caused by failing to clearly define roles and
responsibilities

91. Caused by failing to establish areas and lines of
authority

92. Caused by making decisions without consulting
the stakeholders

93. 2- Be courageous in the face of conflict

94. 3- Focus on the general pattern of conflict
management in the organization

95. 4- Promote informal resolution of conflict

96. by creating policies that state a preference for
resolution by discussion, although with authority
still specified for making final decisions

97. 5- Formal processes need to be in place for
conflict management

98. 6- Assess and improve on the organizational
culture

99. 7- Model the behaviors they desire in conflict
management

100. Moral and Cultural Conflicts

101. Moral conflicts are those in which the issues are
framed as matters of what is morally right and
morally wrong

102. Note from the outset that this absolute framing is
a dysfunctional conflict strategy

103. Moral values are inherently subjective, yet they
are usually held as nonnegotiable absolutes

104. In a dispute about a moral question, it’s difficult to
reach a win-win resolution

105. Among the specific tactics that may be helpful in
dealing with moral conflicts is reframing, that is,
finding a constructive new way to view a conflict
through a different lens or frame.

106. Other useful tactics include fractionating

107. Developing empathy

108. Attempting to build mutual trust