conflict management techniques essay

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5 Strategies for Conflict Resolution in the Workplace

Business leader resolving workplace conflict

07 Sep 2023

Any scenario in which you live, work, and collaborate with others is susceptible to conflict. Because workplaces are made up of employees with different backgrounds, personalities, opinions, and daily lives, discord is bound to occur. To navigate it, it’s crucial to understand why it arises and your options for resolving it.

Common reasons for workplace conflict include:

Misunderstandings or poor communication skills
Differing opinions, viewpoints, or personalities
Biases or stereotypes
Variations in learning or processing styles
Perceptions of unfairness

Although conflict is common, many don’t feel comfortable handling it—especially with colleagues. As a business leader, you’ll likely clash with other managers and need to help your team work through disputes.

Here’s why conflict resolution is important and five strategies for approaching it.

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Why Is Addressing Workplace Conflict Important?

Pretending conflict doesn’t exist doesn’t make it go away. Ignoring issues can lead to missed deadlines, festering resentment, and unsuccessful initiatives.

Yet, according to coaching and training firm Bravely , 53 percent of employees handle “toxic” situations by avoiding them. Worse still, averting a difficult conversation can cost an organization $7,500 and more than seven workdays.

That adds up quickly: American businesses lose $359 billion yearly due to the impact of unresolved conflict.

As a leader, you have a responsibility to foster healthy conflict resolution and create a safe, productive work environment for employees.

“Some rights, such as the right to safe working conditions or the right against sexual harassment, are fundamental to the employment relationship,” says Harvard Business School Professor Nien-hê Hsieh in the course Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability . “These rights are things that employees should be entitled to no matter what. They’re often written into the law, but even when they aren’t, they’re central to the ethical treatment of others, which involves respecting the inherent dignity and intrinsic worth of each individual.”

Effectively resolving disputes as they arise benefits your employees’ well-being and your company’s financial health. The first step is learning about five conflict resolution strategies at your disposal.

Related: How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Employees

While there are several approaches to conflict, some can be more effective than others. The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Model —developed by Dr. Kenneth W. Thomas and Dr. Ralph H. Kilmann—outlines five strategies for conflict resolution:

Accommodating
Compromising
Collaborating

These fall on a graph, with assertiveness on the y-axis and cooperativeness on the x-axis. In the Thomas-Kilmann model, “assertiveness” refers to the extent to which you try to reach your own goal, and “cooperativeness” is the extent to which you try to satisfy the other party’s goal.

Alternatively, you can think of these axis labels as the “importance of my goal” and the “importance of this relationship.” If your assertiveness is high, you aim to achieve your own goal. If your cooperativeness is high, you strive to help the other person reach theirs to maintain the relationship.

Here’s a breakdown of the five strategies and when to use each.

1. Avoiding

Avoiding is a strategy best suited for situations in which the relationship’s importance and goal are both low.

While you’re unlikely to encounter these scenarios at work, they may occur in daily life. For instance, imagine you’re on a public bus and the passenger next to you is loudly playing music. You’ll likely never bump into that person again, and your goal of a pleasant bus ride isn’t extremely pressing. Avoiding conflict by ignoring the music is a valid option.

In workplace conflicts—where your goals are typically important and you care about maintaining a lasting relationship with colleagues—avoidance can be detrimental.

Remember: Some situations require avoiding conflict, but you’re unlikely to encounter them in the workplace.

2. Competing

Competing is another strategy that, while not often suited for workplace conflict, can be useful in some situations.

This conflict style is for scenarios in which you place high importance on your goal and low importance on your relationships with others. It’s high in assertiveness and low in cooperation.

You may choose a competing style in a crisis. For instance, if someone is unconscious and people are arguing about what to do, asserting yourself and taking charge can help the person get medical attention quicker.

You can also use it when standing up for yourself and in instances where you feel unsafe. In those cases, asserting yourself and reaching safety is more critical than your relationships with others.

When using a competing style in situations where your relationships do matter (for instance, with a colleague), you risk impeding trust—along with collaboration, creativity, and productivity.

3. Accommodating

The third conflict resolution strategy is accommodation, in which you acquiesce to the other party’s needs. Use accommodating in instances where the relationship matters more than your goal.

For example, if you pitch an idea for a future project in a meeting, and one of your colleagues says they believe it will have a negative impact, you could resolve the conflict by rescinding your original thought.

This is useful if the other person is angry or hostile or you don’t have a strong opinion on the matter. It immediately deescalates conflict by removing your goal from the equation.

While accommodation has its place within organizational settings, question whether you use it to avoid conflict. If someone disagrees with you, simply acquiescing can snuff out opportunities for innovation and creative problem-solving .

As a leader, notice whether your employees frequently fall back on accommodation. If the setting is safe, encouraging healthy debate can lead to greater collaboration.

Related: How to Create a Culture of Ethics and Accountability in the Workplace

4. Compromising

Compromising is a conflict resolution strategy in which you and the other party willingly forfeit some of your needs to reach an agreement. It’s known as a “lose-lose” strategy, since neither of you achieve your full goal.

This strategy works well when your care for your goal and the relationship are both moderate. You value the relationship, but not so much that you abandon your goal, like in accommodation.

For example, maybe you and a peer express interest in leading an upcoming project. You could compromise by co-leading it or deciding one of you leads this one and the other the next one.

Compromising requires big-picture thinking and swallowing your pride, knowing you won’t get all your needs fulfilled. The benefits are that you and the other party value your relationship and make sacrifices to reach a mutually beneficial resolution.

5. Collaborating

Where compromise is a lose-lose strategy, collaboration is a win-win. In instances of collaboration, your goal and the relationship are equally important, motivating both you and the other party to work together to find an outcome that meets all needs.

An example of a situation where collaboration is necessary is if one of your employees isn’t performing well in their role—to the point that they’re negatively impacting the business. While maintaining a strong, positive relationship is important, so is finding a solution to their poor performance. Framing the conflict as a collaboration can open doors to help each other discover its cause and what you can do to improve performance and the business’s health.

Collaboration is ideal for most workplace conflicts. Goals are important, but so is maintaining positive relationships with co-workers. Promote collaboration whenever possible to find creative solutions to problems . If you can’t generate a win-win idea, you can always fall back on compromise.

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Considering Your Responsibilities as a Leader

As a leader, not only must you address your own conflicts but help your employees work through theirs. When doing so, remember your responsibilities to your employees—whether ethical, legal, or economic.

Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability groups your ethical responsibilities to employees into five categories:

Well-being: What’s ultimately good for the person
Rights: Entitlement to receive certain treatment
Duties: A moral obligation to behave in a specific way
Best practices: Aspirational standards not required by law or cultural norms
Fairness: Impartial and just treatment

In the course, Hsieh outlines three types of fairness you can use when helping employees solve conflicts:

Legitimate expectations: Employees reasonably expect certain practices or behaviors to continue based on experiences with the organization and explicit promises.
Procedural fairness: Managers must resolve issues impartially and consistently.
Distributive fairness: Your company equitably allocates opportunities, benefits, and burdens.

Particularly with procedural fairness, ensure you don’t take sides when mediating conflict. Treat both parties equally, allowing them time to speak and share their perspectives. Guide your team toward collaboration or compromise, and work toward a solution that achieves the goal while maintaining—and even strengthening—relationships.

Are you interested in learning how to navigate difficult decisions as a leader? Explore Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability —one of our online leadership and management courses —and download our free guide to becoming a more effective leader.

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29 conflict management techniques (that actually resolve issues!)

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What is conflict management?

What are some common causes of conflict in the workplace, how to successfully manage and resolve a conflict.

Conflict management is a process of guiding groups safely and productively through a thorough exploration, discussion, and resolution of a conflict or issue.

Effectively managing conflict means helping everyone be heard, facilitating a fair, equitable space for discussion, and limiting the potential for unproductive practices. Conflict management also means being able to identify sources of conflict, enabling others to participate, and build skills to help prevent and navigate conflict productively.

It’s important to note that conflict management isn’t always a straightforward or linear path. Some conflicts need to be revisited, evaluated, and built upon as teams and organizations grow. Successfully managing conflict in the workplace means being committed to an ongoing cycle of discovery, exploration, discussion, and resolution.

All of us are likely to include conflict, friction, and interpersonal issues at some stage in our working lives. While individual differences can be part of what makes a team successful, creative, and resilient, they can also be a cause of conflict.

Remember that while conflict in the workplace is almost inevitable, the way that conflict is handled and approached is entirely in our control. Identifying the potential causes of workplace conflict can be a great start when trying to build your conflict management skills.

Here are some of the most common causes of workplace conflict though bear in mind this is not exhaustive, and you should be vigilant for potential issues specific to your team and organization.

Power imbalances and differences in status
Closed, broken-down communication
Rigid hierarchies
Conflicts of interest
Lack of clear ownership
Micromanagement
Team siloing
No alignment on goals on shared purpose
Difference in values or ideologies
Performance expectations
Lack of resources or support
Competition
Overdependence on certain parties

Conflict in the workplace can occur whatever the size, makeup, or happiness of an organization. While toxic workplaces are more likely to result in conflict, even happy workplaces can see issues arise. Whenever you bring together a group of people to work on something they care about, differences of opinion can become something that needs to be addressed.

When conflict becomes a problem, it’s vital you follow a process to manage the issue and find a solution productively. Conflict handling can become problematic if people involved don’t trust that a solution will be found or that management doesn’t care about the issue.

Effective conflict management creates a safe space to explore the issue, discuss the effects it is having and then help the group create a solution together.

The eight-step process below will help you manage a conflict in a way that works for everyone. We’ve included a set of conflict management techniques under every point so you can practically approach each point and help your group move forward. Let’s dig in!

1. Help everyone speak up and be heard

2. correctly identify the cause of the conflict, 3. reach a shared understanding, 4. cocreate the solution.

5. Set clear actions and responsibilities

6. Build emotional intelligence

7. debrief and collect insights, 8. evaluate progress and follow up.

When resolving a conflict, it can be tempting to try and rush to the end. Especially if you believe you know the cause and solution to the problem . But taking this approach can create further issues if you don’t first take the time to hear everyone out.

Often, conflict arises because people aren’t being listened to, or because someone feels like they aren’t being understood. Taking time to ensure everyone has a chance to speak and be heard is an important part of conflict management you can’t afford to miss.

Skipping this step can mean some people don’t have their issues raised or worse, that the group doesn’t want to hear what they have to say. This ill-feeling can quickly get worse and lead to disengagement. When solving conflict, it’s a priority to create a safe space for sharing that helps everyone move forward together. The following activities are great for achieving just that!

Take a Stand

Heard, seen, respected, rollercoaster check-in.

Most teams want to help all their members be heard and share their thoughts – particularly during times of conflict. The problem is that unstructured discussions or certain frameworks don’t actively create space for everyone to contribute and be heard by others.

1-2-4-All is a proven technique to facilitate meaningful group discussion. Start with a round of silent self-reflection on a central question related to your conflict. Move on to pair and small group discussion before then sharing with the larger room.

It’s much easier to feel heard in pairs and small groups and by going through this process, everyone can air their concerns meaningfully. Be sure to mindfully choose your core discussion point and brief everyone to listen and be respectful for best results!

1-2-4-All #idea generation #liberating structures #issue analysis With this facilitation technique you can immediately include everyone regardless of how large the group is. You can generate better ideas and more of them faster than ever before. You can tap the know-how and imagination that is distributed widely in places not known in advance. Open, generative conversation unfolds. Ideas and solutions are sifted in rapid fashion. Most importantly, participants own the ideas, so follow-up and implementation is simplified. No buy-in strategies needed! Simple and elegant!

Some attempts at resolving issues fail because of the format of the meeting. A traditional group discussion can lead to heated exchanges and some people may not get a chance to be heard.

Take a Stand is an activity that explores an alternative way to surface feelings and help everyone make their opinion known. Start by asking participants to imagine a line where one end equals zero while the other end equals ten. Next ask a series of questions to surface how people are feeling and have people arrange themselves on the line based on their answer.

For example, you might ask “How well are we communicating as a team? 0 is not communicating at all. 10 is perfectly open and clear communication.” Have people discuss their position on the line with the person next to them. Afterward, move towards a group discussion to get opinions from people at various points on the line.

Having everyone stand on the line means you can get a quick read on group feelings and focus on those areas that need attention. Plus, everyone’s opinion is out in the open without any possibility of being talked over or shot down!

Take a Stand #hyperisland #innovation #issue analysis This is a practical, dynamic and versatile method for groups to explore ideas and questions together. Something like a physical questionnaire; participants respond to questions by walking around the space and placing themselves on an imaginary line. This provides a starting point for reflection and discussion and brings teams together.

Using methods designed to help everyone in a group speak up and be heard is integral when it comes to solving conflict. But how can we go further and create a working atmosphere where people are ready to listen and enable others to speak?

Heard, Seen, Respected is an activity designed to help a group walk in the shoes of others, listen more deeply and build empathy. Start by asking pairs to share a story of a time when they did not feel heard, seen, and respected. Next, ask groups to reflect on the experience and discuss patterns they see in these examples.

Try this activity when you want to help your group develop their conversational skills and be better listeners. The result will be a team of better, more empathetic listeners than will also feel more compelled to speak up and be heard.

Heard, Seen, Respected (HSR) #issue analysis #empathy #communication #liberating structures #remote-friendly You can foster the empathetic capacity of participants to “walk in the shoes” of others. Many situations do not have immediate answers or clear resolutions. Recognizing these situations and responding with empathy can improve the “cultural climate” and build trust among group members. HSR helps individuals learn to respond in ways that do not overpromise or overcontrol. It helps members of a group notice unwanted patterns and work together on shifting to more productive interactions. Participants experience the practice of more compassion and the benefits it engenders.

When kicking off a conflict resolution meeting or workshop, it’s a great idea to get a temperature check from the room. But how can we encourage honest participation if people are upset as a result of recent conflict?

Rollercoaster Check-in is a simple but powerful way of opening your sessions and checking in with your team. Start by drawing a wavy line to represent the rollercoaster of group feelings on a whiteboard. Next, invite participants to draw themselves on the rollercoaster, depicting the main way they are feeling.

By reframing the check-in this way, your group can surface their feelings more safely and openly than by simply engaging in open discussion.

Rollercoaster Check-In #team #opening #hyperisland #remote-friendly This playful method creates a powerful shared picture of the feelings in the group. Checking-in is a simple way for a team to start a meeting, workshop, or activity. By using the metaphor of a rollercoaster this alternative version supports participants to think differently about how they are feeling. People place themselves at different points on the rollercoaster, explaining their dominant feeling right now.

One of the most important steps in resolving a conflict is correctly identifying the actual cause of the issue. If you don’t take the opportunity to go deeper and find out what the true nature of the conflict is, any solutions are unlikely to resolve the issue.

Remember that identifying the cause of a conflict needs to come after everyone has had a chance to speak. It’s important not to rush to judgment and try to predetermine the cause of conflict.

If one person is upset because they feel their work isn’t being valued and they lash out verbally in a meeting, your first instinct might be to talk to that person about meeting etiquette.

By exploring the conflict, you might find that the deeper cause of the conflict is that the person doesn’t feel valued by the team or that you need to find time to celebrate wins as a group. Only by correctly identifying the root cause can you and your team move towards solving the actual issue.

In our experience, people often have different perspectives on why a conflict has occurred. Explore these perspectives together before then aligning on the root cause of the conflict.

Stinky Fish

Fishbone analysis, what, so what, now what w³.

It can be a challenge to discuss the conflict in the workplace while keeping things productive and neutral. Finding the root cause of conflict often means finding space to share fears, anxieties, and challenges safely.

Stinky Fish is a method designed to enable everyone in a group to share what’s bothering them. The metaphor of something you carry around but don’t talk about while it gets stinkier and stinkier can be especially effective at helping a group approach conflict analysis.

This activity is particularly useful if you’re not quite sure what the issue is, but know that there’s conflict and challenges in your team that need to be surfaced and solved.

Stinky Fish #hyperisland #skills #remote-friendly #issue analysis A short activity to run early in a program focused on sharing fears, anxieties and uncertainties related to the program theme. The purpose is to create openness within a group. The stinky fish is a metaphor for “that thing that you carry around but don’t like to talk about; but the longer you hide it, the stinkier it gets.” By putting stinky fish (fears and anxieties) on the table, participants begin to relate to each other, become more comfortable sharing, and identify a clear area for development and learning.

Some conflicts have a more obvious cause than others. When you are stuck on identifying what’s causing conflict on your team, it can be helpful to reframe the conversation and explore the problem from a new angle.

