Conflict Management: Summary Notes

What is Conflict?

  • A struggle between people, either physical or ideological.
  • Can occur within an individual or among groups.
  • Arises from perceived incompatible goals between parties.
  • Not the same as violence; often accompanies change.
  • Can be positive if managed well.

Causes of Conflict

  • Past history/personality issues.
  • Differing values.
  • Different perceptions.
  • Lack of clarity.

Types of Conflict

  • Intrapersonal: Within an individual, involving conflicting motives or goals.
  • Interpersonal: Between individuals, addressable through strategies like avoiding, competing, or compromising.

Healthy vs. Unhealthy Conflict

  • Healthy conflict: Promotes diverse options, creative thinking, attentiveness to interests, idea sharing, objective fact-focus, and logical solutions.
  • Unhealthy conflict: Encourages superiority, personal attacks, distrust, stifled collaboration, and upset participants.

Conflict in Teams

  • Effective teams allow disagreement, spurring innovation and better decisions.
  • Teams fearing conflict have boring meetings, back-channel politics, ignored topics, and wasted energy.
  • Teams engaging in conflict have lively meetings, idea exploitation, quick problem solving, minimized politics, and open discussion.

Conflict Management

  • Process to resolve disputes, minimize negative outcomes, and prioritize positive results.
  • Requires tactics, negotiation, and creative thinking.
  • Involves handling disagreements arising from differing opinions, objectives, and needs.

Conflict Management Styles

  • Owl (Collaborating): Values goals and relationships, seeks solutions satisfying both sides.
  • Turtle (Avoiding): Avoids confrontation, withdraws from conflict.
  • Shark (Competing): Values goals over relationships, may force solutions.
  • Teddy Bear (Accommodating): Values relationships over goals, smooths over conflict.
  • Fox (Compromising): Moderately concerned with goals and relationships, seeks middle ground.

Conflict Management Styles Breakdown

  • Competing
    • Goal: To win.
    • Effective when quick action is needed, unpopular actions are necessary, or to protect against exploitation.
  • Accommodating
    • Goal: To yield.
    • Effective when wrong, learning is important, goodwill is paramount or harmony is important.
  • Avoiding
    • Goal: To delay.
    • Effective when the issue is trivial, resolution is unachievable, costs outweigh benefits, or to allow a cool-down period.
  • Collaborating
    • Goal: Mutual participation.
    • Effective when integrating both sides, understanding views, merging perspectives, or working through interpersonal issues.
  • Compromising
    • Goal: Find middle ground.
    • Effective when goals are less important than avoiding disruption, parties have equal power, quick solutions are needed, or a win-win is important.

Basic Skills for Conflict Resolution

  • Manage anger.
  • Listen actively.
  • Avoid assumptions.
  • Find common ground.
  • Be cautious with criticism.
  • Negotiate.

Conflict Management Tools

  • Listen, empathize, paraphrase, ask questions.
  • Use "I" messages and neutral language.
  • Say "yes, and…" instead of "yes, but…"
  • Practice difficult discussions.