Conflict - E-learning

Conflict Resolution E-Learning Module

START

Section one: Conflict in the Workplace

Conflict

Pruitt and Kim (2004) describe conflict as “perceived divergence of interest, a belief that the parties’ current aspirations are incompatible.”Conflict resolution is an agreement reached when all or most of the issues of contention are cleared up.

Conflict can be disruptive and, at worst, destructive.Further, conflict management is a product of successful problem-solving in which the parties have worked out ways to de-escalate conflict and avoid future escalations.

Conflict between co-workers

There are many work situations that require conflict resolution skills. Understanding the different types of conflict in the workplace can help you identify potential conflicts and determine the best way to apply your skills. Here are some of the situations where professional conflicts may occur:

Conflicts between employees and customers

Conflicts between managers and subordinates

Conflicts between co-workers

Co-workers on the same team may have professional and interpersonal conflicts at work. Conflicts between colleagues may happen when they disagree about the best way to accomplish a task, have conflicting priorities or simply have clashing personalities. Because co-workers may have the same level of authority, it can be challenging for them to determine the best way to resolve a conflict. To be productive as a team, co-workers need to consider their shared goals and make compromises to support the group.

Conflicts between employees and customers

If a customer is unhappy with a product or service, conflict can occur between them and company employees. Conflicts between customers and employees are common in front-facing positions related to customer support or the service industry. Typically, employees strive to resolve conflicts with customers to ensure satisfaction while still upholding company policies. This requires employees to communicate expectations tactfully and acknowledge the customer's perspective.

Conflicts between managers and subordinates

Managers may experience conflicts with the people they supervise due to contrasting working styles or disagreements about delegating tasks. Team members and managers may argue about reasonable goals and expectations for their work. More independent employees may experience conflict with managers that use an authoritarian leadership style, while some employees may clash with managers because they want more guidance and support. Because managers and supervisors have authority in the workplace, they typically require advanced conflict resolution skills to support their team.

What are conflict resolution Skills?

Conflict resolution skills are the abilities you use to diffuse stressful situations, manage disagreements and find mutually beneficial outcomes to disputes or misunderstandings. You can use conflict resolution skills to manage your interactions with others or to provide outside mediation for a conflict between other parties. Conflict management skills are especially useful in leadership roles or positions where you work with clients and customers directly. They can help you negotiate deals, discover better methods for completing tasks, find mutual understanding between multiple perspectives and objectively consider the best solution for any situation.

Steps to Conflict Resolution:

Understand how you feel about the situation
Understand the others point of view
Call a face-to-face-meeting
Control your emotion
Identify the issue and identify your needs
Actively listen to the others issues
Discuss resolutions to the issues
If needed bring in a mediator (Third Party)

Examples of conflict resolution skills

Listening actively refers to paying attention as other people speak and engaging with what they have to say. Active listening enables you to process the meaning of someone else's words and understand their perspective. Using active listening can help you determine the true source of a conflict and empathise with each person involved in a conflict.

Active listening

Problem-solving skills allow you to find creative solutions to issues that work for everyone in a situation. You can use problem-solving skills to discover the best compromise for a conflict and prevent similar problems in the future. Problem-solving also helps you use your resources wisely and conduct research to find innovative methods for conflict resolution. In the workplace, you can use independent problem-solving to be successful during a conflict or use collaborative problem-solving to mediate issues in a group setting.

Problem-solving

Effective communication is vital to successful conflict resolution because it enables everyone to set clear expectations about their actions and choices. Be clear and accurate when using either written or verbal communication for others to understand you easily. Use communication to verify information, ask follow-up questions and express your opinions honestly to avoid conflicts in the future.

Communication

Responsibility involves holding yourself accountable for the decisions you make and the outcome of your behaviour. Being accountable and responsible is important to conflict resolution because it demonstrates integrity to everyone involved and shows that you're willing to follow through with your choices and suggestions. When coming to a resolution for a conflict, taking responsibility ensures that you follow through with the proposed solution and accept the results of the mediation.

Responsibility

Having a team-oriented mindset and knowing how to work with others is an important skill for preventing conflicts from occurring and resolving them quickly when they do happen. If you have good teamwork skills, it's easier to help motivate team members, find common goals and determine cohesive roles for everyone on a team. Being proactive about helping others, sharing verbal validation and asking for equal input from team members promotes positive morale and open communication, which can decrease conflicts long-term.

Teamwork

Conflicts and disagreements can be stressful, so successful conflict resolution involves stress management and coping skills. Whether you're managing a personal conflict or mediating an issue between other people, it's important to have effective mechanisms for managing your own stress. This will help you figure out ways to help others cope with their frustrations while also staying calm in a tense situation. Using stress management techniques can also help you maintain a positive attitude and avoid conflicts from misunderstandings or personal frustration.