With Speed Boat, start by drawing a boat with several anchors attached. Identify the boat as a topic such as team cohesion or team happiness, and ask participants to brainstorm what things might be holding the boat back. From this perspective, you can surface all those things that might be causing conflict on the team without getting bogged down in attaching blame.

Follow with a round of voting on which anchors are the most important and move towards a more focused discussion. You can then try removing those anchors by asking the group how you might fix them as a team.

Speed Boat #gamestorming #problem solving #action Speedboat is a short and sweet way to identify what your employees or clients don’t like about your product/service or what’s standing in the way of a desired goal.

Successfully diagnosing a problem and identifying the true cause of a conflict means going deeper. Some conflicts that seem simple on the surface have numerous contributing factors. Only by exploring a subject deeply and bringing all those factors into the open can you effectively resolve a workplace conflict.

Fishbone Analysis helps a group go deeper by first starting with a core conflict or issue and labeling that as the head of the fish on the diagram. Next, participants brainstorm the causes of the issue and add these as bones to the diagram. Add subcategories and additional bones to the fish by asking why these causes come up.

After several rounds of brainstorming and discussion, you’ll have a clear picture of what’s causing the core issue from multiple perspectives. End by identifying any recurring causes and prioritize those that have the largest impact on your conflict. These are what you want to work on as a group!

Fishbone Analysis ##problem solving ##root cause analysis #decision making #online facilitation A process to help identify and understand the origins of problems, issues or observations.

When a team conflict has occurred, it’s important to unpack what happened methodically to correctly identify the cause. It can be so easy for teams to get bogged down in the details and fail to understand the chain of events that can lead to conflict.

What, So What, Now What? is an effective framework for helping everyone articulate what happened and why it was important from their perspective. This approach to sharing not only helps everyone be heard but also helps surface key insights that can move the group forward.

Use this activity when you want to debrief on a shared conflict and ensure it is explored in full before developing solutions together.

W³ – What, So What, Now What? #issue analysis #innovation #liberating structures You can help groups reflect on a shared experience in a way that builds understanding and spurs coordinated action while avoiding unproductive conflict. It is possible for every voice to be heard while simultaneously sifting for insights and shaping new direction. Progressing in stages makes this practical—from collecting facts about What Happened to making sense of these facts with So What and finally to what actions logically follow with Now What . The shared progression eliminates most of the misunderstandings that otherwise fuel disagreements about what to do. Voila!

One of the biggest challenges to resolving a conflict is alignment. If not everyone is on the same page and does not understand why people are upset, it’s very difficult to move forward.

Building a shared understanding means helping your group see things from other perspectives and agreeing on a path forward. Once you’ve helped everyone be heard, this means filtering down to key points and helping the group align.

These conflict management techniques are effective tools in this process. With a shared understanding, your group will then be positioned to create a solution together. Let’s take a look!

Agreement-Certainty Matrix

What i need from you, give and take matrix, issue analysis.

After everyone has had a chance to speak, it can be useful to align on the problems that have surfaced. Does everyone see them the same way? Only by aligning on the importance and nature of a problem can you create solutions that have an impact.

This activity from Liberating Structures helps a group consider the causes of conflict objectively. By sorting challenges based on four factors – simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic – you can create a shared understanding of issues and agree on a way forward together.

Be sure to align and find common ground on the nature of a problem before rushing to a solution. Skipping this can result in poor outcomes that might not address the issue!

Agreement-Certainty Matrix #issue analysis #liberating structures #problem solving You can help individuals or groups avoid the frequent mistake of trying to solve a problem with methods that are not adapted to the nature of their challenge. The combination of two questions makes it possible to easily sort challenges into four categories: simple, complicated, complex , and chaotic . A problem is simple when it can be solved reliably with practices that are easy to duplicate. It is complicated when experts are required to devise a sophisticated solution that will yield the desired results predictably. A problem is complex when there are several valid ways to proceed but outcomes are not predictable in detail. Chaotic is when the context is too turbulent to identify a path forward. A loose analogy may be used to describe these differences: simple is like following a recipe, complicated like sending a rocket to the moon, complex like raising a child, and chaotic is like the game “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.” The Liberating Structures Matching Matrix in Chapter 5 can be used as the first step to clarify the nature of a challenge and avoid the mismatches between problems and solutions that are frequently at the root of chronic, recurring problems.

We all have things we need from others in a team to be successful and happy in our work. When we feel our needs aren’t being met, or we’re unclear about what people need of us it can be frustrating for both parties.

Conflict of this nature can contribute to an unproductive working environment with unhappy employees. Thankfully, this method is an effective way of getting things back on track! Begin by inviting your group to articulate the core needs of other individuals and parts of the organization. Each affected group must then respond to those needs with one of four options and agree to take action as a result. By being clear, concrete, and practical, you can repair misunderstandings and move beyond conflict together.

What I Need From You (WINFY) #issue analysis #liberating structures #team #communication #remote-friendly People working in different functions and disciplines can quickly improve how they ask each other for what they need to be successful. You can mend misunderstandings or dissolve prejudices developed over time by demystifying what group members need in order to achieve common goals. Since participants articulate core needs to others and each person involved in the exchange is given the chance to respond, you boost clarity, integrity, and transparency while promoting cohesion and coordination across silos: you can put Humpty Dumpty back together again!

Teams are complex systems of different roles, needs, interactions, and motivations. Creating a shared understanding of that system can help a group navigate challenges, support one another and also identify causes of conflict.

Start the Give and Take Matrix by listing all of the actors in a system on both the vertical and horizontal axes of the matrix. Next, have each person add what they need from the system to the matrix. Finally, move through each cell and have each person consider what they can offer one another to help them fulfill their primary needs.

Completing the matrix helps build a complete picture of how needs flow through the system and what every actor in the system has to offer. You can also see where there might be room for improvement and create space for people to see how they can help others too!

Give and Take Matrix #gamestorming #issue analysis The goal of this game is to map out the motivations and interactions among actors in a system. The actors, in this case, may be as small-scale as individuals who need to work together to accomplish a task, or as large-scale as organizations brought together for a long-term purpose. A give-and-take matrix is a useful diagnostic tool, and helps players explore how value flows through the group.

Some conflicts can feel difficult to solve because they are large, complicated, or vague. Finding a means to analyze a conflict and break it up into manageable parts is an important step in the process.

Start by stating the core issue to be addressed in clear, simple terms. Follow by asking the group to brainstorm ideas around the issue with the statements “I wish….” or “How to….”.

Synthesize and clarify those ideas and then prioritize based on seriousness, urgency, and the speed at which the issue is growing. By sorting challenges relating to the conflict in this way, your group can align easily on the nature of the problem and then choose which aspects to focus on too.

Issue Analysis #issue analysis #problem solving #online #remote-friendly A process for understanding a complex problem situation

The best solutions are those that everyone in the team has a part in creating – this is even more true in the case of group conflict. By working together on the resolution to an issue, you can ensure it is in everyone’s interest. Remember that any conflict management process is improved when you involve all of the affected parties in creating the solution.

The result is a solution that is fit for purpose and addresses everyone’s concerns. This allows ample buy-in from your team and also helps highlight any weak points in the strategy.

Let’s take a look at activities designed to help a group collectively come up with a solution to the conflict.

The Six Thinking Hats

Discovery & action dialogue, team of two, making space with triz.

Creating an effective solution as a team means tapping into everyone’s collective wisdom. Particularly when trying to develop a solution to the conflict, it’s important to explore different ways of thinking rather than arguing over which is best.

Six Thinking Hats is a great method for exploring a problem from various points of view and co-creating the solution. Start by explaining the six hats and their different approaches to the problem. For example, use the green hat to generate ideas, the yellow hat to explore benefits and values, and the red hat to explore feelings and intuition.

Ensure everyone uses the same hat at the same time and consider developing sequences of hats to address different problems. Cocreating the solution to your conflict with a clear framework is a surefire way to ensure buy-in from the whole team.

The Six Thinking Hats #creative thinking #meeting facilitation #problem solving #issue resolution #idea generation #conflict resolution The Six Thinking Hats are used by individuals and groups to separate out conflicting styles of thinking. They enable and encourage a group of people to think constructively together in exploring and implementing change, rather than using argument to fight over who is right and who is wrong.

Effectively resolving a conflict often means going beyond the current issues. Understanding the patterns and conditions that lead to the conflict will also want to be addressed to prevent further issues and get everyone back on track!

Discovery & Action Dialogue is a 7 step discussion designed to uncover and share practices and tacit solutions from within the team. Surfacing these with a proper framework means that the group can discover better solutions to common problems together.

Begin by asking the group how they know when problem X is present before asking successive questions to help everyone consider how they can contribute to solving that problem.

Discovery & Action Dialogue (DAD) #idea generation #liberating structures #action #issue analysis #remote-friendly DADs make it easy for a group or community to discover practices and behaviors that enable some individuals (without access to special resources and facing the same constraints) to find better solutions than their peers to common problems. These are called positive deviant (PD) behaviors and practices. DADs make it possible for people in the group, unit, or community to discover by themselves these PD practices. DADs also create favorable conditions for stimulating participants’ creativity in spaces where they can feel safe to invent new and more effective practices. Resistance to change evaporates as participants are unleashed to choose freely which practices they will adopt or try and which problems they will tackle. DADs make it possible to achieve frontline ownership of solutions.

While conflicts in the workplace can come in all shapes and sizes, it’s worth noting that most disagreements occur between two individuals working together. Taking time to explore and repair these close working relationships can have massive benefits to the team at large.

With this activity, start by having each person in your team of two writes down how they think they could help the other person and how the other person could help them. By keeping things simple, you can help improve future interactions between employees and repair areas of common conflict. Be sure to guide participants to give and take equitably and be clear and concise with their requests for best results.

Team of Two #communication #active listening #issue analysis #conflict resolution #issue resolution #remote-friendly #team Much of the business of an organisation takes place between pairs of people. These interactions can be positive and developing or frustrating and destructive. You can improve them using simple methods, providing people are willing to listen to each other. “Team of two” will work between secretaries and managers, managers and directors, consultants and clients or engineers working on a job together. It will even work between life partners.

It can be hard to move towards resolution if your team is stuck in the same old ways of thinking. Finding space for innovation and turn a conflict on its head can be one of the most effective ways to generate impactful solutions.

Start this activity by asking the group to make a list of all the worst things they could do to resolve the current conflict. You’ll find this reframing of the issue often elicits laughter and creativity too! Honestly assess the list and see if you are doing anything that resembles those items. Next, make a list of counterproductive behaviors and actions and discuss their impact.

Finally, explore what first steps you could take to prevent those counterproductive actions from occurring. Getting the skeletons out of the closet can be difficult. But with this reframed discussion, you can explore those issues and come up with innovative approaches too!

Making Space with TRIZ #issue analysis #liberating structures #issue resolution You can clear space for innovation by helping a group let go of what it knows (but rarely admits) limits its success and by inviting creative destruction. TRIZ makes it possible to challenge sacred cows safely and encourages heretical thinking. The question “What must we stop doing to make progress on our deepest purpose?” induces seriously fun yet very courageous conversations. Since laughter often erupts, issues that are otherwise taboo get a chance to be aired and confronted. With creative destruction come opportunities for renewal as local action and innovation rush in to fill the vacuum. Whoosh!

5. Set clear actions and responsibilities

After you’ve figured out the solution to a workplace conflict, your group should agree on what actions should be taken to achieve it. This means agreeing on specific things that we can do both collectively and as individuals and then putting them in writing.

Effective conflict management is about enabling everyone to take responsibility while also helping them take the first steps in achieving change. These frameworks are a great next step that can ensure any solution is carried out methodically and that the core issue is resolved over time.

Who/What/When Matrix

3 action steps, raci matrix.

Just as a workplace conflict can be composed of many complex parts, so too can the solution. Simplify the process by breaking down the next steps, assigning responsibilities, and giving a clear timeframe for completion.

Who/What/When Matrix is a simple, effective method for managing expectations and tasks that come out of the conflict management process. Start by adding the name of participants responsible for taking action in the first column. Next, add the tasks they are responsible for and ask them when that task will be completed. Simple!

Remember that successfully managing any conflict means ensuring that agreed-upon actions are carried out in a timely and effective manner. Use this matrix to help a team move forward after discussing what to do and follow through on the solution!

Who/What/When Matrix #gamestorming #action #project planning With Who/What/When matrix, you can connect people with clear actions they have defined and have committed to.

Some conflicts have less clear points of resolution. Perhaps the change needed from your team is less structured, and you’re asking for a change in how people communicate or treat each other in the workplace.

This activity is designed to help everyone in a group identify some clear next steps they can take to achieve the desired change. This can be especially helpful if there is still a lack of clarity about what individuals can practically do to minimize conflict at work.

Start by asking the participants to imagine the workplace in 6 months from now, after the conflict has been resolved and they’ve accomplished everything they set out to accomplish. Next, ask them to write down what their vision is and then suggest concrete steps they can take to make that happen.

Finish by asking the group what the first thing is that they’ll do once they’ll return to work. The result is a team that feels enabled to start making the necessary changes to create a better work environment!

3 Action Steps #hyperisland #action #remote-friendly This is a small-scale strategic planning session that helps groups and individuals to take action toward a desired change. It is often used at the end of a workshop or programme. The group discusses and agrees on a vision, then creates some action steps that will lead them towards that vision. The scope of the challenge is also defined, through discussion of the helpful and harmful factors influencing the group.

Having a clear sense of everyone involved in delivering a solution is important in ensuring it is delivered effectively. What’s more, it’s valuable to see where other people fit into the process and also get a sense of who wants to be involved in a smaller capacity.

RACI Matrix is a framework for helping a group understand everyone’s role in the process and also for agreeing on stakeholders. Start by creating a list of work that needs to be done to achieve your conflict solution and a list of roles. Set the work along the horizontal axis and the roles along the vertical axis of the matrix. Next, assign responsibility using one of four options: Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed.

By assigning responsibilities, everyone on the team has a clear view of their role and where they can and should get involved. When managing conflict, it’s integral that everyone in the group understands how they can help and who is ultimately responsible for certain outcomes on the road to resolution.

RACI Matrix #gamestorming #project management #action Sometimes responsibilities aren’t clear. By creating a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) matrix, a group will tackle the responsibility problem directly.

Conflict is hard work. It can be emotionally draining and ask a lot of us as people. While we might not be able to prevent conflict, we can build our emotional intelligence to help manage how we engage with others. Responding calmly to conflict and treating others with empathy and care throughout is something we can all learn to improve.

These activities are designed to help you and your team build emotional intelligence, self-awareness and reconsider how we react to conflict. All of which can be instrumental in successfully navigating and managing workplace conflict.

Conflict Responses

Everyday hassles , explore your values.

9 dimensions

Reconsidering how we react to conflict and pressure can be transformative. We’re all capable of overreacting or handling things in a less than ideal manner. What’s important is that we take the opportunity to reflect and learn from those instances.

Conflict Responses is an activity designed for reflection on a previous conflict. Start by having participants write down examples of previous team conflicts and then rate how they reacted. Next, ask the group to consider and discuss what behaviors and actions were helpful and unhelpful. Finally, ask your team to come up with some new guidelines for effective conflict handling based on those discussions. This reflection also serves as a catalyst for emotional intelligence and personal growth.

The resulting guidelines can then be used as a resource for future conflicts. By generating these guidelines as a team, you’ll find they are more relevant and likely to be used in practice!

Conflict Responses #hyperisland #team #issue resolution A workshop for a team to reflect on past conflicts, and use them to generate guidelines for effective conflict handling. The workshop uses the Thomas-Killman model of conflict responses to frame a reflective discussion. Use it to open up a discussion around conflict with a team.

Our automatic responses to what we might find annoying can be the cause of inter-team conflict. Challenging these responses and developing our emotional intelligence so we can respond better can be a key aspect of avoiding issues in the future.

In this activity, give participants the example of being annoyed at being stuck in traffic and ask them to brainstorm other everyday hassles. Give each group an everyday hassle and then ask them to come up with positive reactions to that situation.

Over successive rounds and a debriefing, your group will see how a change in mindset can help them react better to such hassles in the future. They’ll also learn that taking personal responsibility for our emotions and reactions is a vital ingredient for happy, productive teams – bonus!

Everyday Hassles #issue resolution #issue analysis #stress management #thiagi It is a great activity to show participants that it is plausible to change our automatic behaviours and reactions to annoying situations.

Our core values are incredibly important to our sense of self and overarching happiness at work. Conflict can arise in groups where we feel our values are not being reflected, used, or appreciated. So how can we help ensure everyone’s values are celebrated and do not become a possible point of conflict?

