conflict management essay outline

Conflict Management Essay

Introduction, causes of conflict, change the culture and context of the conflict, listen actively and responsibly, acknowledge and integrate emotions to solve problems, search beneath the surface for hidden meaning, separate what matters from what gets in the way, stop rewarding and learn from difficult behavior, solve problems creatively, plan strategically, and negotiate collaboratively, explore resistance, mediate, and design systems for prevention.

Are you assigned to write an essay about conflict management, but don’t know where to start? Then, you are in the right place. Check out this sample on managing conflicts, its causes, and possible solutions.

Conflicts come as a result of disagreements. They are part of everyone’s life from childhood with parents, teenagers in school and usually carried on to the work place from home. The trends of business and organizational conflicts which are resulting into their breakdown and loss are an area that needs special attention to preserve and increase their profitability.

The solution to these problems is good management skills which can be implemented. 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, multicultural, change resistance, readiness for change, coping with change, communication, involvement, middle management, case study, change factors, intercultural management and involving change agents” (Savolaien, 2011, p. 1).

The process of conflict management in organizations requires determination and participation of two parties, employees and the management.

In this essay leadership skills in management are emphasized to create efficiency. Poor communication within the work place where those employed are never involved or asked of their opinion is one source of conflict. This causes the employees not to rely on the employer but rather on the gossip.

Employees need a good working environment with adequate working equipment; with each employee’s work clearly defined. Failure of management to provide appropriate working conditions may lead to disagreement between the employees. The employees should also learn to understand each other, with respect while appreciating their work and personality.

This builds a strong team. If the leadership fails by being unfair or having poor values in an organization or business, this would be another source of conflict. To enhance harmony and team work the above factors must be put at the right place by the management (McNamara, n.d.).

National culture affects organizations. For an organization to grow it must keep on changing the old ways so as remain competitive. A problem in leadership management may be in form of failure of leaders to have adequate information on the business; thus lowering their competitiveness.

If employees complain of the problems in the working place without supervisors addressing the issue, the conflict continues to build pressure. The work and procedures of the business activities have an influence by values from the community (Cloke & Goldsmith 2005).

The cultures of societies are characterized by conflicts which come from various circles that shape our behaviors e.g. racism and economic conflicts (Cloke & Goldsmith, 2005). The beliefs of the people are usually taken to the organization. This is what brings differences between different countries with the same type of business organizations.

From research, it became clear that culture has an influence on organizations implying that there will be a great difference between organizations established in different places.

Failure of supervisors to involve other employees in decision making may bring conflict. This however may be as a result of the culture of the local people. The supervisors who like the way operations are run and not willing to change can be a hindrance to solving any problem.

To change the culture and involve the employees, while insisting on open communication and flexibility is a good way forward in solving organizational conflicts. The organization should decide to change, by implementing the changing strategies of their conflict approach (Savvolaien, 2011).

Communication is vital in every organization. Employees can bring success of the business. Satisfaction of the employees motivates them to have a greater output. Management concern about them will help them to have confidence in what they do. Listening to the employees is one of the greatest virtues that a manager can do to promote higher output of the employee (Business, 2010).

Openness of employees to management would help the managers to always get first hand information in most cases whether good or bad. Being clear on expectations of employees on their work enables them to avoid any confusion. This helps employees to become more responsible. Guidance in their work builds confidence in their work and helps increase their efficiency (Business, 2010).

After listening to the employees, the manager should have in mind that the employees are meant to implement the plan for change. Appreciating information given by employees help them to respond positively to the strategy that is laid in place. The manager should design a strategy that helps the employees to fulfill their needs as they promote growth of business organization.

Visiting the employees at their working place is the starting place to promote openness. It is important that a manager should know how they feel about the work and what they wish the management could do for them.

A manager should be keen to evaluate performance of employees. It is recommended for managers to discuss with their employees regarding their goals and hear their views and how they feel about their progress. Furthermore, the employer should be empathetic to the employees and should be concerned of any problem with their employees (Business, 2010).

Conflicts cause people to act against their wishes. For example people may speak and act against what they think. This is because of thinking that there may be no solution to the problem encountered. “Conflict processes dark, hypnotic, destructive power: the power of attachment when it is time to leave…” (Cloke & Goldsmith 2005, p. 21).

