What is Conflict?

and completely satisfactory solution

(win-win).

- Some element of communication: a shared

understanding that there is a disagreement;
- The well-being of the people involved need
to depend on each other in some way. This
doesnt mean that they have to have equal
power: a manager and subordinate can be
equally as interdependent as a married
couple;
- The people involved perceive that their
goals are incompatible, meaning that they
cannot both be met;

How to deal with

Conflict Situation:

- They are competing for resources; and each

perceives the other as interfering with the
achievement of their goals.

Types of Conflict:

1. Personal or relational conflicts are

usually about identity or self-image, or
important aspects of a relationship
such as loyalty, breach of confidence,
perceived betrayal or lack of respect.
2. Instrumental conflicts are about
goals, structures, procedures and
means: something fairly tangible and
structural within the organization or
for an individual.
3. Conflicts of interest concern the
ways in which the means of achieving
goals are distributed, such as time,
money, and space. They may also be
about factors related to these, such as
relative importance, or knowledge and
expertise.
Conflict Management Strategies:
1. Forcing - using formal authority or
other power that you possess to
satisfy your concerns without regard to
the concerns of the party that you are
in conflict with.
2. Accommodating - allowing the other
party to satisfy their concerns while
neglecting your own.
3. Avoiding - not paying attention to the
conflict and not taking any action to
resolve it.
4. Compromising
attempting
to
resolve a conflict by identifying a
solution that is partially satisfactory to
both
parties,
but
completely
satisfactory to neither.
5. Collaborating - cooperating with the
other party to understand their
concerns and expressing your own
concerns in an effort to find a mutually

Anger

during

Recognize when you're angry.

Do speak up when an issue is
important to you.
Purify your motives.
Don't use "below the belt" tactics.
Do speak in "I" language.
Don't make vague requests.
Do try to appreciate the fact that
people are different.
Don't tell one another of what he/she
thinks or feels or "should" think or feel.
Do recognize that each person is
responsible for his/her own behavior.
Don't
participate
in
intellectual
arguments that go nowhere.
Do avoid speaking through a third
party.
Don't expect change to come about
from hit-and-run confrontations.

Essential Skills for Handling Conflict:

There are a wide range of useful skills for
handling conflict. Possibly the most
important is assertiveness.
You need to be able to express your views
clearly and firmly, but without aggression.
One model to use is Describe the
situation, Express your feelings and
specify what you want done.
You also need to practice active listening,
to ensure that you fully understand the
position of those involved in the conflict,
whether you are an active participant, or a
potential mediator. Its also helpful to
understand and recognize emotion in both
yourself and others.
Emotions are never good or bad, but
simply appropriate or inappropriate, and
its useful in managing conflict to help others
recognize when emotions are inappropriate,
and when its fine to express them.
You will also find it helpful to be able to put
yourself in other peoples shoes, and support
those involved to do the same. This skill is
called Empathy.