Explore your values is a great activity to encourage reflection and help everyone in your team understand what is important to them. Begin by having everyone write down their top ten values. Then, one by one, reduce those ten values to the three most important. Ask your group to then reflect on how they might live those values more and use them in their working life.

You’ll often find that people who do not have a chance to live their core values or are put in situations that challenge their values can become embroiled in conflict. By exploring these values, you can better understand how conflict might occur and create a happier, more emotionally engaged team.

Explore your Values #hyperisland #skills #values #remote-friendly Your Values is an exercise for participants to explore what their most important values are. It’s done in an intuitive and rapid way to encourage participants to follow their intuitive feeling rather than over-thinking and finding the “correct” values. It is a good exercise to use to initiate reflection and dialogue around personal values.

9 dimensions – team variant

Being more emotionally intelligent often means being more self-aware of how you are doing and being open about that with your team. When you create a culture of self-awareness and honesty, you also create a team that is more resilient to conflict.

With this activity, ask your team to reflect on how they are doing on each of nine dimensions – using colored dots to share whether they believe the team is crushing it or needs help.

Discuss the results and see where your group is aligned or in disagreement. This kind of open discussion and reflection on how everyone perceives themselves and the team can help build both self and group awareness.

9 Dimensions Team Building Activity #ice breaker #teambuilding #team #remote-friendly 9 Dimensions is a powerful activity designed to build relationships and trust among team members. There are 2 variations of this icebreaker. The first version is for teams who want to get to know each other better. The second version is for teams who want to explore how they are working together as a team.

Resolving conflicts can be tiring and emotionally demanding in equal measure. Once you’ve finished a meeting to discuss the issue, it might be tempting to call it a day. But as with any process of solving problems, it’s important to solidify learnings, ensure alignment and leave the room on a positive note.

These activities are designed to not only conclude the session but also help agreed actions stick and help the group get closure. Be sure to use them when you’re finishing up with resolving a conflict. They help create a good atmosphere for progress outside of the meeting.

I used to think…But now I think…

Thirty-five for debriefing.

Debriefing on a successfully resolved conflict is a perfect place to recap how far you’ve come. Not only does it help everyone cement what they’ve learned, but it can also be useful to ensure alignment before closing the session.

This activity is great for sharing learning points and helping your group reflect on how their perspective has changed. Give 3-5 minutes of private reflection on the two questions above and then invite everyone to share with the group. You might even want to collect responses on a flipchart to ensure that the takeaways leave the room with every participant.

I used to think…But now I think… #teampedia #review #debriefing #team A simple but effective closing activity that could lead to identify the learning point or outcomes for participants and measure the change in their behavior, mindset or opinion regarding the subject.

Resolving conflict can be emotionally draining and take a toll, even if the outcome was good. Taking the time to appreciate one another as people and for everyone’s role in the discussion can help create a good feeling at the end of the resolution.

Start by creating two rows of chairs to recreate the seating inside of a bus. Explain that the bus runs on positive energy and that everyone in the group will have to contribute to keeping the bus going. Next, have the participants in one row give positive feedback to those seated next to them. After 45 seconds, switch roles. Afterward, rotate passengers on the bus so that everyone gets a chance to give and receive feedback from everyone else.

We love this activity at SessionLab. Particularly at the end of a conflict, it’s great to receive positive feedback for your contributions to resolving the issue. Leaving on a positive, happy note can also help the team get closure and feel good about the session.

Bus Trip #feedback #communication #appreciation #closing #thiagi #team This is one of my favourite feedback games. I use Bus Trip at the end of a training session or a meeting, and I use it all the time. The game creates a massive amount of energy with lots of smiles, laughs, and sometimes even a teardrop or two.

Some conflicts are more complex than others. When an issue has many moving parts, it can be difficult to keep track of them all. Help your participants recall and share key learnings with this activity from Thiagi Group.

Start by asking participants to reflect on a part of the conflict management process and write down what they learned on a card. Next, have participants swap cards without looking. After a few minutes, have everyone pair up, discuss and score their new cards. After several rounds, total the points on every card and discuss the highest scoring learnings as a group. Closing a session by resurfacing key learnings and then emailing them out afterward can help ensure the solution stays front of mind for your participants.

Thirty-five for Debriefing #debriefing #closing #thiagi #action #skills You might be familiar with Thirty-Five as a structured-sharing activity. Thirty-Five can also be used as an effective debriefing game. In this version, participants reflect on an earlier experience and identify important lessons they learned. They write one of these lessons as a brief item. The winner in this activity is not the best player, but the best lesson learned.

Even after you’ve discussed a workplace conflict, come up with a solution, and implemented it, the conflict management process isn’t complete. You need a process for evaluating the progress of the team and to help ensure the resolution sticks.

Such an evaluation is also a great time for the group to reflect on their conflict management skills. You might discover there’s more to be done to help the team avoid conflict in the future or that someone on the team has a great method for cooling off when things get heated. However, you’ve chosen to handle workplace conflict, ensure you take the time to check in and evaluate afterward. This way, you’ll ensure your solution is fit for purpose, continue to create space for people to voice concerns, and move forward as a team.

Project Mid-way Evaluation

Start, stop, continue, letter to myself.

When workplace issues are complicated, the solutions can be multifaceted too. Bringing those solutions home alongside all our other day-to-day work can be difficult. As such, it can be important to evaluate progress and ensure the agreed-upon solution is followed through on.

This method is designed to help a group of people effectively evaluate where a project is at and find ways to shift gear or change track if necessary. Using one of three visual evaluation methods, you can identify patterns that are helping and hindering the conflict management process.

Remember that solving a conflict is rarely a linear path. Repeating some of the discovery steps and finding space to reflect freely can ensure that any resolution is fit for the team as it continues to evolve.

Project Mid-way Evaluation #hyperisland #action #evaluation This method is useful for evaluating a project currently in progress, to see if any adjustments need to be made for the team to work more effectively together. It provides a framework for discussion. Participants focus on the things that are helping and hindering the team process, and create action steps for improvement.

Keeping things simple is always a useful maxim in facilitation – especially during the conflict management process. Once action steps have been taken and you’re asking your group to assess the landscape, being able to clearly and easily judge what’s working and not can help your group avoid unproductive discussion.

Use Start, Stop, Continue to encourage a group to celebrate what’s working, what might be hindering the process, and what the team should start doing too. Some solutions are unproven until they are put into action and can also create unexpected results. This method is great at capturing group feeling as a conflict moves towards resolution and helping them suggest simple fixes for what comes next.

Start, Stop, Continue #gamestorming #action #feedback #decision making The object of Start, Stop, Continue is to examine aspects of a situation or develop next steps. Additionally, it can be a great framework for feedback

When we’ve finally resolved a workplace conflict, it can be tempting to move on and try and forget it happened. This approach can hamper potential solutions and prevent the kind of reflection and action that can help a team truly process and learn from conflicts at work.

With Letter to Myself, end a conflict discussion by asking participants to write down the actions they will take afterward. They’ll also add a concrete date to complete those actions and add those things they would like to have changed by that time. Next, collect those letters and then post them back to the recipients by an agreed-upon date in the future.

This method is a way of setting some intentions for after the conflict meeting and checking yourself against them later. It means everyone can course correct, celebrate wins or double down on what’s working.

Letter to Myself #hyperisland #action #remote-friendly Often done at the end of a workshop or program, the purpose of this exercise is to support participants in applying their insights and learnings, by writing a letter and sending it to their future selves. They can define key actions that they would like their future self to take, and express their reasons why change needs to happen.

In conclusion

Conflict can arise even in the most progressive, happy workplaces. Whenever you get a group of passionate and talented people together, opinions can differ. What’s important is that you have a framework for handling conflict in the workplace that allows your team to discuss things safely and productively. No more shouting matches or passive-aggressive emails!

Remember that handling conflict when it occurs is tough, but it’s much easier with activities designed to facilitate a productive discussion and move your group to a resolution. Furthermore, consider taking the time to build a respectful, open culture – that way, you’ll have fewer conflicts at work and be better positioned to work through them when you do!

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Essay on Conflict Management

Students are often asked to write an essay on Conflict Management in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Conflict Management

Introduction.

Conflict management is a crucial skill in life. It involves understanding and addressing disagreements effectively.

Understanding Conflict

Conflicts can arise due to different opinions or interests. They can be constructive if managed well.

Types of Conflict

Conflicts can be interpersonal, intrapersonal, or group-based. Each type requires different management tactics.

Conflict Management Skills

Key skills include active listening, empathy, negotiation, and problem-solving. These help in finding a solution.

250 Words Essay on Conflict Management

Conflict management is a critical skill in any environment, particularly in interpersonal and organizational settings. It entails understanding and addressing disagreements to prevent escalation and maintain productive relationships.

The Nature of Conflict

Conflict is an inevitable part of human interaction, arising from differences in opinions, values, or interests. It can stimulate innovation and growth if managed correctly; conversely, it can lead to negative outcomes, such as stress or hostility, when mismanaged.

Conflict Management Styles

There are five primary conflict management styles: avoidance, accommodation, competition, compromise, and collaboration. Each style has its strengths and weaknesses, and the appropriateness of each depends on the specific context and the relationship between the parties involved.

Effective Conflict Management

Effective conflict management requires emotional intelligence, active listening, and clear communication. It involves recognizing the conflict, understanding the perspectives of all parties, and finding a mutually beneficial resolution.

In conclusion, conflict management is a vital skill in maintaining harmonious relationships and fostering a positive environment. By understanding the nature of conflict and applying appropriate conflict management styles, individuals and organizations can turn potential discord into opportunities for growth and development.

500 Words Essay on Conflict Management

Conflict arises from differences. It occurs when individuals or groups perceive that their needs, interests, or values are threatened by the actions or intentions of others. Conflicts can be constructive, fostering creativity and innovation, or destructive, leading to stress, hostility, and reduced productivity. Therefore, it is crucial to manage conflict effectively.

Conflict Management Techniques

There are several strategies for managing conflict. The choice of strategy depends on the nature of the conflict, the relationship between the parties involved, and the desired outcome.

2. Accommodation: One party willingly gives in to the other. This is useful when the issue is less important to one party, but it can lead to resentment if used excessively.

3. Competition: This is a win-lose approach where one party seeks to achieve their goals at the expense of others. It can lead to hostility and damage relationships.

5. Collaboration: This is a win-win approach where parties work together to find a solution that satisfies all. It promotes mutual respect and understanding.

The Role of Communication in Conflict Management

Effective communication is crucial in conflict management. It involves active listening, empathy, and assertiveness. Active listening ensures understanding, empathy builds rapport and trust, and assertiveness allows individuals to express their needs and concerns without offending others.

Conflict Management and Organizational Productivity

Effective conflict management can significantly enhance organizational productivity. It reduces stress, improves teamwork, and fosters a culture of respect and understanding. It also promotes creativity and innovation by encouraging diverse viewpoints and open discussions.

Conflict is an inevitable part of human interaction, but it doesn’t have to be destructive. Effective conflict management strategies can transform conflicts into opportunities for growth and innovation. Therefore, individuals, teams, and organizations should invest in developing their conflict management skills to foster a harmonious and productive environment.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Happy studying!

What is the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Management Model? (With examples)

Conflict. It’s an inevitable part of any workplace, and none of us can escape it. Some of it is important for the learning and growth process if it’s resolved healthily. Other forms of conflict are caused by bad apples and must be handled with in their own way.

How we resolve conflict will go a long way toward proving our effectiveness as managers and ensuring that the business is operating as swimmingly as possible.

Let’s give a “Thomas Kilmann Conflict Model Example” situation to start with. Say a large AAA video game development firm is consolidating its workforce, and two teams of programmers are asked to join forces. Each were under different managers with radically different leadership styles. Conflict in this situation is most likely inevitable. There will be a big Change Management piece to sort through this to make it work and the managers from both parties will enter the merger with a game plan so they aren’t trying to feel their way through a situation with intuition – or worse, blind luck. Conflict management exercises may not be enough to resolve this. Enter the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Model.

What is the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Model?

In 1974, a pair of researchers – the eponymous Kenneth W. Thomas and Ralph H. Kilmann – studied workers and their routine conflicts in the workplace. Over time, they were able to observe a pattern of ways in which people resolved conflict; most methods could be distilled down to five core methods. These five options formed the basis of the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Model Instrument and the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Resolution Model.

The model has two approaches, also known as “dimensions”: assertiveness and cooperation. Most of you are probably intimately familiar with each of these dimensions on their own, as well as the associated personality traits, but not necessarily how they interact. That is where this model shines. There are five forms of conflict resolution that use these two approaches to different degrees. But more on this later.

High assertiveness and high cooperativeness: Collaboration
High assertiveness and low cooperativeness: Competition
Low assertiveness and high cooperation: Accommodation
Low assertiveness and low cooperation: Avoidance

Let’s go over the two Thomas Kilmann Conflict Modes now.

Thomas Kilmann Conflict Dimension One: Assertiveness

We frequently get asked by individuals enrolled in our Team Leader Apprenticeship whether assertiveness is relevant and necessary – as it could be perceived as a counterproductive trait.

However, assertiveness is the degree to which people are willing to take initiative and force their will upon others. This strategy is useful in the following situations:

Results are needed fast
Ethics or morality is in question
You know you are correct and need to push forward
Other attempts to resolve conflict are fruitless
Your power and influence are significant.

Naturally, assertiveness often leads to faster resolution and reinforces power within the dominance hierarchy, but it can cause friction, backlash, and reinforce hierarchies that are too vertical or power-driven. It can also lower morale and autonomy among strong and equally disagreeable/assertive workers beneath you. It’s best to be prudent, as always.

Thomas Kilmann Conflict Dimension Two: Cooperation

As it sounds, cooperation is the degree to which people are willing to work together to accomplish a goal. It’s all about teamwork and weighing different points of view, much like a democracy. Here are situations where cooperation may be superior to assertiveness:

There is no clear-cut best way to handle the situation
Your way may not be the right way.
Your opponent/rival is not very disagreeable or is cooperative.
Helps lower threat levels in the workplace and minimize your number of enemies.
Works in every situation since you are giving up ground to a conflicting stance – however, it may not always be the RIGHT way.

Cooperation has some advantages: it minimizes fallout and may enhance the worker or manager’s reputation of being a diplomat and a people person.

However, it takes time to weigh all sides and come to agreements – time you may not have. Also, the more stubborn the other person or group is, the harder it will be to be cooperative – to the point where you may just waste your time. Know when to be assertive and when to be cooperative!

It should now be clear why there are different combinations of the two dimensions, as no single dimension can be useful for all situations. And remember: to implement this model and determine which dimension is best, you have to be able to successfully identify conflict within your own workplace.

Five Modes of The Thomas Kilmann Conflict Management Model

As we described above, the Thomas Kilmann Conflict mode instrument has 5 modes: competing, avoiding, accommodating, collaborating, and – the sweet spot – compromising. Let’s dive into each of these Thomas Kilmann Conflict Modes a bit further!

Mode One: Avoiding

At the low assertiveness and low compromising corner is the “avoiding” mode. As it sounds like, this involves avoiding conflict entirely. The person will watch the situation play itself out organically and try to avoid getting directly involved. It’s the typical passive approach that we see in our day-to-day lives more than ever before. Many people just want to avoid conflict, which certainly has its place, but it can also be a very toxic way to handle things. A business would fail if everyone avoided conflict – that’s just common sense!

Sometimes it’s good to avoid situations. Perhaps there was a huge blowup at work and the parties involved needed to relax for a while and focus on their tasks. Perhaps the issue is super minor or low priority, and the workers need to focus on more pressing concerns. Therefore, people weigh their options constantly.

People subconsciously perform a cost-benefit analysis and determine if the potential downsides of engaging in debate or conflict aren’t worth the potential gains. Most bystanders would naturally take this approach, but if a worker or employer needs to be engaged in conflict directly for the benefit of the business or their livelihood, then they’d be well advised to use this option as a last resort.

If someone was talking about an issue at work with someone and they started to argue together, the first person would switch topics or leave.
A person who always avoids the topic of disciplining their employees might change the subject or try to avoid talking about it altogether. They might not want to even be around people when this topic is discussed.

Mode Two: Accommodating

Also at the low assertiveness end, but with a higher degree of compromising baked within, is the accommodating option. This, as it sounds, involves acquiescing to the rival/other individuals and giving in to their stance. Sometimes we must “take the loss” and accept that we should change our ways or yield to the other parties. Unlike avoiding, this mode acknowledges the conflict and puts an end to any tension. This is very useful if you are directly involved in the conflict but don’t want to deal with the situation – or if your way is proven wrong.