This means that management should work from the grassroots to solve any problem and not just superficially. Knowing the root cause of the problem helps in effective planning as one realizes, “ If you listen closely, you will discover that beneath every insult and accusation lies a confession, and beneath every confession lies a request” (Cloke & Goldsmith 2005, p. 8).

This helps in building mutual trust and respect. This relationship can only be build by having effective communication between the employees and the management (Business, 2010).

The concern of management should focus on the future. Unnecessary questions on who was right or wrong should not come between the management and employees. This means the management should keep focus on the solution to the problem but not concentrating on non beneficial arguments (Perkins, 2010).

The action taken by management to solve a conflict between employees should always seek the best and just action. Managers should speak straight to the point; to the person who causes a conflict. Those who fail to do right after repeated counsel should be fired and leave the rest of the workers with peace.

Listening to employees gives direction to deal with the opponents, by stopping to reward them and learning from their difficult behaviors (Cloke & Goldsmith, 2005). This means seeking for new strategies to deal with the opponents so as to stop rewarding them. Failure to plan and apply new strategies to solve problems makes the conflict to have deep roots in the organization as well as creating a bad culture (Cloke & Goldsmith, 2005).

To manage conflicts in an organization, management should have clear values, vision, mission and objectives. Seeing opportunities to solve the problems; with a positive attitude assists in effective implementation. It requires a lot of effort to deal with an opposition.

The management should therefore work so as to reach a certain goal of an agreement or disagreement (Cloke & Goldsmith, 2005). This means they should have a plan of talking to the employees as well as the necessary action to the opponent employee with fairness and justice.

Conflict management means dealing with the conflict till the end of it. If any resistance is seen in the process of solving a conflict it is a good opportunity to dismiss fears of employees. It is an indication of dissatisfaction; probably they were not included in the implementation or they were not involved in the process. If employees feel they had been undermined, they can bring resistance. Thus, communication remains paramount in the whole process of solving a problem (Nermin, 2011).

Business organizations will always encounter conflict from one time to another. Employees and management culture can be a hindrance to conflict management. Culture should therefore be considered in the planning of resolving any conflict. Managers should enhance transparency in their organizations and good leadership skills in conflict management. This would result in justice as well as the growth of business organization.

Business. (2010). How to actively listen to your employees . Web.

Cloke, K. & Goldsmith, J. (2005). Resolving conflicts at work: eight strategies for everyone on the job . New York, NY: John Wiley and sons.

McNamara, C. Basics of Conflict Management . Web.

Nermin, A. (2011). Enhance Your Leadership Skills- Build Trust & Resolve Conflict . Web.

Perkins, K. (2010). Proactive Steps to turn around workplace disputes . Web.

Savolaien, T. (2011). Challenges of Intercultural Management, Change Implementation in The Context of National Culture . Web.

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Article contents

Conflict management.

Patricia Elgoibar , Patricia Elgoibar University of Barcelona
Martin Euwema Martin Euwema Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
and Lourdes Munduate Lourdes Munduate University of Seville
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.5
Published online: 28 June 2017

Conflicts are part of nature and certainly part of human relations, between individuals, as well as within and between groups. Conflicts occur in every domain of life: family, work, and society, local and global. Conflict management, therefore, is an essential competency for each person. People differ largely in their emotional and behavioral responses to conflict and need to learn how to behave effectively in different conflict situations. This requires a contingency approach, first assessing the conflict situation, and then choosing a strategy, matching the goals of the party. In most situations, fostering cooperative relations will be most beneficial; however, this is also most challenging. Therefore, constructive conflict management strategies, including trust building and methods of constructive controversy, are emphasized. Conflict management, however, is broader than the interaction of the conflicting parties. Third-party interventions are an essential element of constructive conflict management, particularly the assessment of which parties are intervening in what ways at what escalation stage.

cooperation
competition
conflict behavior
conglomerate conflict behavior
constructive conflict management
conflict resolution strategies

Definition of Conflict

Conflicts are part of nature, and certainly part of human relations. People experience conflict with other persons, in teams or in groups, as well as between larger entities, departments, organizations, communities, and countries. Conflicts appear at home, at work, and in our spare-time activities with friends, with people we love and with people we hate, as well as with our superiors and with our subordinates and coworkers. Parties need to accept conflicts as part of life dynamics and learn to deal with them effectively and efficiently. 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 ). In the 20th century , Lewin ( 1935 ) concluded that an intrinsic state of tension motivates group members to move toward the accomplishment of their desired common goals. Later on, Parker Follett ( 1941 ) explored the constructive side of conflict and defined conflict as the appearance of difference, difference of opinions or difference of interests. Deutsch ( 1949 ) developed this line of thought and analyzed the relation between the way group members believe their goals are related and their interactions and relationships.

