HOW TO LEARN CONFLICT-SOLVING SKILLS FOR BEGINNERS
Effective conflict management relies on four essential skills. Collectively, these form the fifth and most important skill: Conflict management in a way that increases trust and acceptance of another person.
Conflict triggers strong emotions and may cause offense, frustration, and insecurity. Crossing the line can provoke hatred or even a breakdown in the relationship. However, when conflict is handled healthily, odds are that the relationship will only get better, increasing trust and mutual understanding.
What you should know about conflict management
Most conflicts arise from misunderstandings and misinterpretations of information. The main characteristic of a conflict situation is that each side wants to take a position that is incompatible with the interests of the other side.
Difficult situations within a team should not be ignored, nor should you resort to other extremes – complaining or blaming the other side of the conflict. Nor should you resolve them using common compromise or negotiation strategies. The most effective way of conflict resolution trainings in the workplace is to try to understand both sides, get to the heart of the matter, and then resolve it calmly and incrementally, maintaining a healthy balance between the participants.
Conflict management skills
The ability to resolve conflict effectively depends on four key skills. Together they form the fifth and most significant skill: the ability to resolve conflict in a way that increases trust and understanding of the other person.
Carefully consider the situation
This is a good place to start before resorting to any conflict resolution actions. The supervisor, team leader, or person taking responsibility for resolving the situation should delve deeper into finding the cause of the dispute. Only after thoroughly discussing the issue with other team members can the conflict resolution process be planned. I would add that the discussion should be implemented as soon as possible after the conflict is discovered.
Assess the level of impact of the conflict on the work process
To make the situation more manageable, it is not unreasonable to resort to analytics. Analyze how conflict affects participants’ performance and then discuss it with them. Understanding the consequences will help participants realize how the problem should be solved and with what strategy.
Sometimes the problem may be small and its impact not too great, but the wrong strategy to solve the problem will prove unnecessarily difficult and time-consuming. This will result in spending far too much time and money. To prevent this, I recommend correctly assessing the problem and correctly constructing the path to its solution.
Communicate transparently and openly with all parties to the conflict
When people engage in constructive conflict resolution, they become more engaged. This is a major benefit of constant and open communication. Studies showed that a single instance of one team member “micro-disengaging” from the overall process can result in a 25% decrease in a person’s productivity on a team project. This also affects the team’s overall performance.
Use your sense of humor
To avoid an open confrontation and handle an issue, use a sense of humor in the right way. Through humor, one can gently express what would otherwise provoke a quarrel. What is important here is that you laugh with your opponent, not at him or her. Laughter reduces conflict intensity and gives you a different perspective on the problem. With humor, conflict can only improve the relationship and boost the level of intimacy.
Summary
The above strategies can be used in organizations of all sizes, although they work differently depending on the type and stage of conflict. However, each of them will lead you through dialogue and understanding, reveal new facets of team collaboration; and, I’m sure, lead to results that will surprise you. Who knows, perhaps you will begin to see conflict not as a hindrance to your work; but as an opportunity to make it more effective?