Keep in mind that a person choosing this strategy may lose a lot of reputation or favor if they were the aggressor. Be very careful about taking this if your position is strong and you have a lot to lose – both within the conflict and the greater context of the organization.

If a co-worker has to skip work due to unavoidable circumstance, the person would agree to cover their shift even if they are not friends with their co-worker.
If a project needs completing they may do “whatever it takes” to make this happen.

Mode Three: Competing

High assertiveness and low compromising is the classic mode of competition. The workplace is full of competitive people, sure, but in the context of conflict resolution, competing means people openly dissent against the other party and directly try to prove that their way is right. This is the classic debate or argumentative stance: “my way or the highway,” so to speak. It’s for pressing matters or situations where you need to assert your authority – or if you know you’re right and the stakes are high. If you have the authority and it’s an emergency, don’t hesitate to make others bend to your will.

Just be careful about employing this strategy excessively because it can lead to massive blowback. The more competitive you are, the less likely people will be to work with you in the future, and the more likely they will shut you out of the loop as much as possible. If you elevate your threat level too needlessly, people may target your reputation or even your livelihood. Be sure that your reasoning is strong.

Someone would rather by right than do the right thing! They might want to just win the argument!
A person gets too defensive about their ideas or opinions and becomes combative when facing objections or disagreements.

Mode Four: Collaborating

Let’s say you want an assertive option that is still highly accommodating. That’s where collaborating comes into play. In a nutshell, the collaborating mode allows you to acknowledge your rival’s points and take the time to agree. This is indeed very time-consuming and resource-intensive, but it can be a great way to handle an issue if both sides have good points and there’s no clear-cut winner in the conflict. A lot of great things come out of collaborating, but it can be a strain on resources and slow everything down. It’s usually the right way, but not always.

A lot of creativity can come out of collaborations. The power of many people bouncing ideas off each other is huge. Of course, all parties must have some degree of assertiveness – otherwise, the other person is simply acquiescing and not providing constructive inputs. Be assertive but don’t dominate the collaboration or else there’s no point. It’s also important to question whether you should collaborate with someone you don’t trust – they may stall the process at your expense or steal your ideas, for instance.

If a person is offended by an idea but can see that there are implications for other people, then the person will work with them to come up with alternative solutions that are mutually agreed upon.
If someone is saddled with too much work, they will discuss the issue with their employers and try to find a middle ground instead of resigning.

Mode Five: Compromising

Here’s the center of everything on the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Model. Compromising is all about being somewhat assertive and cooperative – giving up a lot of ground and gaining a little bit. The saying “A Good Compromise Leaves Nobody Fully Satisfied” is true, but it’s often better than the alternative.

Collaborating is a solid choice in most situations (unless there’s a sense of urgency) because you’ll spend more time coming up with the “right” answer, not one that leaves everyone in limbo. Compromising in the short run can lead to additional conflict in the long run, but it will put a Band-Aid on the situation in the interim. This is the even-keeled approach.

Overall, compromising is often used to resolve heated conflict but not to the point where people are grandstanding. It’s an everyday solution – common in democracies – that is often revised many times over the subsequent years. Don’t fall into the habit of compromising all of the time when collaborating would be far more gainful.

Two companies might cooperate on marketing efforts when they both want more customers.
If your boss is offering you a raise, but you don’t want to give up too much of your salary, you can say that you would be willing to compromise.

Which Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Works Best?

There is no catch-all situation. Each mode has its strengths and weaknesses and will be a solid choice in certain situations. There are so many variables in play here, including but not limited to:

Personality traits of everyone involved (you, your rivals, the managers, customers, other workers, and so forth): some people respond well to disagreeability, but others don’t. Some people can’t be disagreeable at ALL and would struggle with the assertiveness dimension. Others may only avoid situations, forcing you to take a more assertive approach to resolve the conflict. There are so many situations, and no manager can be perfect at predicting the personalities of everyone in a business.

Your hierarchical position: more power means more influence and more responsiveness toward assertive tendencies, and vice versa.

The problem itself: if there’s a sense of urgency, you’ll need to be more assertive to ensure that the problem gets resolved faster. If it’s not a big issue, the “juice may not be worth the squeeze” and you may even want to consider avoiding it entirely.

Interpersonal relationships: if you have a strong relationship with the other side of the conflict, you may want to pick a more cooperative solution. If they are a highly disagreeable rival, you may want to be less cooperative. Even still, perhaps you can treat the conflict as an opportunity to mend fences or win a rival’s trust, so you may want to be cooperative after all. Even AI can’t properly determine the right mode to use in all situations.

Conclusion & Additional Help

The workplace is a complex jungle of sticky situations, and this conflict model is simply a tool to help organise ideas and come up with a game plan for bushwhacking through it. Like all tools, it’s not foolproof: it’s just designed to aid us in the difficult job of resolving conflict and managing our fellow complex humans.

Of course, the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Instrument is only one tool in your arsenal. If you’re looking for more tips on how to manage conflict within a team or at work in general, this conflict resource may help . Otherwise, we wish you the best of luck in your attempts to employ the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Model in your day-to-day management endeavors!

For additional help try out our Management Training or Leadership Development Training , both of which will help you to work through conflict between you and others and when your team members have conflict between them and you need to sort.

Thanks again

Sean McPheat Managing Director MTD Training

Conflict Management

Updated on: 4 October, 2022

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Article contents

Conflict analysis and resolution as a field: core concepts and issues.

Louis Kriesberg Louis Kriesberg Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University
and Joyce Neu Joyce Neu Facilitating Peace
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.512
Published online: 20 November 2018

Core concepts of the interdisciplinary social science field of conflict analysis and resolution (CAR) are discussed. Work in the field is based on numerous generally accepted ideas about the nature of conflict and constructive approaches to conflict. These ideas include ways of waging conflicts constructively, tracing the interconnectedness of conflicts, and assessing the multiplicity of actors. Other important core concepts relate to stages of conflicts: emergence, escalation, de-escalation and settlement, and sustaining peace. Finally, current and future issues regarding CAR conceptualizations and their applications are examined.

conflict management
constructive conflicts
de-escalation
future work
interaction
interconnected conflict
nonviolent struggle
normative concerns
stages of conflict

Introduction *

This article addresses core concepts of the interdisciplinary social science field of conflict analysis and resolution (CAR), primarily in terms of ideas, as expressed in the literature, about the ways in which conflicts can be done constructively. In focusing on the ideas that constitute the field, it looks at relevant theory and research, treating CAR as an interdisciplinary social science field, particularly as it relates to international relations. Additionally, it considers some relatively prescriptive writing when it derives from a degree of empirical evidence. Significantly, peace studies is one of the sources for the field, and it now overlaps with and contributes to the field (Kriesberg, 1991 ). Peace studies work helps to foster normative concerns about the goals sought in waging conflicts and the strategies for reaching them.

The contemporary CAR approach builds on academic research and theorizing, as well as on traditional and innovative practices. Scholars of the approach share a number of generally accepted ideas about the nature of conflicts and constructive approaches to resolving them. These ideas provide the foundation for analyzing conflicts, finding ways of waging conflicts constructively, tracing the interconnectedness of conflicts, and assessing the multiplicity of actors. The CAR approach tends to rely minimally, if at all, on the use of violence in waging and settling conflicts. It also tends to emphasize the role of external intermediaries in the ending of conflicts and in conflict processes that generate solutions yielding some mutual gains for the opposing sides. Another important foundational concept is stages of conflicts: emergence, escalation, de-escalation and settlement, and sustaining peace.

As CAR evolves, workers in the field debate the salience of various ideas and even the meaning of basic concepts in the field. This engagement has led to increased contributions to the CAR literature by scholar-practitioners. These contributions offer a view based on experiencing the realities of various conflicts. This section discusses these ideas and realities, noting some contemporary variations in their interpretation (Bercovitch, Kremenyuk, & Zartman, 2009 ; Coleman, Deutsch, & Marcus, 2014 ; Sandole, Byrne, Sandole-Staroste, & Senehi, 2009 ; see also the companion article by Neu and Kriesberg, “Conflict Analysis and Resolution: Development of the Field of Scholarship (forthcoming),” in this encyclopedia.)

This article has three main sections. The first, “ Constructive Approaches to Conflict ,” explores the generally accepted ideas about the nature of conflict and about constructive approaches to conflict and how they play out in the scholarship on analyzing conflicts, finding ways of waging conflicts constructively, tracing the interconnectedness of conflicts, and assessing the multiplicity of actors. The second, “Conflict Stages,” addresses stages of conflicts: emergence, escalation, de-escalation and settlement, and sustaining peace. The third, “Current and Future Issues,” discusses concepts that are likely to become more controversial as the social-political context becomes less supportive of the CAR approach.

Constructive Approaches to Conflict

There is general consensus within the conflict analysis and resolution (CAR) community on some core ideas about social conflicts. First, social conflicts are universal and potentially beneficial, providing opportunities to achieve desired change. Second, social conflicts are waged with different degrees of destructiveness, and the parties in conflict determine how constructively or destructively they will conduct the conflict. Third, social conflicts entail contested social constructions; each party has its own view of what the fighting is about and who its opponents are. Fourth, social conflicts can be transformed; no matter how entrenched the conflict, outside actors or the parties themselves can take positive steps to move toward peaceful transformation. Fifth, social conflicts are dynamic and tend to move through stages; these stages reflect the constantly changing nature of the conflict and therefore may not always be linear (Kriesberg & Dayton, 2017 ).

Social constructions . Each party interprets its own and its adversaries’ identities, as well as which issues are at stake, from its own vantage point. Differences between parties’ interpretations, therefore, often are contentious.

Heterogeneity of adversaries . Within each party, there are different interests and goals—notably, among and between its leaders and their constituencies others. As relationships within the party change, a shift in the direction of the conflict may be feasible.

Variety of inducements in waging conflict . These include coercive sanctions to force change, positive inducements to reward constructive change, and the use of persuasion to appeal to the other’s best interests and values.

Interconnectedness . Conflicts are interrelated and overlap in time and social space. A conflict is not a closed system and so may be amenable to the intervention of external intermediaries who can help transform the conflict.

Consideration of others . Establishing long-term legitimate relations among adversaries by considering the opponents’ concerns and interests as well as the long-term interests of their own people may be the most difficult challenge for everyone, but it often brings mutual benefits (Kriesberg, 2015 ).

Mediation . Third-party intervention to assist de-escalation and negotiations among adversaries can help to transform and settle conflicts.

Dynamism . Conflicts move through stages during which parties can act with greater or lesser constructiveness to advance positive conflict transformation.

Analyzing Conflicts

There is long-standing general agreement that the initial step in engaging in or studying a conflict is to analyze it (Schirch, 2013 ; U.S. Department of State, 2008 ; Wehr 1979 ). This includes identifying the parties in the conflict and the issues in contention, as the parties perceive them. In any large-scale conflict, each party is highly differentiated, and there will be some variation among different groups within each entity, even regarding what is in contention. Moreover, many other parties have an indirect interest in the conflict and are affected by its course, and they therefore may become directly engaged in the conflict or withdraw from engagement in the future. Thus, the parties and intermediaries in a conflict are likely to be affected by both the possible and the actual interventions of external actors. All parties ought to reflectively analyze a conflict before acting in it.

The perspectives of the analysts influence their analyses. Generally, people who are engaged in a conflict, whether as partisans or as interveners, tend to focus on the explicit positions of the parties in the conflict and how they are acting in the conflict. Those who are less directly engaged tend to place more emphasis on the structure of the relationship among the adversaries and the social context of the conflict. The former kinds of analyses tend to emphasize factors that are amenable to change in the short term; the latter kinds of analyses tend to emphasize structural factors that are less malleable in the short term.

The methods of engagement that people employ influence their analyses. Those who rely heavily on military methods often tend to see conflict as framed by military force; whereas CAR practitioners, who engage in training, workshops, and dialogue work, may emphasize the role of opposing narratives and misunderstandings when analyzing conflicts. Theoretical and ideological inclinations also influence analyses. Greater recognition of these different circumstances may help foster more comprehensive analyses and better synthesizing and sequencing of strategies.

Asymmetry between adversaries in a conflict greatly affects the course the conflict and how it is waged and ended. Members of the CAR field stress the multidimensional character of asymmetry and its fluidity, since they vary with different issues (Mitchell, 1995 ). Reducing certain asymmetries, then, is not necessarily conducive to transforming a conflict and settling it constructively. That depends in good measure on the direction in which a particular asymmetry is reduced. Thus, if one side has greater solidarity and cohesion than the other, asymmetry that is reduced by increasing the other side’s ability to effectively change policies would be conducive to mutual conflict transformation. By the same token, if one side has greater commitment to the issue in contention, asymmetry that is reduced by that side softening its unyielding position would be conducive to bringing about a mutually acceptable conflict transformation.

The changing character of power differences and other kinds of asymmetry are crucial in choosing the appropriate interventions. For example, if equitable accommodations are sought, certain kinds of mediation may not be advisable when the asymmetry in resources between the adversaries is very great.

Recognizing the complexity of this kind of conflict analysis, CAR scholars have produced a broad array of frameworks for conflict analysis (Fund for Peace, 2014 ; Goodhand, Vaux, & Walker, 2002 ; Mason & Rychard, 2005 ; Samarasinghe, Donaldson, & McGinn, 2001 ; U.S. Department of State, 2008 ), together with more in-depth examinations of conflict analyses (Levinger, 2013 ; Schirch, 2013 ).

Methods of Waging Conflicts

A cardinal tenet of CAR is that social conflicts are inevitable and often necessary to improve peoples’ rights. The critical matter in this regard is the way the conflict is conducted and the methods each adversary applies. Conflicts are commonly defined as struggles in which each side tries to hurt the other to advance toward its goals. A basic CAR insight, however, is that efforts to achieve a contested goal are not only coercive, involving only negative sanctions (Boulding, 1989 ; Kriesberg, & Dayton, 2017 ). Positive sanctions can be a second powerful kind of inducement to obtain desired goals. A third kind of inducement is to use persuasive appeals and arguments, relying on shared values and identities. These three kinds of inducements are combined in many ways to constitute a particular strategy at a given time.

Interestingly, this idea has been articulated by leading public figures who are not identified as practitioners in the CAR field. Joseph S. Nye ( 2004 ), for example, has influentially written about the importance of “soft power” in world politics, referring to the many noncoercive inducements that the United States can and does effectively deploy in foreign affairs. Armitage and Nye ( 2007 ) further elaborated on combining “soft power” and “hard power,” particularly military power, which would constitute “smart power.” Hillary Clinton, at her January 2009 confirmation hearings for secretary of state, spoke clearly about the importance of using smart power and not relying solely on military power.

As the field has expanded to address how adversaries may be brought to the negotiating table, more thought has been given to noncoercive inducements and also to applying coercive force that tends to avoid destructive escalation. One strategic method that has been increasingly examined and employed is nonviolent action (Chenoweth & Stephan, 2011 ; Schock, 2005 ; Sharp, 2005 ). Imposing nonviolent sanctions can avoid dehumanizing the enemy and holds out the promise of future mutual benefits.

Interconnectedness of Conflicts

One important reason for conflict fluidity is that each conflict is interconnected with many others (Dahrendorf, 1959 ). Many conflicts are nested in larger conflicts and also encompass smaller ones. Conflicts are generally also linked sequentially, each arising from a previous one. And each party in a large-scale conflict experiences numerous internal conflicts that arise among different factions, ranks, and identity groups (Colaresi, 2005 ). Furthermore, each party is simultaneously engaged in numerous conflicts with a variety of adversaries.

As the salience of one conflict increases, it tends to reduce the salience of the other conflicts. Enemy number one may slip to being enemy number two, making de-escalation in that secondary conflict easier and likelier. Partisans and intermediaries may choose strategies that are intended to alter the salience of a conflict and speed its peaceful resolution.

Multiplicity of Actors

Workers in the CAR field are sensitive to the reality that conflicts are rarely between two homogeneous, unitary entities. Rather, many parties are involved directly or indirectly in every conflict (Crocker, Hampson, & Aall, 1999 ; Touval & Zartman, 2001 ). Even when there appear to be only two sides, in actuality, each side has some characteristics of a coalition. Divisions among the members of each party in a conflict, particularly among leaders and other groups, significantly affect the course of a conflict. External conflict can strengthen internal solidarity, but not always and not forever (Wilkenfeld, 1973 ).