A common definition of conflict argues that there is a conflict between two (or more) parties (individuals or groups) if at least one of them is offended, or feels bothered by the other (Van de Vliert, 1997 ; Wall & Callister, 1995 ). Traditionally, conflict has been defined as opposing interests involving scarce resources and goal divergence and frustration (Pondy, 1967 ). However, Deutsch ( 1973 ) defined conflict as incompatible activities: one person's actions interfere, obstruct, or in some way get in the way of another's action. Tjosvold, Wan, and Tang ( 2016 ) proposed that defining conflict as incompatible actions is a much stronger foundation than defining conflict as opposing interests, because conflicts also can occur when people have common goals (i.e., they may disagree about the best means to achieve their common goals). The key contribution of Deutsch’s ( 1973 ) proposal is that incompatible activities occur in both compatible and incompatible goal contexts. Whether the protagonists believe their goals are cooperative or competitive very much affects their expectations, interaction, and outcomes as they approach conflict (Tjosvold et al., 2016 ).

Characteristics of Conflict

Euwema and Giebels ( 2017 ) highlighted some key elements of conflict.

Conflict implies dependence and interdependence. Parties rely to some extent on the other parties to realize their goals (Kaufman, Elgoibar, & Borbely, 2016 ). This interdependence can be positive (a cooperative context), negative (a competitive context), or mixed. Positive interdependence is strongly related to cooperative conflict behaviors, while negative interdependence triggers competitive behaviors (Johnson & Johnson, 2005 ). Interdependence also reflects the power difference between parties. A short-term contractor on a low-paid job usually is much more dependent on the employer than vice versa. Many conflicts, however, can be seen as “mixed motive” situations.

Conflicts are mostly mixed motive situations because parties have simultaneous motives to cooperate and motives to compete. Parties are, on the one hand, dependent on each other to realize their goal, and, on the other hand, they are at the same time competitors. For example, two colleagues on a team are cooperating for the same team result; however, there is competition for the role as project leader. In a soccer team, the players have a team goal of working together to win, but they can be competing to be the top scorer. The mixed motive structure is very important to understand conflict dynamics. When conflicts arise, the competitive aspects become more salient, and the cooperative structure often is perceived less by parties. Interventions to solve conflict, therefore, are often related to these perceptions and the underlying structures.

Conflict is a psychological experience. Conflict is by definition a personal and subjective experience, as each individual can perceive and manage the same conflict in a different manner. Conflict doesn’t necessarily have an objective basis (Van de Vliert, 1997 ). It depends on the perception of the specific situation, and the perception is by definition subjective and personal.

Conflict concerns cognitive and affective tension. When someone perceives blocked goals and disagreements, he or she can also, although not necessarily, feel fear or anger. Many authors consider that conflict is emotionally charged (Nair, 2007 ; Pondy, 1967 ; Sinaceur, Adam, Van Kleef, & Galinky, 2013 ), although the emotion doesn’t need to be labeled necessarily as a negative emotion. Some people actually enjoy conflict. Emotional experiences in conflict are also scripted by cultural, historical, and personal influences (Lindner, 2014 ).

Conflict can be unidirectional. One party can feel frustrated or thwarted by the other while the second party is hardly aware of, and doesn’t perceive the same reality of, the conflict.

Conflict is a process. Conflict is a dynamic process that does not appear suddenly, but takes some time to develop and passes through several stages (Spaho, 2013 ). Conflict is the process resulting from the tension in interpersonal interactions or between team members because of real or perceived differences (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003 ; Thomas, 1992 ; Wall & Callister, 1995 ).