Stress management

Emotional intelligence is an essential conflict resolution skill because it allows you to feel and understand what others feel. People with good emotional intelligence skills also understand how their actions influence others. Developing emotional intelligence involves actively working to understand your colleagues' viewpoints, possible misunderstandings, motivations and needs. Recognising peoples' emotions and your own feelings during a conflict can help you manage emotional reactions and develop solutions that work for everyone.

Emotional intelligence

It is easier for people to follow and listen to you when you are a leader. When you demonstrate leadership skills, others may trust you to mediate their conflicts and appreciate the solutions you offer. This makes it essential to show your leadership capabilities so that others can tell you about how they feel during a disagreement and listen to you explain the other side of the conflict. They may also be more open to following the solutions you propose.

Leadership

When resolving conflicts for others, it's important to show neutrality and impartiality. This involves giving equal, fair consideration to the perspective of each person in the conflict. By showing fairness, you establish trust with others and validate your position as a neutral third party. When mediating a conflict, give everyone equal time to share their opinions and use all perspectives to generate a compromise that benefits everyone.

Neutrality and impartiality

Remaining patient and maintaining a calm demeanour is important during a conflict, especially when others have heightened emotions. Being patient can help you maintain your own emotional stability and give others the time and space they need to calm down and think logically during a disagreement. Your patience prevents hasty decisions and allows you to collect all of the information you need to make logical decisions about a conflict.

Patience

Being an assertive person allows you to recognise when you need to take action and initiate steps that can lead to resolving a conflict. If you are the team leader or supervisor, you can convene a meeting comprising the warring parties. As a junior employee, you can seek the colleague you have conflicted with and work with them to come up with ways to co-exist in a more harmonious manner. Knowing when to be assertive and when to concede to others is also an important conflict-resolution skill.

Assertiveness

Can you think of a time where you have had to resolve a conflict? How did you handle it? What was the outcome?

Section Two: How to resolve a conflict

Remain calm and ensure a steady body language

Prior to starting the process of conflict resolution, it is important to observe several measures that can help you calm down, such as taking a few deep breaths. You can also sit down, rather than stand, and pull your shoulders back to increase your comfort levels and calmness. When sitting, avoid crossing either your arms or feet and keep them open with the feet resting flat on the floor.

Get a comfortable, private area to discuss the conflict

Conflict and the conflict resolution process can both be highly distracting to other company activities. Therefore, it's wise to find an area where you can handle the issues without distractions or distracting other employees. You should have equal seating arrangements for the individuals involved in the conflict so everyone feels comfortable during the conflict-resolution session.

Acknowledge the problem

Start the conflict resolution process by directly stating the issue and having everyone share their perspective about the conflict. This step is important because it sets expectations for the conversation and allows everyone to express their grievances. By acknowledging the problem, you open a healthy line of communication and determine the cause of any other issues.

Seek a solution

Once you and all the parties involved in the conflict acknowledge that there is a problem, identify the need for a solution. When one party is not ready to come on board with the solution, you may have to take them aside to understand their concerns separately, then re-join the group. Ask everyone to share their ideal outcome and determine which solutions are most realistic and fair. Seek out compromises and ask everyone to agree to the solution.

Check in to make sure the solution lasts

Follow up with everyone to determine if the solution was a success. Ask for feedback about the conflict resolution process and identify any ongoing issues that still require additional attention. If there are issues with the solution, consider escalating the conflict to a manager or asking for additional help to adjust the outcome.

Start Now

QUESTION 1/8

The best conflict management style is?

The smoothing style

The bargaining style

The problem-solving style

The avoiding style

QUESTION 2/8

When you have been experiencing conflict with someone else, you should remember to:

Always argue

Always compromise

Compromise, if needed

Always apologize

QUESTION 3/8

When experiencing conflict, you are always going to build better relationships by compromising on the issues:

Mostly true

Never true

True, in some cases

True

QUESTION 3/8

When experiencing conflict, you are always going to build better relationships by compromising on the issues:

Mostly true

Never true

True, in some cases

True

QUESTION 4/8

One of the most beneficial and critical skills in conflict resolution is:

Trust

Communication

Problem-solving

None of these

QUESTION 5/8

The conflict can sometimes be clarified through:

Using power

Argument

Communication

None of these

QUESTION 6/8

The first thing that has to be done when resolving a conflict with someone is to:

Assertively but diplomatically state your perspective

Brainstorm possible solutions to the problem

Listen to their perspective

Slap some sense into them

QUESTION 7/8

When resolving conflict, it becomes essential to make eye contact (most) in which of the following circumstances?

When you are brainstorming

When you are problem-solving

When you are listening

When you are assertively stating your point

QUESTION 8/8

What is the most useful question to ask to discover the interests of the other person?

What?

When?

Why?

When?

Congratulations!

You have completed the Conflict Resolution E-Learning Module

Conflict - E-learning

More creations to inspire you

ANCIENT EGYPT

MONSTERS COMIC "SHARING IS CARING"

PARTS OF THE ANIMAL CELL

PARTS OF THE PLANT CELL

PARTS OF A PROKARYOTIC CELL

Transcript