As a conflict de-escalates and moves toward resolution, some factions or allied groups may resist the movement or even reject a signed agreement. They are spoilers, unsatisfied with the terms of the accommodation with the adversary or with their portion in that accommodation (Goren & Elman, 2012 ; Stedman, Rothchild, & Cousens, 2002 ). The parties making the agreement then may try to placate and co-opt the rejectionists or to isolate, marginalize, and overwhelm them. If the parties have not dealt with their spoilers by the time the peace talks begin, then it falls to the third party to decide the best course of action for the talks—either talking to the spoilers or sidelining them. In varying degrees, spoilers are a widespread phenomenon. Attention to them is often critical in undertaking de-escalation and in constructing and sustaining an equitable accommodation.

Actors who are not directly engaged in a conflict can also affect its course (Ury, 2000 ). They are potential or actual intermediaries, allies, and antagonists. The actions of those who are directly engaged in a conflict are affected by concerns about the potential interventions of external actors. In the CAR field, the possible effects of a mediator in facilitating and hastening a negotiated end to a conflict is a major topic of study.

The demand for official Track I mediation to resolve armed conflict has increased and with it, the number of organizations and individuals interested in meeting this demand. There are multiple mediators in peace processes, who may have different skill levels, understandings of the conflict and parties, and conflicting interests. This may allow the parties to play one mediator off the other to the detriment of the process. One idea to minimize competition between potential mediating organizations was suggested by the African Union: to have the most local of the intergovernmental organizations take the lead mediation role (de Coning, 2015 ; Nathan, 2016b ). But considering the meager organizational resources of many regional and subregional organizations, this is not a plausible solution. Nathan ( 2016b ) has suggested that partnerships at the decision-making level of intergovernmental organizations would be more powerful in securing cooperation and coordination in peace processes. Recognizing the problem of multiple mediators, the United Nations issued guidelines emphasizing the critical need for “coherence, coordination and complementarity of mediation efforts” (United Nations, 2012 ).

Other international actors take part in peace processes as “friends of” the mediation or as interested states. They may not be directly involved in the talks, but they can have a positive influence if they support the goals of the peace process (Whitfield, 2010 ). Finally, representatives of civil society, women, and youth from the conflict areas will be present as participants in the talks, observers, or advisers to the parties or the mediation team or both.

Conflict Stages

A central tenet of the CAR approach is that conflicts are not immutable and that even highly intractable conflicts decline in intractability as policies and circumstances change. This happens as conditions change within the adversaries, in their relationships, and in their social contexts. This understanding is manifested in the recognition that conflicts move through a series of general stages. There is little consensus about the names for the stages, but they may be identified by terms such as emergence , escalation , de-escalation , termination , and recovery (Kriesberg, 1982 ; Pruitt & Rubin, 1986 ). In 1992 , the UN secretary-general, Boutros-Ghali, issued his “Agenda for Peace,” bringing attention to the different phases of peacemaking and peacebuilding (Boutros-Ghali, 1992 ). The stages are not clearly bounded or always linear; past stages may recur. Furthermore, groups engaged in the conflict may not participate at the same pace in all the stages. Nevertheless, it is analytically useful to distinguish between the different stages to highlight the relevant CAR factors and processes at each stage.

The field of CAR initially focused on negotiating the end of conflicts, sometimes using mediation. Soon, concern about the prior and later stages of the conflict increased. Greater attention was directed at getting adversaries to the negotiating table and on the quality and sustainability of agreements that are reached. With the increase in outside intervention in internal societal wars and attention to nonstate actors, the field expanded to include giving greater attention to preventing the outbreak of warfare and to recovering from past violent outbreaks. The field presently incorporates the full range of conflict stages, and practitioners often specialize in particular stages of conflict. The ideas and practices that are particularly important at each stage are discussed next.

Conflict Emergence

Conflict emergence draws attention to the underlying conditions that precede an overt conflict. Thus the conditions of structural violence, of unsatisfied human needs, and of exploitation are often pointed to as crucial in characterizing a latent conflict preceding the outbreak of a manifest conflict (Burton, 1990 ; Dahrendorf, 1959 ). In actuality, conflicts often break out not because of the actions of the most oppressed, but because of the actions of the more powerful. The oppressed may have reason to fight, but they often do not believe that some particular group is responsible for their poor circumstances or that they can change those others in a way that will improve their conditions. The more powerful, however, have reason to believe that they can readily get more of what they want from the weaker party. Acting on this belief, they may provoke resistance and a violent conflict.

Adversaries’ beliefs about collective identities, the perceived capabilities of each side, judgments about what is fair and just, and the chance of achieving sought-for goals determine if and when a conflict becomes manifested in deeds. This is why the ideologies that are constructed and adopted by members of a collectivity are critical in conflict emergence. Political, religious, military, and intellectual leaders can utilize a suitable ideology to arouse and mobilize supporters against an enemy and influence the means to be used in the struggle against that enemy. This also is highly relevant for conflicts that stress ethnic differences or differences in religious or political systems of thought.

Conflict Escalation

How a conflict emerges influences how quickly and destructively it escalates. Often, a burst of violence at the initial manifestation of a conflict results in a rapid and sustained escalation, which can entrap the adversaries, who will want to keep fighting in order to justify the losses they have already experienced (Brockner & Rubin, 1985 ). A careful, proportional, tit-for-tat series of exchanges, however, can often contain the scale of the escalation and result in cooperation (Axelrod, 1984 ). The way adversaries interact is the basic determinant of the duration and destructiveness of a conflict’s escalation (Dayton & Kriesberg, 2009 ). Attention to the growing role of nonviolent action and to transforming feelings and thought via social media has increased attention about constructive escalation (Kriesberg & Dayton, 2017 ).

External interventions, often in the form of mediation and consultation by, for example, representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other international governmental organizations, helped prevent destructive escalation in Eastern Europe after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (McMahon, 2007 ; Möller, 2006 ). External actions or the threat of them can also help to contain a conflict, inhibiting wide-ranging violent attacks. They can also help channel the means of the struggle to electoral politics or nonviolent actions. Unofficial Track Two conflict resolution training and the facilitation of workshops can contribute to such channeling.

Conflict De-escalation and Settlement

Before the emergence of the CAR approach, research and theorizing about de-escalation were relatively neglected topics. Now there is considerable work on the factors and processes that contribute to de-escalation, conflict settlement, and, particularly, negotiating agreements.

Processes and factors that are internal to each adversary, pertain to their relationships, and are components of the external context can contribute to turning an escalating conflict around. Internally, some groups come to believe that the burdens of continuing to fight to achieve some contested goals are costlier than those goals are worth. The relationship between adversaries may change as conciliatory gestures by one side are convincingly made (Mitchell, 2000 ). Changes in the global system’s power relations or salient norms can help shift a conflict toward de-escalation.

The transition from confrontation to de-escalation is a matter of great interest in the field. The idea that a turning point is reached when the adversaries are locked in a hurting stalemate is an influential one (Touval & Zartman, 1985 ). Indeed, members of the opposing sides often come to believe that neither side can impose the settlement it would like, and they begin to search for a settlement they can accept. The discovery or construction of a new option may then appear highly attractive. An interplay between the conflict conditions at a given time and the possible new options marks the suitable time for a particular solution to be proposed and accepted.

Sustaining Peace

There has been a growing literature since the 1990s about the content of peace agreements, recovering from violent societal conflicts, reconciliation, building legitimate institutions of governance, and other matters pertinent to fashioning an enduring and equitable peace (Bar-Siman-Tov, 2003 ; Pouligny, Chesterman, & Schnabel, 2007 ). Peace agreements are difficult to obtain and to sustain. Of 121 armed conflicts between 1990 and 2005 , only one third were concluded by peace agreements (Harbom, Hogbladh, & Wallensteen, 2006 ). Yet since the 1990s, negotiated settlements have become the preferred way to end wars (DeRouen et al., 2010 ).

Walter ( 2002 ) defines the success of a peace agreement in terms of duration: if there is no violence for at least five years after the agreement is signed and the parties make efforts to implement the terms of the agreement, then it is successful. Hampson ( 1996 ) suggests that a “partial success” would be when the parties observe the terms of the agreement they have signed. A more complete success would entail putting in place structures and institutions that discourage the parties from going back to war. Westendorf ( 2015 ) posits that a minimalist view of success would be physical security and the absence of war—that is, a negative peace. A maximalist view would be establishing a positive peace—which would require a deeper and longer term commitment to making the changes needed to establish conditions that are popularly viewed as equitable and legitimate institutions that can address potential conflicts.

Durable peace agreements are characterized by (a) adequate state capacity to implement the agreement (DeRouen et al., 2010 ), (b) third-party intervention during the peace process and post-agreement implementation (DeRouen et al., 2010 ; Hampson 1996 ; Walter 2002 ), (c) inclusion of a mechanism that foresees and addresses problems that may arise during implementation; and (d) participation of civil society and women in the peace process and in post-agreement implementation (Nilsson, 2012 ; O’Reilly, Ó Súilleabháin, & Paffenholz, 2015 ; Wanis-St. John & Kew, 2008 ).

Some of the reasons given for the fragility of peace are that civil society is not always in a position to provide the space and resources for peacemaking, that ongoing violence is socially and politically destabilizing, and that most peace processes have a narrow focus on governance reform (Brewer, 2010 , p. 30).

Current and Future Issues

Given the diversity of CAR’s sources, the changing topics of inquiry, and the increasing domains of work, it is to be expected that many contentious issues are currently matters of disagreement and dialogue. Consideration of seven such matters follows.

Universal or Cultural

An enduring controversy relates to the universality of particular ideas in the CAR approach. As in the case of conflict emergence, some in the field emphasize a particular set of universal human needs, which, when unsatisfied, result in conflicts. Others stress that ways of negotiating, forms of mediation, styles of confrontation, and many other aspects of conducting and settling conflicts vary among different national cultures, religious traditions, social classes, gender, and many other social groupings (Abu-Nimer, 2003 ; Cohen, 1997 ; Faure, 2005 ). Moreover, within each of these groups are subgroupings and personal variations. The differences between groups are matters of central tendencies, and there is a great overlapping of similarities. More needs to be known about the effects of situational as well as cultural effects and about the ease with which people learn new ways of contending and settling fights. The UN declarations and conventions on human rights offer CAR analysts and practitioners standards that can guide CAR practice and yield equitable and enduring settlements (Hayner, 2009 ).

Discipline or General Approach

A major internal issue in the CAR field concerns the extent to which CAR is and should be a focused discipline, a collection of loosely related arenas of research and practice, or a shared broad general approach. In the 1950s, the vision of many workers in the field was of a new comprehensive, interdisciplinary, research-grounded theory, but that was not realized.

Considerable agreement does exist about particular conflict processes and empirical generalizations. Without a comprehensive theory, however, inconsistencies among various generalizations and propositions are not reconciled. Moreover, without a comprehensive theory or theories of the middle range, it is difficult to know under what conditions a particular social process or empirical generalization is or is not operative, and to apply such knowledge to practice. On the other hand, the more general and necessarily abstract perspective about social conflicts lacks the precision needed to make reliable applications. Despite these considerations, empirical generalizations and knowledge of relevant conflict processes can be useful guides to effective actions that minimize the destructiveness of conflicts if used in conjunction with good information about a particular conflict.

Complicating the CAR approach are the differing places occupied by theory and practice. Each has varied in prominence within the field, and both are, in principle, regarded as important. In actuality, however, theory and practice have not always been well integrated. Theory has rarely sought to specify or assess major theoretical premises or propositions. Often, it is largely descriptive of patterns of actions. And though more research on assessing practice is being done, it has been focused on particular interventions, executed and assessed within a short time frame. Although in some spheres, there is a strong interplay between theory and practice, notably regarding negotiation, mediation, nonviolent action, and problem-solving workshops, additional work is needed to integrate other realms.

Nonviolence or Limited Violence

Another contentious issue relates to the use of violence in waging conflicts. There is widespread agreement among CAR analysts and practitioners that violence is wrong, particularly when it is used to serve internal needs rather than for its effects on an adversary. The presumed internal needs may be psychological, status- or power-based, or economic in nature and situated within individuals, organizations, or larger collectivities. Adherents of CAR generally agree that violence is morally and practically wrong when violence is used in a broad, imprecise manner and when it is not used in conjunction with other means to achieve constructive goals. The increasing use of “smart bombs” and missiles from drones pose moral and practical problems about what is good policy regarding the recourse to such allegedly targeted killing. From its origins, some workers in the CAR field have opposed resorting to the use of violence in any conflict, whereas others have believed that limited violence is necessary and effective in some circumstances, as, for example, is articulated in just war theory.

These differences in values and beliefs are becoming more important with the increased use of military intervention to stop destructive and escalating domestic and international conflicts and gross violations of human rights. The challenges are made greater by the increased cooperation of CAR adherents with governments. Much more analysis is needed about how specific violent and nonviolent policies are combined and with what consequences for the various parties under particular conditions. More specificity is needed beyond the generalization that great reliance on naked violence often fails. When violence is undertaken, in desperation, against a mightier antagonist, it most likely fails.

Neutral Process or Good Result

A long-standing issue in the CAR field is whether the emphasis should be on the process by which a conflict is settled or on the justice and consequences of the settlement. If the process is emphasized, the value of the neutrality of the intermediary is stressed and less attention is directed at the nature of the conflict to be settled. This matter is particularly acute in considering when and how mediation is best undertaken (Laue, 1982 ). Some practitioners in the field stress mediator neutrality and the mediator’s focus on the process to reach an agreement. Others argue that a mediator either should avoid mediating when the parties are so unequal that equity is unlikely to be achieved or should act in ways that will help the parties reach a balanced and just outcome (Nader, 1991 ).

Internal Affairs

As is no doubt the case in any field, research findings and best practices have not always been applied internally within the CAR field. Gender bias, for example, remains a challenge. There is notable progress, in many CAR programs in universities, women now appear to be in the majority. According to the ISA’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession, women earned 58% of doctoral degrees in the social sciences, and 42% of those in political science. Yet the committee found that women constituted only 12.3% of full professors compared to 23.5% for men (Hancock, Baum, & Breuning, 2013 ). With the rise of contingent workers at universities, women faculty members are disproportionately employed in part-time positions (Curtis, 2013 ). Women and men faculty express the same preference for research and share the opinion that service is an imposition, yet women spend significantly more time teaching, mentoring, and providing service to the university than do their male counterparts (Chenoweth et al., 2016 ; Misra, Lundquist, Holmes, & Agiomavritis, 2011 ).

Gender bias extends to whose research gets taught and whose work is cited. Consistent with numbers in the top international relations journals, 82% of the assigned reading in international relations proseminars was written by male authors. Work by women and mixed-gender teams made up the remaining 18% (Colgan, 2015 ). Other research shows that international relations articles written by women were cited less than those by men and that even when a research article by a woman is published in a top journal, it receives significantly fewer citations than had that article been written by a man (Maliniak, Powers, & Walter, 2013 ).

External Relations

The way CAR relates to other fields and to its social context raises several issues. As the number and variety of would-be intermediaries in large-scale conflicts increase, the relations among CAR-associated organizations and other kinds of governmental and nongovernmental actors becomes more problematic. The engagement of many organizations allows for specialized and complementary programs but also produces problems of competition, redundancy, and confusion. Adversaries may try to co-opt intermediary organizations or exploit differences among them. For example, human rights organizations and conflict resolution organizations can complement each other; but they may also interfere with each other’s work (Babbitt & Lutz, 2009 ).

To enhance the possible benefits and minimize the difficulties of relations among many intervening organizations, coordination of some sort can be helpful. Research indicates that a variety of measures may be undertaken, ranging from informal ad hoc exchanges of information to regular meetings among organizations in the field and having one organization be the “lead” agency (Kriesberg, 1996 ; Nan, 2008 ). The Applied Conflict Resolution Organizations Network (ACRON) was founded in the late 1990s to promote collaboration among conflict resolution organizations to become “a true force for peace” (Applied Conflict Resolution Organizations Network, 2000 ). ACRON went through a name change in 2003 , finally becoming, in 2006 , the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP). The AfP brings together 125 organizations and 1,000 individuals engaged in peacemaking and peacebuilding work. Although coordination will always remain a work in progress, the AfP has succeeded in providing global linkages that have strengthened peacebuilding efforts.

The funding for CAR work usually comes from external sources, which raises another set of issues. The Hewlett Foundation ended its 20-year program of support for conflict resolution programs in 2004 , and no comparable source for sustaining programs of theory, research, and applications has since appeared. Tuition charges help support education and training; service fees help sustain nongovernmental organizations doing applied work; and government agencies and various foundations provide funds for research and service projects. All this keeps the work relevant for immediate use. However, the small scale and short duration of this kind of funding hamper the making of long-term and large-scale research assessments and the theory building that are needed for creative new growth and appropriate applications.