Type of Conflict: Task, Process, and Relationship Conflict

Early conflict and organizational research concluded that conflict interferes with team performance and reduces satisfaction due to an increase in tension and distraction from the objective (Brown, 1983 ; Hackman & Morris, 1975 ; Pondy, 1967 ; Wall & Callister, 1995 ). Jehn ( 1995 ) differentiated between task and relational conflict, and later also included process conflict (De Wit, Greer, & Jehn, 2012 ). Task conflict refers to different opinions on content (Jehn & Mannix, 2001 ). Examples of task conflict are conflict about distribution of resources, about procedures and policies, and judgment and interpretation of facts (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003 ). Process conflict refers to how tasks should be accomplished (Jehn, Greer, Levine, & Szulanski, 2008 ). Examples are disagreements about logistic and delegation issues (Jehn et al., 2008 ). Finally, relationship conflict refers to “interpersonal incompatibility” (Jehn, 1995 , p. 257). Examples of relationship conflict are conflict about personal taste, political preferences, values, and interpersonal style (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003 ). All three types of conflict—task, process, and personal (relational) conflicts—are usually disruptive, especially personal conflict, which is highly disruptive (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003 ; Jehn, 1995 , 1997 ). A review and meta-analysis by De Wit et al. ( 2012 ) showed that, under specific conditions, task conflict can be productive for teams. Moreover, conflict can wreck a team’s efforts to share information and reach a consensus (Amason & Schweiger, 1994 ). Therefore, research supporting the benefit of task and relationship conflict is not conclusive and each situation varies. What seems to be clear is that managing conflict efficiently to avoid escalation is a priority for teams.

Conflict Behavior, Conflict Management, and Conflict Resolution

Conflict behavior, conflict management, and conflict resolution are different layers of a conflict process and therefore should be distinguished. Conflict behavior is any behavioral response to the experience of frustration, while conflict management is the deliberate action to deal with conflictive situations, both to prevent or to escalate them. Also, conflict management is differentiated from conflict resolution, which is specific action aimed to end a conflict.

Conflict Behavior

Conflict behavior is the behavioral response to the experience of conflict (Van de Vliert et al., 1995 ). Conflict behavior is defined as one party’s reaction to the perception that one’s own and the other party’s current aspiration cannot be achieved simultaneously (Deutsch, 1973 ; Pruitt, 1981 ; Rubin, Pruitt, & Kim, 1994 ). It is both what people experiencing conflict intend to do, as well as what they actually do (De Dreu, Evers, Beersma, Kluwer, & Nauta, 2001 ; Van de Vliert, 1997 ). In conflict situations people often respond primarily, following their emotions, more or less conscientiously.

Many factors affect how people respond to the experience of conflict. Social psychology shows the processes are largely unconscious (Wilson, 2004 ). For example, how people respond to intimidating behavior by their supervisor might be primarily influenced by the context and individual perception, as well as previous relations with persons in authority, including parents and teachers (Gelfand & Brett, 2004 ; Van Kleef & Cote, 2007 ). These natural behavioral responses are also referred to as “conflict styles.” They are rooted in our personality and can differ in context. Some people will naturally respond by being friendly and accommodating, where others will start arguing or fighting (Barbuto, Phipps, & Xu, 2010 ; Kilmann & Thomas, 1977 ; Van Kleef & Cote, 2007 ).

Conflict behavior becomes more effective once we are more aware of our natural tendencies and are also able not to act upon them, and instead to show flexibility in behavioral approaches. This is where conflict behavior becomes conflict management. Therefore, one can be a naturally highly accommodating person who will spontaneously give in to others who make demands, but one will be more effective after learning to assess the situation at hand and to carefully decide on a response, which might be quite different from the natural or spontaneous reaction.

Dual-Concern Model

The dual-concern model holds that the way in which parties handle conflicts can de described and is determined by two concerns: concern for self (own interests) and concern for others (relational interests) (Blake & Mouton, 1964 ; Pruitt & Rubin, 1986 ; Rahim, 1983 ; Thomas, 1992 ; Van de Vliert, 1999 ) (see Figure 1 ). Usually, the two concerns define five different conflict behaviors: forcing, avoiding, accommodating, compromising, and problem solving or integrating. These behaviors are studied at the level of general personal conflict styles, closely connected to personality, as well as at the level of strategies and tactics (Euwema & Giebels, 2017 ).

The different conflict styles have been studied intensively, with three approaches. A normative approach, wherein integrating (also known as problem solving) is seen as the preferred behavior for conflict resolution; a contingency approach, exploring conditions under which each of the behaviors is most appropriate; and a conglomerate approach, focusing on a combination of the behaviors (see “ Conglomerate Conflict Behavior ”).

Figure 1. Dual-concern model.

In forcing, one party aims to achieve his or her goal by imposing a solution onto the other party. Concern for one’s own interests and own vision is what matters. There is little attention and care for the interests and needs of the other party, or the relationship with the other (Euwema & Giebels, 2017 ). This style is appropriate when the outcome is important for one party but trivial to the opponent, or when fast decision making is necessary. It becomes inappropriate when issues are complex, when both parties are equally powerful, when the outcome is not worth the effort for one party, or when there is enough time to make a collective decision. Moreover, forcing decisions can seriously damage a relationship and contribute to bullying in the workplace (Baillien, Bollen, Euwema, & De Witte, 2014 ); however, normative forcing, which is referring to rules and imposing them, can be effective (De Dreu, 2005 ). Note that some alternative terms that have been used for forcing in the literature are competitive , contending , or adversarial behavior .

With avoiding, one party aims to stay out of any confrontation with the other. This behavior prevents efforts to yield, to negotiate constructively, or to compete for one’s own gains. The conflict issue receives little attention, usually because the avoiding party thinks he or she won’t gain from entering into the conflict (Euwema & Giebels, 2017 ; Van de Vliert, 1997 ). Avoiding may be used when the benefits of resolving the conflict are not worth confronting the other party, especially when the problem is trivial or minor; when no good solutions are available for now; or when time is needed (Van Erp et al., 2011 ). An important motive for avoiding also is to prevent loss of face and to maintain the relationship. This is particularly true in collectivistic cultures, particularly in Asian societies (Oetzel et al., 2001 ). Avoiding is inappropriate when the issues are important to a party, when the parties cannot wait, or when immediate action is required (Rahim, 2002 ). Rubin, Pruitt, and Kim ( 1994 ) distinguished between long-term avoidance, which is a permanent move to leave the conflict, and short-term avoidance, defined as temporary inaction.

Accommodating

Accommodating is giving in or going along with the ideas, wishes, and needs of the other party. Accommodating usually is the result of a low concern for one’s own conflictive interests combined with a high concern for the interests and needs of the other party. Giving in often is related to a strong need for harmony and a sensitivity to the needs of the other. Accommodation is useful when a party is not familiar with the issues involved in the conflict, when the opponent is right, when the issue is much more important to the other party, and in order to build or maintain a long-term relationship, in exchange for future consideration when needed. Giving in also can be an educational strategy, giving space to the other to find out what the effect will be. Accommodating is less appropriate when the issue is of great concern, when accommodation creates frustration, or when accommodation reinforces dynamics of exploitation (Spaho, 2013 ). Note that an alternative term for this concept that can be found in the literature is yielding .

Compromising

Compromising involves searching for a middle ground, with an eye on both one’s own interest and the interest of the other. The premise is that both parties must find a middle ground where everyone receives equal consideration, meaning that each party makes some concession (Van de Vliert, 1997 ). Compromising is appropriate when a balance of forces exists and the goals of parties are mutually exclusive (Buddhodev, 2011 ). Compromise leads to a democratic solution; however, it may prevent arriving at a creative solution to the problem and a limited effort to increase resources before distributing them (Spaho, 2013 ).

Problem Solving or Integrating

Problem solving is a win–win strategy aimed at “optimizing rather than satisfying the parties” (Van de Vliert, 1997 , p. 36). Great value is attached to one’s own interests and vision, but also a lot of attention is given to the needs, ideas, and interests of the other. One looks for open and creative solutions that meet both interests. Problem solving or integrating is useful in dealing with complex issues, and it allows both parties to share skills, information, and other resources to redefine the problem and formulate alternative solutions. It is, however, inappropriate when the task is simple or trivial, and when there is no time. Also, it is more difficult to develop when the other party does not have experience in problem solving or when the parties are unconcerned about the outcomes (Pruitt & Rubin, 1986 ). Note that some alternative terms that can be found in the literature for this concept are cooperation and collaboration .

The dual-concern model is used as a contingency model, describing which conflict behaviors are used best under what conditions (Van de Vliert et al., 1997 ), and also as a normative model, promoting integrating behaviors as the most effective style, particularly when it comes to joined outcomes and long-term effectiveness. Forcing, in contrast, is often described as a noncooperative behavior, with risk of escalated and unilateral outcomes (Blake & Mouton, 1964 ; Burke, 1970 ; Deutsch, 1973 ; Fisher & Ury, 1981 ; Pruitt & Rubin, 1986 ; Rahim, 2010 ; Thomas, 1992 ). As a result, authors define forcing and integrating as two opposed behavioral approaches (Tjosvold, Morishima, & Belsheim, 1999 ). Following this model, many scholars during the 1970s and 1980s proposed that individuals use a single behavior in conflict, or that the behaviors should be seen as independent. Therefore, the antecedents and effects of different conflict behaviors are often analyzed separately (Tjosvold, 1997 ; Volkema & Bergmann, 2001 ). However, parties usually try to achieve personal outcomes, and try to reach mutual agreements by combining several behaviors in a conflict episode (Van de Vliert, 1997 ). This is the basic assumption of the conglomerate conflict behavior (CCB) theory (Van de Vliert, Euwema, & Huismans, 1995 ), which established that conflict behaviors are used in a compatible manner, sequentially or simultaneously.