Autonomy or Dependence

Finally, issues relating to autonomy and professional independence deserve attention. CAR analysts and practitioners may tailor their work to the preferences, as they perceive them, of their funders and clients. This diminishes the goals that in their best judgment they might otherwise advance. These risks are enhanced when tasks are contracted out by autocratic or highly ideological entities. Furthermore, as more nongovernmentals are financially dependent on funding by national governments and international organizations, issues regarding autonomy and co-optation grow.

On the other hand, CAR ideas are increasingly picked up by people who do not consider themselves as being in the CAR field. For example, the evidence that countries with democratic political systems do not fight wars with each other has been used as a reason to try to make countries democratic, even by warfare. Obviously, officials and other actors who do not accept the CAR approach as a whole may selectively use elements of it. Such usage sometimes appears to be misusing the approach and making it ineffective. Nevertheless, as people who do not think of themselves as being in the CAR field adopt particular methods and ideas of the field, those methods and ideas are diffusing into society and gaining + credibility.

On the Future

Undoubtedly, the sociopolitical context in the United States and in many other countries in the 21st century has become less conducive to the rise and acceptance of the CAR approach. As discussed in Neu and Kriesberg, “Conflict Analysis and Resolution: Development of the Field of Scholarship (forthcoming),” the sociopolitical context in earlier decades supported the emergence and institutionalization of the CAR approach. Several recent developments have contributed to the deterioration of this support. Notably, in the United States, political parties have become highly polarized with a high level of mutual hostility (Dionne, Ornstein, & Mann, 2017 ). Growing economic inequality, stagnating wages for many, and increasing wealth for a few generated grievances among the nonrich. Some of the rich used their resources to further enrich themselves—by denying inconvenient scientific facts, disregarding democratic civility, weakening trade unions, and denigrating opponents of these actions. Republican Party leaders often joined in promoting such practices. Moreover, Democratic Party leaders failed to deal with the growing public dissatisfaction with these developments (Frank, 2016 ).

Many other broad, external changes contributed to the foregoing changes. These include technological changes relating to the evolving social media that reduced previously widely shared views of reality. Conversely, technological developments have also contributed to the growing integration of the world, with accompanying economic effects. Following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 , a surge of wars prompted waves of refugees entering Europe. Terrorist attacks added fears, gave rise to anti-Muslim feelings, aroused ethnonationalist sentiments, and contributed to authoritarian tendencies in many countries around the world. In the United States, the election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency of the United States is a symptom of and promotes views and behaviors that are antithetical to the CAR approach. This is illustrated by his bullying style, lack of empathy, and discounting of empirical evidence.

Many aspects of the reaction to these developments in the United States and elsewhere, however, are consistent with and lend support to the CAR approach. A reliance on many aspects of nonviolent action has been evident in massive demonstrations and acts of solidarity with people threatened by the policies of the Trump administration. Resistance has taken many forms, including forming broad coalitions and creating new social organizations, notably in the national Indivisible movement (Dionne, Ornstein, & Mann, 2017 ). Moreover, many of the persuasive efforts convey empathy for and propose alternative policies to alleviate the grievances that drove some people to vote for Trump. Generally, the persuasive efforts foster mutual regard for all people and attention to evidence-based understandings of reality.

The new circumstances should be met with new adaptations among workers in the CAR field. Broadly, this would include giving more attention to enhancing human rights and satisfying human needs in the ways conflicts are waged and transformed. Attention to such matters would extend to sustainable peacebuilding. This could include work on the ways governmental officials and nongovernmental organizations work together constructively (Gerard & Kriesberg, 2018 ). Humans, over many thousands of years, have gradually come to live together with declining rates of violence (Pinker, 2011 ). Work in the CAR field can contribute to continuing that progress, despite setbacks.

Links to Digital Materials

Note : The following list is not intended to be comprehensive; it is, however, illustrative of the diversity of CAR resources. Many of the descriptions are from the organizations’ websites.

ACCORD: The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (Durban, South Africa). ACCORD is a South Africa–based civil society organization working throughout Africa to bring creative African solutions to the challenges posed by conflict on the continent. ACCORD publishes the African Journal on Conflict Resolution , Conflict Trends , and Policy and Practice Brief .

Alliance for Peacebuilding (Washington, DC). The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) leads a community of more than 100 organizations building peaceful and just societies around the world. In this integrated field, the AfP amplifies the strengths of its members through collaboration, tackling a spectrum of issues too large for any one organization to address alone.

Berghof Foundation (Berlin, Germany). The Berghof Foundation is an independent nongovernmental organization that supports efforts to prevent political and social violence and to achieve sustainable peace through conflict transformation. The foundation publishes the Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation .

Beyond Intractability (Boulder, CO). Created by a team of more than 400 distinguished scholars and practitioners from around the world, the Beyond Intractability/CRInfo Knowledge Base is built around an online “encyclopedia” with easy-to-understand essays on almost 400 topics. The essays explain the many dynamics that determine the course of conflict along with the available options for promoting more constructive approaches.

The Carter Center (Atlanta, GA). The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization in partnership with Emory University, is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering. It seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health.

Centre for Conflict Resolution (Cape Town, South Africa). The center aims to contribute to a just and sustainable peace in Africa by promoting constructive, creative, and cooperative approaches to the resolution of conflict through training, policy development, research, and capacity building. The center produces a wide range of publications including seminar reports , policy briefs , books , and occasional reports .

HD: The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (Geneva, Switzerland). The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) is a Swiss-based private diplomacy organization founded on the principles of humanity, impartiality, and independence. Its mission is to help prevent, mitigate, and resolve armed conflict through dialogue and mediation. The center publishes reports on the conflicts and issues in which it is involved.

Centre for Mediation in Africa (Hatfield, South Africa). The center strives to make mediation efforts throughout Africa more effective by offering academic and practical courses in mediation, researching new and current best practices, and supporting organizations such as the United Nations, the African Union, and those African governments involved in the mediation process. The center produces research on mediation best practices.

Conflict Management Initiative (CMI) (Helsinki, Finland). The Conflict Management Initiative (CMI) works closely with all conflicting parties in some of the world’s most intractable conflicts to forge lasting peace through informal dialogue and mediation. CMI was founded in 2000 by Nobel Peace laureate and former president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari.

Conflict Resolution Information (Boulder, CO). A free online clearinghouse, indexing peace- and conflict-resolution-related webpages, books, articles, audiovisual materials, organizational profiles, events, and current news articles.

Conciliation Resources (London, UK). The mission of Conciliation Resources is to provide practical support to help people affected by violent conflict achieve lasting peace. It draws on shared experiences to improve peacebuilding policies and practice worldwide. Conciliation Resources publishes the Accord series.

Crisis Group (Brussels, Belgium). An independent, nonprofit nongovernmental organization committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict, Crisis Group conducts analyses of major current conflicts based on fieldwork and makes policy suggestions. It publishes alerts, reports, and briefings on the various conflicts it works on.

European Institute of Peace (Brussels, Belgium). The European Institute of Peace (EIP), launched in May 2014, is an independent partner to the European Union and Europe, augmenting its global peace agenda through mediation and informal dialogue. The EIP pursues multitrack diplomacy and acts as a flexible external tool in support of EU mediation efforts where the EU has limited freedom to act. It also serves as an operational hub, connecting existing expertise and sharing knowledge and lessons on European mediation.

Institute for Peace and Security Studies (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). The Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) at the Addis Ababa University is the premiere institute for education, research, and policy dialogues on peace and security in Africa. The IPSS produces two types of policy periodicals, the IPSS Policy Analysis and the IPSS Policy Brief to provide comprehensive policy options in the areas of peace, security, and governance.

INCORE: International Conflict Research Institute (Ulster, UK). INCORE is a joint project of the United Nations University and the University of Ulster. It provides a Conflict Data Service and a comprehensive database and resource guide to conflict-prone regions and countries.

Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (Accra, South Africa). The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) is one of three institutions designated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as a regional Centre of Excellence for the delivery of training and research in the areas of conflict prevention, management, and peacebuilding.

Nairobi Peace Initiative–Africa (Nairobi, Kenya). The Nairobi Peace Initiative–Africa (NPI-Africa) is a continental peace resource organization, engaged in a broad range of peacebuilding and conflict transformation initiatives in Africa.

Peace and Collaborative Development Network (Washington, DC). Created by Dr. Craig Zelizer in 2007, the Peace and Collaborative Development Network (PCDN) is the go-to hub for the global change-making community. The PCDN is a rapidly growing social enterprise that gathers over 35,500 professionals, organizations, and students engaged in social change, peacebuilding, social entrepreneurship, development, and related fields.

Peace Research Institute of Oslo (Oslo, Norway). Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO) conducts research on the conditions for peaceful relations between states, groups, and people. It publishes the journal Security Dialogue and the Journal of Peace Research .

Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute (Stockholm, Sweden). The Stockholm International Peace and Research Institute (SIPRI) is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament. SIPRI provides data, analyses, and recommendations based on open sources to policymakers, researchers, media, and the interested public. SIPRI produces the annual SIPRI Yearbook .

United States Institute of Peace (Washington, DC). An independent, nonpartisan institution established and funded by the U.S. Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts; promote postconflict stability and development; and increase conflict-management capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The USIP offers online and on-site courses, and the United States Institute of Peace Press has been publishing books on CAR since 1991.

UN Peacemaker (New York, NY). UN Peacemaker is the online mediation support tool developed by the United Nations Department of Political Affairs. Intended for peacemaking professionals, it includes an extensive database of peace agreements, guidance material, and information on United Nations mediation support services. UN Peacemaker is part of the United Nation’s overall efforts to support UN and non-UN mediation initiatives.

West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (Accra, South Africa). The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) is a leading regional peacebuilding organization founded in 1998 in response to civil wars that plagued West Africa in the 1990s. Over the years, WANEP has succeeded in establishing strong national networks in every member state of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and has over 500 member organizations across West Africa.

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* This article and Conflict Analysis and Resolution: Development of the Field update and expand Conflict Analysis and Resolution as a Field .

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These science-based tips can help you manage conflicts in relationships

Direct communication as well as cooperative and constructive problem-solving are key.

Key takeaways

Summary is AI-generated, newsroom-reviewed.

Conflicts in relationships are not inherently bad and can foster growth.
Effective conflict management involves direct communication and mutual understanding.
How couples initiate these difficult conversations also matters.

Did our AI help? Share your thoughts.

Conflicts are inevitable even in the most loving of relationships.

Goals, needs and interests will differ on matters great and small — parenting styles, delegation of chores, whether the toilet seat should be up.

Contrary to popular belief, though, conflicts in and of themselves are not a sign that there’s something wrong with the relationship, experts say.

If managed well, conflicts provide “the opportunity to enhance and grow in our relationships,” said Nickola Overall , a professor of psychology at the University of Auckland specializing in the science of relationships.

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“It’s not about conflict resolution,” since many problems that couples fight about may never fully go away, but about “conflict management,” said Julie Gottman , who researches relationships along with her husband, John Gottman .

But if conflicts are not properly managed or are avoided, they can result in negative consequences for the health of both partners and their relationship. Research shows that while partners in satisfying relationships live longer and have fewer health problems than their single or dissatisfied counterparts, strain and conflict are common. Conflict is especially potent in romantic relationships and associated with worse mental health symptoms , unhealthier patterns of the stress hormone, cortisol, and diminished immune and cardiovascular health .

Avoiding or withdrawing from conflict deprives partners of the opportunity to improve the situation and potentially signals a lack of engagement in the relationship, leading to reduced satisfaction. “You can really use conflict to understand your partner at a much deeper level than you may already know your partner,” Julie Gottman said.

But both partners need the motivation to address the problem and the ability to take their partner’s perspective, Overall said.

And perhaps the most difficult thing: “I think we have to be brave enough to really communicate how we feel and what the underlying issues are,” she said.

Direct communication is key to conflict management

Relationship researchers and clinicians study how conflicts affect relationships by bringing couples into a laboratory, videotaping their interactions while they discuss an intractable problem and analyzing those interactions. They consistently find that unhappy couples are more likely to express greater disagreement, hostility and criticism while happy couples are more likely to express greater validation, affection and humor.

But surprisingly, relationship research has also shown that couples expressing anger and hostility toward one another during arguments could sometimes be predictive of positive relationship outcomes over time.

Conversely, more positive interactions during conflicts — such as agreement and use of humor — could help the relationship in the short term but fail to produce change for the underlying problem in the long run.

These counterintuitive findings suggest that whether interactions are more positive or negative is just one factor in how conflicts turn out. How direct we are in our communication of the issues also matters.

In one study of recorded interactions of 61 romantic couples, Overall and her colleagues found that more direct communication strategies — both negative and positive — were associated with greater success in addressing the problem 12 months later and predicted increased relationship satisfaction even if they were initially perceived as relatively unsuccessful.

By contrast, indirect strategies — positive or negative — did not predict later change in the underlying problem.

Emotions such as anger and hostility can be useful to a conflict and to the relationship, Overall said. They can help convey “that a problem is serious and that the problem needs to be changed, and that the partner needs to do something about helping to resolve this problem,” she said. It also indicates an investment in the relationship.

But these emotions need to match the context of the situation.

In a 2020 longitudinal study of 268 couples, Overall found that while an increase in average levels of hostility and criticism is associated with worsening problems and decreasing satisfaction, it was associated with better outcomes if this expression of hostility was more variable.

But if someone gets upset about everything, “then the information signal gets lost and instead you’re just informing the partner that you’re negative all the time,” Overall said. Then “the potential benefits of expressing negativity and anger and hostility lose its power because it becomes nondiagnostic of the problem,” she said

Cooperative, constructive problem-solving

Constructive problem-solving — through reasoning, negotiations and solution-oriented discussions — can convey the salient pieces of information needed to manage an ongoing conflict: that the issue is important, that the partners are committed to resolving it and that they care about the relationship.

Direct communication is “good for minor problems. It’s good for serious problems,” Overall said. And it doesn’t carry the negative side effects of the negative emotions.

In their recent book, “Fight Right: How Successful Couples Turn Conflict Into Connection,” the Gottmans recommend an intervention they call the “ Dreams Within Conflict ,” which postpones solving the problem and instead has each partner ask the other questions about their values about the issue, why it is important, their feelings about the issue and what their ideal dream is for it.

“The goal is mutual understanding,” John Gottman said. In their couples workshops, the Gottmans have found that this strategy helps 87 percent of couples “move from gridlock on an issue to dialogue,” he said.

How we initiate these difficult conversations also matters because it can predict not only how the conversation will go, but also indicate how the relationship will go, Julie Gottman said.

The Gottmans recommend what they call a softened start-up: First, describe yourself and the situation, not your partner, and then a positive need “that gives your partner a chance to shine for you,” Julie Gottman said. For example: “I’m really worried. There’s the feeling that the bills haven’t been paid on time. Would you please pay the bills tonight?”

Remaining flexible in how we respond to our partner’s specific needs is important since becoming overly strategic in solving problems can have some costs, Overall said. “When the emotions are completely taken out and you’re just trying to be very rational and reasoning, you’re actually taking away the emotional connection and what makes us human,” she said.

The emotion — be it anger, warmth or sadness — also conveys important information about how much we care about our partner and the relationship, she said.

Expressing gratitude or laughing about yourself or together can also be very powerful in a relationship and in a conflict, John Gottman said.

These strategies for more effective conflict management may help to clearly communicate what matters — our partner, our relationship and our facing challenges together.

“It’s about how can I express, how can I be brave enough to engage in constructive ways when it matters,” Overall said.

Do you have a question about human behavior or neuroscience? Email [email protected] and we may answer it in a future column.

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Case Study of Conflict Management: To Resolve Disputes and Manage Conflicts, Assume a Neutral 3rd Party Role

Here is a case study of conflict management emphasizing the importance of hearing all sides in a dispute.

By PON Staff — on May 13th, 2024 / Conflict Resolution

In their book Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Penguin Putnam, 2000), authors Douglas Stone , Bruce Patton , and Sheila Heen tell us how to engage in the conversations in our professional or personal lives that make us uncomfortable by examining a case study of conflict management. Tough, honest conversations are critical for managers, whether they need to change the group culture, manage conflict within a team, give a negative performance evaluation, disagree with others in a group, or offer an apology.

To set the stage for a productive discussion, open a difficult conversation with the “Third Story,” advise the authors of Difficult Conversations . The Third Story is one an impartial observer, such as a mediator, would tell; it’s a version of events both sides can agree on. “The key is learning to describe the gap—or difference—between your story and the other person’s story. Whatever else you may think and feel, you can at least agree that you and the other person see things differently,” Stone, Patton, and Heen write.

Claim your FREE copy: The New Conflict Management

In our FREE special report from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School - The New Conflict Management: Effective Conflict Resolution Strategies to Avoid Litigation – renowned negotiation experts uncover unconventional approaches to conflict management that can turn adversaries into partners.

Suppose two regional sales reps share responsibility for sending weekly updates to their manager. Brad always submits them on time, but Frank often turns them in late. Saying, “Frank, you’ve turned in the sales reports late again” would only put Frank on the defensive. Instead, Brad opens the conversation this way: “Frank, you and I place a different value on deadlines. I want to explain why meeting them is important to me, and then I’d like to hear your take on them.”

Brad learns that Frank, when faced with the choice of possibly making a sale or compiling the report, thinks he should focus on the sale. With this insight, Brad proposes another way to share responsibilities: Brad will complete the report when it’s Frank’s turn to do so, as long as Frank gives Brad two hours’ notice and a share in any commission Frank earns as a result of being able to continue pursuing a lead.

What are your favorite conflict management methods?

Related Conflict Resolution Article: Conflict Management Skills When Dealing with an Angry Public – Here is some negotiation advice drawn from a case study of conflict management dealing with an angry public.

Adapted from “How to Say What Matters Most,” by Susan Hackley (former managing director, Program on Negotiation), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Originally published in 2010.

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More From Forbes

Leveraging workplace conflict to create growth opportunities.

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Leen Kawas | Entrepreneur, Inventor, Innovator and Leader | Managing General Partner at Propel Bio Partners .

Effective workplace collaboration brings team members’ individual talents and diverse perspectives together. Focused on a mutual goal, they brainstorm ideas that can spark creative innovations. This true synergy can serve as a foundation for future breakthroughs.

However, the collaborative process isn’t always smooth sailing. Team members sometimes engage in heated disagreements that threaten to derail progress on a common goal. Many people view these confrontations as distracting and counterproductive. In my view, however, they can help an organization more effectively achieve key objectives.

Desirable Healthy Workplace Conflict

In fact, some types of workplace conflict are quite healthy. For example, holding regular debates on preset topics encourages a free flow of ideas. Participants engage in lively discussion (and even disagreement) that’s backed up by proven facts. When team members consistently flex their intellectual muscles, they’re well-equipped to engage in big-picture thinking and devise creative solutions. Therefore, they’re likely to be more effective when brainstorming their way through a challenging problem.

In my view, fostering improved team collaboration is a real “win-win.” For example, let’s say a large group is tasked with solving a complex problem or designing a multi-component system. By dividing the group into individual teams, and incentivizing each team to be the first to bring a solution, everybody wins.

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First, the company can move forward on its goals. In addition, the winning team takes its problem-solving skills to the next level. When they are faced with a new challenge, they bring their aggregate knowledge with them, elevating their performance accordingly.

When there is a conflict, there is a need to align and explore it further, realigning the team at large. Make sure you’re taking the opportunity to incorporate ideas. When you do this, as a leader, it makes your team feel heard and more committed to the mission of the corporation. Additionally, it also makes the team more comfortable bringing forward their disagreements and new thoughts.

How Teams (And Companies) Can Benefit From Conflict

Surprisingly, companies that embrace conflict can realize multiple benefits from this method of engagement. That’s why I encourage my team to bring any topic to the tablez—even if I know it’s likely to bring strong opinions on both sides.

Heightened Creative Mindset

First, heated conflict often becomes the spark for creativity. Two opposing parties each bring their own perspective to the table. When they each take time to comprehend the other’s viewpoint, they can visualize an optimal outcome. Once both parties see what’s possible, they’re in a good position to help transform the image into reality.

Naturally, highly creative people thrive in an environment of mutual respect. Team members should feel that they can voice their “out of the box” ideas and solutions without feeling embarrassed or ridiculed. On my team, that’s a non-negotiable ground rule.

Improved Problem-Solving Skills

Solving a complex problem is a fine art unto itself. Typically, these multi-factorial issues don’t have readily available solutions. Constraints and nuances often abound, seemingly keeping an optimal outcome out of reach.

Exiting this frustrating standoff requires constructive conflict. First, team members should view each disagreement as a problem-solving opportunity. With this framework in place, team members can freely propose ideas and strategies that are unconventional at best. Ultimately, viable ideas (and a workable solution) will likely come forth.

Enhanced Leadership Capabilities

Engaging in productive workplace conflict can help hone team members’ leadership skills. Specifically, employees who take every opportunity to learn conflict management strategies exhibit an increased emotional intelligence.

Stated another way, these future leaders are focused on other team members’ well-being along with organizational growth. In my opinion, these actions position the proactive team member as a good candidate for promotion.

On my own team, a team member’s growing conflict management skills tell me that employee is committed to the organization’s success—and that certainly gets my attention. I’ll provide that team member with additional opportunities to flex their leadership muscles in diverse ways.

Navigating Through Workplace Conflicts

Disagreements will inevitably arise between team members with a commitment to the company’s growth—but perhaps with differing opinions on how to realize that goal. During a heated discussion, treating everyone with respect and honesty is key. This enables team members to address the core issues rather than engage in mutual name-calling and disparagement. Now, the team can come together to find solutions.

Here's how I personally view workplace conflict. “Don’t turn away from conflict. Use it as a way you can build the relationship as long as there’s respect and understanding that the goal is mutual. A lot of people want to win an argument. What we want to achieve as a team is getting to the right answer.”

To resolve an active conflict, here’s a technique I find very effective. “I think reminding people that the goal is shared…[There are] good ideas on both sides. Let’s slow down and write down the points from this side and the points from that side. Sometimes, two people are saying the exact same thing—but they missed the beginning or the end."

Avoiding Conflict Isn’t The Answer

Many team members and managers are uncomfortable with conflict. Therefore, they often go to great lengths to avoid these highly charged interactions. Conflict avoidance tactics can include a series of meetings, PowerPoint presentations, ongoing email threads and similar engagement tools.

Although these events seem to move the process forward, everyone is spending long hours spinning their wheels. Seemingly involved team members don’t follow up on their action items. Frustrated managers schedule more meetings to track participants’ progress. This fruitless exercise is both maddening and expensive.

Productive conflict will move the needle in the right direction. First, team members should engage with a mutual goal in mind. By objectively examining each side’s arguments, and acknowledging the common ground, all parties are well-positioned to make forward progress. Once refocused on the goal, and with a solution ironed out, they can formulate an action plan to accomplish their objective.

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Student - June 10, 2024

Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Summer Practicums Offer Students the Chance to Put Theory into Practice

Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

Students in the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (NECR) program at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies are taught how to dive deep into the heart of a conflict, learning how to analyze its impetus and gaining the skills to intervene.

The NECR program offers an array of summer practicums to help students put the theoretical skills they've acquired in the classroom to work in the field. In 2024, students will be able to attend practicums in New York City, Colombia, and Japan, each offering something special to graduate students interested in applying.

NYC Summer Practicum

The Social Justice and Conflict Resolution: Public Safety in NYC practicum examines the role of social justice in conflict resolution analysis and practice, using New York City as its laboratory.

This summer’s session, led by Peter Dixon, Associate Professor of Practice , will focus on one of the most challenging questions facing major U.S. cities today: What does safety mean to residents and how can a safe and just environment be created for everyone? The course will cover the historical and theoretical intersections between the fields of social justice and conflict resolution, drawing on conflict analysis and resolution skills to propose concrete public safety policy options and community strategies in three of the city’s neighborhoods: Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and the South Bronx.

Most people will say that safety is about much more than policing. It is a tangible state of being (Are you at risk of physical violence?) and immediate feeling (Are you comfortable walking alone at night?). Safety is a broad system embedded in a complex network of social relations, formal and informal organizations, and political dynamics. Complex and divergent ideas about what public safety entails has led to a broad array of tensions and conflicts in New York City, particularly in neighborhoods such as the three in this course, where residents often feel both over-policed and under-resourced.

The course will follow active research collecting community-based data around the city under the leadership of Dr. Dixon, who also works closely with Dr. Geraldine Downey and Columbia University's Center for Justice . The aim is to answer two questions: How do residents from communities impacted by violence and policing define safety for themselves? And, what makes these grounded definitions more or less relevant for actual public safety policy?

Colombia Summer Practicum

“Practicum in Peacebuilding: Colombia” will be led by Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Lecturer Joan C. Lopez and Program Director Dr. Beth Fisher-Yoshida . For their book, Peacebuilding in Colombia: From the Lens of Community and Policy , Lopez and Dr. Fisher-Yoshida worked with Colombian community leaders to help change the existing narrative of the region by sharing what they learned about peaceful responses to violent conflicts.

Colombia has had the longest violent internal conflict in the world’s history. During this practicum, the different methods of peacebuilding that have been attempted in the area will be broken down for students, with a focus on creative and community-based nonviolent responses to conflicts. Students in this practicum will learn from “peacebuilding actors,” members of the community responding nonviolently.

The course will move from the classroom to the field in order to see how the community works to build peace. Collectively, the students will assist in planning how to maintain peaceful actions. NECR students will share the classrooms and field visits with students from the master’s program in peacebuilding at Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá. This connection provides a richer local experience for students, and gives them the opportunity to share knowledge and work in real time with community peacebuilders.

At the “Practicum in Peacebuilding: Colombia,” Negotiation and Conflict Resolution students share classrooms and field visits with students from the master’s program in peacebuilding at Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá.

Japan Summer Practicum

In Japan, the summer practicum for 2024 will be led by Dr. Josh Fisher , an NECR instructor and the director of the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity at Columbia University. Titled “Clinic on Conflict and Collaboration in Natural Resource Management: Advancing Positive Peace and the SDGs,” this practicum will explore environmental sustainability through peacebuilding and by implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), something that aligns closely with Dr. Fisher’s continued research in the field.

This course will be held in partnership with Hiroshima University and will take place on their campus and in the field. Students will have the chance to work with public, private, and civil society groups on environmental management and sustainability. Lectures and select field visits will be accompanied by local experts, peacebuilders, and Hiroshima University faculty.

Last year’s practicum fieldwork included a trek to Setonaikai National Park and visits to the Saijo Sake Brewery, where students observed how water quality is maintained for sake production. This begins with forestry management in the mountains and flows down to Akitsu Bay, where many oyster farms are situated.

“When we think about what’s required for peacebuilding and sustainability, it’s longterm engagement and sustained collaboration. Even when resources are scarce, even when diplomatic challenges are hard, that sustained engagement is critical. As a way of modeling this to the students as well for the partners that invite us in, I am committed to keeping that collaboration active,” Dr. Fisher shared in an interview about the practicum.

A Chance to Put Theory Into Practice

These summer practicums offer intensive experiences that often inform a student’s future. Faith Altman (’15SPS, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution) traveled with Dr. Fisher-Yoshida to Medellin, Colombia, to research the ongoing effects of the country’s violent history of narco-trafficking. While there, she was mesmerized by the city’s youth, who used creative expressions such as street art to make nonviolent statements. It was this firsthand experience that led her to produce a documentary with a Colombian filmmaker, BlackBook Medellin .

The summer practicums are not simply a chance to master fieldwork. They are an opportunity to take skills learned in the NECR program and put them into action.

“I look back now and think that those were some of the greatest times in my life. Being able to talk to people who are directly impacted by these conflicts is incredible,” Altman says. “I think that the connections I’ve made while I was in the program have allowed me to feel like I can now thrive in the field. I don’t consider myself an expert, but I’ve published, and I’m getting requests to review work from people who really are experts in the field. None of this would have happened had I not done the program.”

About the Program

Columbia University’s Master of Science in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution prepares students to analyze the root causes and dynamics of conflict and to transform disputes through reasoned and resourceful interventions. The program focuses on developing self-awareness, tenacity, and interpersonal competency; building common ground; opening lines of communication; ensuring representation and recognition, and building sustainable possibilities for resolution.

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Conflict Management Concepts Implementation and Outcomes Essay

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As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
As a template for you assignment

Good working relationships have a high impact on the productivity of a team. The professional attitude of staff includes the understanding of basic concepts of cooperating and interaction. Interdependency is the main principle, which is the foundation of any community. However, the development of working relationships needs to be controlled as that might lead to irreconcilable conflicts. The theory of conflict management offers a variety of approaches, applying which require much experience and many skills. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the implementation of the conflict management concepts and to analyze this process along with the outcomes.

The example of a conflict situation from a classroom is described to demonstrate existing management techniques. The class was divided into groups each of which was given a task. The result of this work should have been presented as a report. Each team had to separate duties. Also, students needed to determine the form and the length of the report. However, this task provoked a heated argument among students as it was difficult to equally distribute responsibilities. In addition, each member had their own perception of the outline and length of the report. This disagreement turned into a destructive conflict. The anti-social behavior of some students caused this situation, but the lack of assertiveness among the team members made it worse.

After observing this debate, and when it got to the point of total confusion, the teacher intervened in the process. Students were offered to start an “open-minded discussion” (Tjosvold, Wong, & Feng Chen, 2014, p. 545). An open-minded discussion is a dispute in which its parties demonstrate views without disruption and pressure from other members and listen to opponents’ opinions evaluating strengths and weaknesses (Tjosvold et al., 2014). The teacher showed that the conflict blocked the effective development of collaboration. Hence, altering the approach was necessary to obtain positive results. The significance of this step lies in the fact that all ideas, which have the underlying reasoning, should be incorporated in the ongoing work to find the most effective solutions. Students were explained that this measure improves the interaction.

This method was used to change the course of the argument and turn it from a destructive into constructive conflict. A constructive conflict positively benefits participants (Tjosvold et al., 2014). In this case, the teacher did not take the role of a leader guiding his subordinates. Instead of being subjected to manipulation, students got the opportunity to study a specific technique, which leads to better outcomes and increases the effectiveness of collaboration. Holding an open-minded discussion requires certain skills from participants. There are distinguishing features characterizing disputes of this kind. First, it is highly important to express opinions clearly and freely to let other parties fully understand the ideas and intentions presented. This also includes questions from listeners to clarify certain details. Second, pointing out the weaknesses of an opinion should be aimed to encourage an opponent to provide more evidence rather than prove its groundlessness. The teacher’s strategy successfully resolved the conflict and helped students gain these important qualities, and eventually, the assignment was successfully completed. However, some insignificant contradictions among the students still took place.

There are also other well-known effective methods of conflict managing. The applied method refers to a collaborating mode (Riasi & Asadzadeh, 2015). However, combining several measures could have helped to deal with the described situation more efficiently. In this case, using a competing style could have increased the speed of decision-making (Harms, 2017). This method implies motivating and challenging participants as each member has an interest in completing the task. Competing prevents the discussion process, but it makes the process of task fulfillment, which follows the dispute, more galvanized. If members of a team compete with each other in a proper manner, that accelerates the work as competitors become inspired and stimulated by the accomplishments of colleagues. This method is widely used in complicated circumstances that accompany the achievement of challenging goals.

In conclusion, it is worth saying that the practical implementation of a conflict management theory plays a crucial role in developing appropriate relationships among members of any team. Although some insignificant details were omitted, the illustrated case serves as an example of successful management performance. However, this process not always brings decent outcomes because it occasionally demands much more knowledge and experience. Hence, the further development of conflict management principles and concepts has a high priority, and researches in this field should be conducted more widely.

Harms, J. D. (2017). Exploring the connection between interpersonal needs and conflict resolution styles. Culminating Projects in Psychology. 9 .

Riasi, A., & Asadzadeh, N. (2015). The relationship between principals’ reward power and their conflict management styles is based on Thomas–Kilmann conflict mode instrument. Management Science Letters, 5 (6), 611-618.

Tjosvold, D., Wong, A. S., & Feng Chen, N. Y. (2014). Constructively managing conflicts in organizations. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1 (1), 545-568.

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Key-Leadership-Skills - IMD Business School

The 8 key leadership skills you need to know in 2024

Anyone can be placed in a leadership role, but to be good and thrive in that position requires solid leadership skills . Leadership skills are typically at the top of the list of competencies that recruiters focus on when hiring, or when managers are promoted from within an organization.

Effective leadership skills are crucial, both in a professional and personal capacity and are vital in facilitating effective team dynamics, driving success, managing change, and promoting personal and professional development.

Some of the world’s largest companies hunt for people with well-honed leadership skills to fill their most sought after executive positions.

8 key leadership skills you need to know about:

Relationship building
Agility and adaptability
Innovation and creativity
Employee motivation
Decision-making
Conflict management
Negotiation
Critical Thinking

1. Relationship building (the foundation of a high-performing team)

Some leaders will say they that they do not need to be loved in the workplace to succeed. This may be true, but to build a cohesive and more engaged team, great managers need the leadership skills to forge strong working relationships with their employees.