Conglomerate Conflict Behavior (CCB)

In the dual-concern model, a contrast is made between forcing (contending with an adversary in a direct way) and integrating (reconciling the parties’ basic interests) as two opposed behavioral approaches (Tjosvold et al., 1999 ). However, the CCB framework assumes that individual reactions to conflict typically are complex and consist of multiple components of behavior (Van de Vliert, 1997 , Van de Vliert et al., 1995 ). The CCB theory covers the idea that behavioral components may occur simultaneously or sequentially and that the combination drives toward effectiveness (Euwema & Van Emmerik, 2007 ; Medina & Benitez, 2011 ). The theory has been supported in studies analyzing conflict management effectiveness in different contexts, such as in managerial behavior (Munduate, Ganaza, Peiro, & Euwema, 1999 ), in military peacekeeping (Euwema & Van Emmerik, 2007 ) and by worker representatives in organizations (Elgoibar, 2013 ).

The main reason that people combine different behaviors is because conflicts are often mixed-motive situations (Euwema, Van de Vliert, & Bakker, 2003 ; Euwema & Van Emmerik, 2007 ; Walton & McKersie, 1965 ). Mixed-motive situations are described as situations that pose a conflict between securing immediate benefits through competition, and pursuing benefits for oneself and others through cooperation with other people (Komorita & Parks, 1995 ; Sheldon & Fishbach, 2011 ). Therefore, a person's behavior in a conflict episode is viewed as a combination of some of the five forms of conflict behaviors. An example of sequential complex behavior is to first put the demands clearly (forcing), followed by integrating (searching for mutual gains, and expanding the pie), and finally compromising, where distributive issues are dealt with in a fair way. An example of serial complexity can be found in multi-issue conflict, when for some issues conflict can be avoided, while for high priorities, demands are put on the table in a forcing way. Another CCB pattern is the conglomeration of accommodating and forcing. This pattern is sometimes referred to as “logrolling” (Van de Vliert, 1997 , p. 35), and it is a classic part of integrative strategies, to maximize the outcomes for both parties. Logrolling behavior consists of accommodating the high-concern issues of the other party and forcing one’s own high-concern issues. This approach is usually helpful in multi-issue trade negotiations; however, it requires openness of both parties to acknowledging key interests.

How to Explore Your Tendency in Conflict

The most famous and popular conflict behavior questionnaires are:

MODE (Management of Differences Exercise). MODE, developed in 1974 by Thomas and Killman, presents 30 choices between two options representing different conflict styles.

ROCI (Rahim's Organizational Conflict Inventory). The ROCI is a list of 28 items that measures the five styles of conflict behavior described.

Dutch Test of Conflict Handling. This list of 20 items measures the degree of preference for the five styles (Van de Vliert & Euwema, 1994 ; De Dreu et al., 2001 , 2005 ). It has been validated internationally.

Conflict management is deliberate action to deal with conflictive situations, either to prevent or to escalate them. Unlike conflict behavior, conflict management encompasses cognitive responses to conflict situations, which can vary from highly competitive to highly cooperative. Conflict management does not necessarily involve avoidance, reduction, or termination of conflict. It involves designing effective strategies to minimize the dysfunctions of conflict and to enhance the constructive functions of conflict in order to improve team and organizational effectiveness (Rahim, 2002 ).

Conflicts are not necessarily destructive (De Dreu & Gelfand, 2008 ; Euwema, Munduate, Elgoibar, Pender, & Garcia, 2015 ), and research has shown that constructive conflict management is possible (Coleman, Deutsch, & Marcus, 2014 ). The benefits of conflict are much more likely to arise when conflicts are discussed openly, and when discussion skillfully promotes new ideas and generates creative insights and agreements (Coleman et al., 2014 ; De Dreu & Gelfand, 2008 ; Euwema et al., 2015 ; Tjosvold, Won, & Chen, 2014 ). To make a constructive experience from conflict, conflict needs to be managed effectively.

Deutsch’s classic theory of competition and cooperation describes the antecedents and consequences of parties’ cooperative or competitive orientations and allows insights into what can give rise to constructive or destructive conflict processes (Deutsch, 1973 , 2002 ). The core of the theory is the perceived interdependence of the parties, so that the extent that protagonists believe that their goals are cooperative (positively related) or competitive (negatively related) affects their interaction and thus the outcomes. Positive interdependence promotes openness, cooperative relations, and integrative problem solving. Perceived negative interdependence on the other hand, induces more distance and less openness, and promotes competitive behavior, resulting in distributive bargaining or win–lose outcomes (Tjosvold et al., 2014 ).

Whether the protagonists believe their goals are cooperative or competitive very much affects their expectations, interactions, and outcomes. If parties perceive that they can reach their goals only if the other party also reaches their goals, the goal interdependence is positively perceived and therefore parties will have higher concern for the other’s goals and manage the conflict cooperatively (De Dreu et al., 2001 ; Tjosvold et al., 2014 ). On the contrary, if one party perceives that they can reach their goals only if the other party fails to obtain their goals, the interdependence becomes negatively perceived and the approach to conflict becomes competitive (Tjosvold et al., 2014 ). Goals can also be independent; in that case, conflict can be avoided (the parties don’t need to obstruct each other’s goals to be successful). Therefore, how parties perceive their goals’ interdependence affects how they negotiate conflict and whether the conflict is constructively or destructively managed (Alper et al., 2000 ; Deutsch, 1973 ; Johnson & Johnson, 1989 ; Tjosvold, 2008 ).

Successfully managing conflict cooperatively requires intellectual, emotional, and relational capabilities in order to share information, to contribute to value creation, and to discuss differences constructively (Fisher & Ury, 1981 ; Tjosvold et al., 2014 ). In contrast, a competitive-destructive process leads to material losses and dissatisfaction, worsening relations between parties, and negative psychological effects on at least one party—the loser of a win–lose context (Deutsch, 2014 ).

Deutsch’s theory proposes that emphasizing cooperative goals in conflict by demonstrating a commitment to pursue mutually beneficial solutions creates high-quality resolutions and relationships, while focusing on competitive interests by pursuing one’s own goals at the expense of the other’s escalates conflict, resulting in imposed solutions and suspicious relationships (Tjosvold et al., 2014 ).

In summary, Deutsch’s theory states that the context in which the conflict process is expressed drives parties toward either a cooperative or a competitive orientation in conflicts (Alper et al., 2000 ; Deutsch, 2006 ; Johnson & Johnson, 1989 ). In other words, a cooperative context is related to a cooperative conflict pattern, and a competitive context is related to a competitive conflict pattern. When parties have a cooperative orientation toward conflict, parties discuss their differences with the objective of clarifying them and attempting to find a solution that is satisfactory to both parties—both parties win (Carnevale & Pruitt, 1992 ). On the contrary, in competition, there is usually a winner and a loser (Carnevale & Pruitt, 1992 ) (see Table 1 ). In the CCB model, the patterns can include cooperative (i.e., integrating) and competitive (i.e. forcing) behavior; however, the cooperative pattern will be dominated by integrating while the competitive pattern will be dominated by forcing (Elgoibar, 2013 ).

Table 1. Characteristics of Cooperative and Competitive Climates

Source : Coleman, Deutsch, and Marcus ( 2014 ).

How to Manage Conflicts Constructively

The need for trust.

Trust is commonly defined as a belief or expectation about others’ benevolent motives during a social interaction (Holmes & Rempel, 1989 ; Rousseau et al., 1998 ). Mutual trust is one important antecedent as well as a consequence of cooperation in conflicts (Deutsch, 1983 ; Ferrin, Bligh, & Kohles, 2008 ). As Nahapiet and Ghoshal pointed out, “Trust lubricates cooperation, and cooperation itself breeds trust” ( 1998 , p.255). There is ample evidence that constructive conflict and trust are tightly and positively related (Hempel, Zhang, & Tjosvold, 2009 ; Bijlsma & Koopman, 2003 ; Lewicki, Tonlinson, & Gillespie, 2006 ).