Leaders with strong, trusting and authentic relationships with their teams know that investing time in building these bonds makes them more effective as a leader, and creates a foundation for success.

Good working relationships increase employee engagement and according to Gallup’s meta-analysis of employee engagement, business units with good employee engagement have 41% fewer quality defects and 37% less absenteeism. A 21% increase in productivity was also seen to result from higher employee engagement.

So even if you think you don’t need to be loved in the workplace, you will definitely need to be skilled in building good relationships in order to be an effective leader.

If your team is highly engaged and happy in the workplace, you are likely to be well respected as a leader with employees who love what they do, and hopefully the strong relationships you cultivate will help your team perform at their highest level.

Tips for leaders to navigate relationships in the workplace »

2. Agility and adaptability (stay at the cutting edge as a leader)

In a study conducted by Development Dimensions International in 2008, one of the most important leadership qualities, was the ability to facilitate change. Fast-forward to 2024, adaptability is one of the most important leadership skills.

Leaders need to contend with a hyper-competitive business environment, geo-politics, climate change, the changes advanced by the COVID-19 pandemic and many more factors, all of which require leaders to adapt and develop agility.

Effective leaders must be able to adapt to both internal, and external changes – even if that means working outside of your comfort zone. As a leader you need to develop a lifelong learning mentality to ensure that you are not left behind by shifts in your industry, and can give your business the competitive edge. This is where as a leader you need to be agile and adaptable, which is easier said than done.

One key way to develop leadership agility and adaptability is to be accountable and assume your responsibilities, making sure that you have laid out a plan on how you should respond to change.

This plan should contain an achievable timeline, allowing you to constantly check your progress on how well you are adapting to the change and how you are exemplifying this to your team.

Read IMD article on agile leadership in an age of digital disruption »

3. Innovation and creativity (learn to push your boundaries)

Innovation in leadership is of utmost importance for every company. Successful innovation begins with ideation — the phase where outstanding ideas are developed and become the foundation of innovation success.

Consider some of the industry leaders, what did it take for Apple to become a leader technology industry? They made innovations to products with their customers in mind.

Steve Jobs, and perhaps even more so Tim Cook led the innovation and creativity for Apple Inc. by continuously forging ahead of the competition, and this probably made them some of the most innovative leaders within the tech industry.

The increasing demand for creativity and innovation will continue to be a driving force for executives, as who must harness their leadership skills in these areas to be effective and competitive.

4. Employee motivation (improve engagement and efficiency)

In close connection with relationship building, the ability to motivate your workforce is as important as keeping employee engagement high. One of the most effective leadership skills is knowing how to continuously motivate employees, which requires leaders to be connected to their teams and attentive to what is going on around them.

In a study done by the firm Interact on 10,000 employees in the US which cited that the number 1 complaint (63%) from employees concerning their managers is lack of appreciation, and, conversely, when managers appreciate their contribution, their engagement increases by 60%.

In another study by Westminster College, it was found that boosting morale is the top (32%) motivational technique employees prefer. If employees are not motivated, the company can be negatively affected (financially) with absenteeism, attrition and low productivity.

Motivated employees are much more engaged, they are also more self-confident in what they do, and can do. This leads them to know how to react in difficult situations and develop innovative ideas that could help optimize business performance.

5. Decision-making (leading with conviction)

A leader is tasked with making decisions all the time. To be an effective leader, those decision making skills need to be top notch. Critical decisions affecting your organization on a large scale need to be sound, rational and solid.

In reality, your decisions as a leader will determine your – and potentially your organization’s – success. Making decisions, however big or small, are a fundamental part of Leadership, as a leader you need to develop strong decision-making skills and have the conviction to stand by your decisions, whilst also recognizing the need to adapt when those decisions do not lead to the desired outcome. It is a unique balancing act.

Remember, some decisions may not always be favorable. Making an unpopular but necessary decision is probably one of the most difficult tasks as a leader, but it is vital that as a leader you are able to recognize your responsibilities and make clear decisions for your team or organization.

📝 Try an exercise for better decision making »

6. Conflict management (keeping the peace)

According to the American Management Association, managers spend at least 24% of their time managing conflict. Conflict can happen in any area of business.

A conflict is considered to be any issue between two or more individuals that can potentially disrupt work. Conflict in business may go beyond the workplace as it can involve customers, suppliers and even competitors.

When a conflict arises, an effective leader should be able to jump in and resolve or at least mitigate the conflict before it affects the business negatively. When properly dealt with, a conflict may even turn out to be positive for your organization, as it can often lead to stronger bonds or new ideas.

To be effective as a leader, you must be good at identifying conflict, and have foresight on how to resolve it. It is also essential to be rational when faced with confrontation. Conflict management is no doubt one of the most important leadership competencies but Robyn Short cited a study that found 60% of U.S. employees have not received any conflict management skills training.

As a leader, it is important that you are able to manage conflict, but developing these same skills in your team can help avoid conflict altogether.

How to manage conflict: Six essentials from a former FBI hostage negotiator »

7. Negotiation (winning the game)

Negotiation is a process where two parties with different ideals get together and mutually agree on what an outcome should be. According to Skills You Need, the process of negotiation involves 6 stages:

Preparation
Clarification of goals
Negotiation towards a Win-Win outcome
Implementation of a course of action

Good negotiations can be beneficial to an organization because they will build better relationships, both internally and externally. They will also help find the best long-term solution by getting the most out of two different sides. An effective leader must be well versed in his negotiation style to move an organization forward.

As a leader, negotiation is used to understand the interests of your employees and to find ways of satisfying those interests, in order to achieve organizational goals.

Tips on using negotiation to achieve positive outcomes »

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8. Critical Thinking (understand the links between ideas)

Leading a business is unquestionably challenging. To be successful, a leader must make a lot of difficult decisions, often under pressure. Research by the Brandon Hall Group shows that critical thinking is the most important skill required of leaders to successfully lead an organization.

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly, whilst building a logical connection between different ideas. Critical thinkers are often intelligent decision makers, highly analytical and generally always rational. Critical thinking is a learned skill, and generally involves three steps:

Step 1 – Frame

Complex problems are rarely what they appear to be on first look. To better understand what you are dealing with, frame the problem by asking yourself “What is my problem?” Hint: you can safely assume that whatever you think your problem is right now probably isn’t your actual problem.

Step 2 – Explore

Do not rely on intuition. No matter how much faith you have in your own judgment, if you rely strictly on your instincts you will miss the opportunity to see things from an alternative perspective. Instead, explore potential solutions. That is, ask yourself “How may I solve my problem?” It is equally important to explore what matters to you; that is, the various attributes of a solution that would make it more attractive to you.

Step 3 – Decide

In most cases, one solution isn’t consistently superior to all others on all attributes. To make your decision, answer your question, “How should I solve my problem?” Surface the trade-offs for each solution, identifying what you are ready to give away that you value so that you can get a little more of something else that you value even more.

Frame, explore, decide, or FrED, for short. For most complex problems, your understanding of the problem changes as you progress through the analysis. The three steps aren’t so much a linear sequence as they are elements of an iterative loop. Do not hesitate to revise previous conclusions as new evidence surfaces.

Typically, critical thinkers will rigorously question ideas and assumptions, they will always seek to determine whether the ideas, arguments and findings represent the true picture and are commonly able to recognize inconsistencies and errors in reasoning to achieve the desired outcome.

Sharpen your critical thinking skills with IMD »

Leadership is crucial to the success of individuals, teams, and organizations. It encompasses diverse skills, qualities, and approaches that empower individuals to guide and inspire others toward achieving common goals. As the business environment continues to evolve, so will the concept of leadership — adapting to meet the demands and challenges of a dynamic world. […]

Imagine navigating a ship through uncharted waters in the dark, with each crew member holding a piece of the map. That’s the challenge of leadership in today’s dynamic, ever-evolving business landscape. How do you, as a leader, unite these diverse pieces to chart a successful course? The answer lies in inclusive leadership. In a world […]

What if you could supercharge your leadership development in a way that’s tailored specifically to you? Today’s business leaders are under immense pressure to deliver. It’s not just about achieving quarterly targets; it’s about being a visionary, a strategic thinker, and a great manager. That’s where executive coaching comes in. Far from being a sign […]

Do you believe each team member has a unique strength that can fuel innovation and solve complex challenges? If your answer is yes, you might want to explore the landscape of laissez-faire leadership. Laissez-faire leadership, a term many have heard but few completely understand, is growing more relevant in today’s ever-changing, complex work environments. It […]

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📚 Free Essay Example on Conflict Resolution
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Conflict Management
This essay will discuss the conflicts between management and employees in organizations. It will include the eight strategies by Kenneth Cloke and Joan Smith in their book, " Resolving Conflicts at work: Strategies for everyone on the job .". The process involves, "organizational change, managing change, change implementation ...
Effective Conflict Management Strategies: [Essay Example], 672 words
Effective conflict management plays a crucial role in promoting peace and positive outcomes in various settings. This essay has demonstrated that collaborative problem-solving, compromise and negotiation, and mediation and third-party intervention are successful conflict management strategies. By addressing conflicts through effective ...
Conflict Management: Definition, Strategies, and Styles
Tips for choosing a conflict management style. The key to successfully managing conflict is choosing the right style for each situation. For instance, it might make sense to use avoidance or accommodation to deal with minor issues, while critical disputes may call for a more assertive approach, like a competitive conflict management style. ...
Conflict Management Strategies
A Conflict is a situation that arises when two or more team members disagree on an idea or a given interest (Anderson, 2012). A conflict can have positive or negative impacts in an organization or a project. This however depends on its nature and the manner in which the management handles the situation. It is thus the role of the management to ...
How to Resolve Conflict in the Workplace Essay
From the Thomas-Kilmann model for conflict management, the techniques involve avoiding, challenging, teamwork, negotiation, and accommodation. In the context of the Gramberg (2005), arbitration, reconciliation, and mediation can suffice as solutions to workplace conflicts.
5 Strategies for Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
Here's a breakdown of the five strategies and when to use each. 1. Avoiding. Avoiding is a strategy best suited for situations in which the relationship's importance and goal are both low. While you're unlikely to encounter these scenarios at work, they may occur in daily life.
29 conflict management techniques (that actually resolve issues!)
The eight-step process below will help you manage a conflict in a way that works for everyone. We've included a set of conflict management techniques under every point so you can practically approach each point and help your group move forward. Let's dig in! 1. Help everyone speak up and be heard. 2.
Conflict Management
Conflict management refers to the way we manage incompatible actions with others, where others can be a person or a group. Conflict is a component of interpersonal interactions; it is neither inevitable nor intrinsically bad, but it is commonplace (Coleman, Deutsch, & Marcus, 2014; Schellenberg, 1996 ).
Essay on Conflict Management
Conflict Management. Conflict is a fact of life - for individuals, organizations, and societies. The costs of conflict are well-documented - high turnover, grievances and lawsuits, absenteeism, divorce, dysfunctional families, prejudice, fear. What many people don't realize is that well-managed conflict can actually be a force for positive change.
Conflict-Management Styles: Pitfalls and Best Practices
Negotiation and conflict-management research reveals how our differing conflict-management styles mesh with best practices in conflict resolution. A Model of Conflict-Management Styles In 1974, Kenneth W. Thomas and Ralph H. Kilmann introduced a questionnaire, the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument , designed to measure people's conflict ...
5 Conflict Resolution Strategies
Conflict resolution strategy #5: Separate sacred from pseudo-sacred issues. Conflict management can be particularly intractable when core values that negotiators believe are sacred, or nonnegotiable, are involved, such as their family bonds, religious beliefs, political views, or personal moral code. Take the case of two siblings who disagree ...
Communication and Conflict Management: [Essay Example], 686 words
Communication and Conflict Management. Conflict is a natural and inevitable part of human interaction, and how it is managed can have a significant impact on the relationships and outcomes involved. This essay will explore the crucial role that communication plays in conflict management and resolution. Understanding the importance of effective ...
Essay on Conflict Management
Conflict management is an inevitable part of human interaction, as different people with diverse viewpoints will inevitably clash. It is a multidimensional concept that involves understanding the origins of conflict, the strategies to handle it, and the skills to create beneficial resolutions. This essay explores the significance of conflict ...
New Conflict Management Skills: Understand How to Resolve "Hot
Negotiating effectively with colleagues can be more challenging than dealing with outsiders. Conventional wisdom advises addressing team conflict by staying focused on tasks and avoiding relationship issues. Yet a case study of conflict management by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson and Diana McLain Smith of The Monitory Group concludes that this approach to dispute resolution ...
Conflict Management Skills: Definition, Examples and Tips
Here are six examples of skills used in managing conflict: Effective communication: Effective communication means you take notice of who you're communicating with and adjust your language and nonverbal cues. Refrain from using language that's hurtful or inappropriate. Active listening: When you practice active listening, you let others know you ...
What is the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Management Model? (With examples)
Let's give a "Thomas Kilmann Conflict Model Example" situation to start with. Say a large AAA video game development firm is consolidating its workforce, and two teams of programmers are asked to join forces. Each were under different managers with radically different leadership styles. Conflict in this situation is most likely inevitable.
(PDF) Conflict Management, a New Challenge
1.1. Conflict Definition. Conflict refers to some form of friction, disagreement, or discord arising between individuals or within a group. when the beliefs or actions of one or more members of ...
128 Conflict Management Essay Topic Ideas & Examples
Conflict management is one of the essential qualities of a good manager especially in a world that has a wide range of challenges to be confronted. Toolkit for Conflict Management. Change is the process of improving the organizations processes and employees performance with the intention of increasing productivity.
Conflict Management Essays (Examples)
Conflict Management Self-Assessment The ability to manage conflicts is an important skill in life and, most importantly, in the work setting. It is crucial for cultivating healthy interpersonal relationships. Enhancing conflict management skills starts with a clear understanding of one's values, personality, and conflict management approach.
Conflict Analysis and Resolution as a Field: Core Concepts and Issues
The essays explain the many dynamics that determine the course of conflict along with the available options for promoting more constructive approaches. The Carter Center (Atlanta, GA). The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization in partnership with Emory University, is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of ...
A Systematic Approach to Effective Conflict Management for Program
This research takes a systematic view on the organizational structure of a complex construction program to explore the effective approach to manage conflict in program. The objectives of the research include (a) examining the involvement of key stakeholders in program conflicts, the types of conflicts in program, and their causes and impacts ...
Science-based tips to manage conflicts in relationships
These science-based tips can help you manage conflicts in relationships. Direct communication as well as cooperative and constructive problem-solving are key. By Richard Sima. May 30, 2024 at 7:00 ...
Case Study of Conflict Management: To Resolve Disputes and Manage
In their book Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Penguin Putnam, 2000), authors Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen tell us how to engage in the conversations in our professional or personal lives that make us uncomfortable by examining a case study of conflict management. Tough, honest conversations are critical for managers, whether they need to change the ...
Leveraging Workplace Conflict To Create Growth Opportunities
When there is a conflict, there is a need to align and explore it further, realigning the team at large. Make sure you're taking the opportunity to incorporate ideas. When you do this, as a ...
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Summer Practicums Offer Students
Students in the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (NECR) program at Columbia's School of Professional Studies are taught how to dive deep into the heart of a conflict, learning how to analyze its impetus and gaining the skills to intervene. The NECR program offers an array of summer practicums to help students put the theoretical skills they've acquired in the classroom to work in the field.
The Conflict Management Concepts
Get a custom Essay on Conflict Management Concepts Implementation and Outcomes. The example of a conflict situation from a classroom is described to demonstrate existing management techniques. The class was divided into groups each of which was given a task. The result of this work should have been presented as a report.
The 8 key Leadership Skills you need to know in 2024
Innovation and creativity. Employee motivation. Decision-making. Conflict management. Negotiation. Critical Thinking. 1. Relationship building (the foundation of a high-performing team) Some leaders will say they that they do not need to be loved in the workplace to succeed.
What Are Professional Development Goals? 10 Examples
10 examples of professional development goals. Here are ten examples of professional development goals to inspire your own: 1. Develop a new skill set. Growing professionally often means expanding the arsenal of things you're able to do. What skill you choose to develop can depend on your industry, job, and personal preferences.
Common Interview Questions for Managers and Tips to Prepare
First, review the job description, company mission, and vision to understand the employer's wants. Then, you can use the following tips and questions to help you prepare for a manager interview. What kinds of questions are asked in a management interview? Management interviews typically include questions aimed at determining your senior-level ...
What Is Artificial Intelligence? Definition, Uses, and Types
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the theory and development of computer systems capable of performing tasks that historically required human intelligence, such as recognizing speech, making decisions, and identifying patterns. AI is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide variety of technologies, including machine learning, deep learning, and ...