Successful constructive conflict management requires maximal gathering and exchange of information in order to identify problems and areas of mutual concern, to search for alternatives, to assess their implications, and to achieve openness about preferences in selecting optimal solutions (Bacon & Blyton, 2007 ; Johnson & Johnson, 1989 ; Tjosvold, 1999 ). Trust gives parties the confidence to be open with each other, knowing that the shared information won’t be used against them (Zaheer & Zaheer, 2006 ). Various studies revealed that trust leads to constructive conglomerate behaviors and to more integrative outcomes in interpersonal and intergroup conflicts (Lewicki, Elgoibar, & Euwema, 2016 ; Lewicki, McAllister, & Bies, 1998 ; Ross & LaCroix, 1996 ).

How can trust be promoted? Developing trust is challenging (Gunia, Brett, & Nandkeolyar, 2014 ; Hempel et al., 2009 ). Numerous scholars have noted that trust is easier to destroy than to create (Hempel et al., 2009 ; Meyerson et al., 1996 ). There are two main reasons for this assertion. First, trust-breaking events are often more visible and noticeable than positive trust-building actions (Kramer, 1999 ). Second, trust-breaking events are judged to have a higher impact on trust judgments than positive events (Slovic, 1993 ). Furthermore, Slovic ( 1993 ) concluded that trust-breaking events are more credible than sources of good news. Thus, the general belief is that trust is easier to destroy than it is to build, and trust rebuilding may take even longer than it took to create the original level of trust (Lewicki et al., 2016 ).

However, there is room for optimism, and different strategies have been shown to promote trust. As held in social exchange theory (Blau, 1964 ), risk taking by one party in supporting the other party has been found to signal trust to the other party (Serva et al., 2005 ). Yet, fears of exploitation make trust in conflict management and negotiation scarce. Therefore, the use of trust-promoting strategies depends on the specific situation, and parties need practical guidance on how and when to manage conflict constructively by means of promoting mutual trust.

How does the possibility of trust development between parties depend on the conflict context? Based on this practical question, some strategies for trust development have been proposed (Fisher & Ury, 1981 ; Fulmer & Gelfand, 2012 ; Gunia, Brett, & Nandkeolyar, 2012 ; Lewicki et al., 2016 ). In relationships where trust is likely, the following strategies can help: assume trustworthiness, prioritize your interests and give away a little information about them, engage in reciprocity (concessions), highlight similarities and spend time together, get to know your counterpart personally and try to be likable, behave consistently and predictably, and paraphrase your counterpart’s positions. In relationships where trust seems possible: emphasize common goals; focus on the subject, not on the people; look to the future and find a shared vision; mix questions and answers about interests and priorities—the fundamental elements of information sharing—with making and justifying offers; take a break; suggest another approach; call in a mediator; and forgive the other party’s mistakes. In relationships where trust is not possible, more cautious strategies can help: make multi-issue offers; think holistically about your counterpart’s interests; engage in reciprocity (concessions); express sympathy, apologize, or compliment your counterpart; and look for preference patterns in your counterpart’s offers and responses.

Constructive Controversy

C onstructive controversy is defined as the open-minded discussion of conflicting perspectives for mutual benefit, which occurs when protagonists express their opposing ideas that obstruct resolving the issues, at least temporarily (Tjosvold et al., 2014 ). Indicators of constructive controversy include listening carefully to each other’s opinion, trying to understand each other’s concerns, and using opposing views to understand the problem better. These skills are considered vitally important for developing and implementing cooperative problem-solving processes successfully and effectively.

Deutsch ( 2014 ) stated that there haven’t been many systematic discussions of the skills involved in constructive solutions to conflict, and he proposed three main types of skills for constructive conflict management:

Rapport-building skills are involved in establishing effective relationships between parties (such as breaking the ice; reducing fears, tensions, and suspicion; overcoming resistance to negotiation; and fostering realistic hope and optimism).

Cooperative conflict-resolution skills are concerned with developing and maintaining a cooperative conflict resolution process among the parties involved (such as identifying the type of conflict in which the parties are involved; reframing the issues so that conflict is perceived as a mutual problem to be resolved cooperatively; active listening and responsive communication; distinguishing between effective relationships between parties and positions; encouraging, supporting, and enhancing the parties; being alert to cultural differences and the possibilities of misunderstanding arising from them; and controlling anger).

Group process and decision-making skills are involved in developing a creative and productive process (such as monitoring progress toward group goals; eliciting, clarifying, coordinating, summarizing, and integrating the contributions of the various participants; and maintaining group cohesion).

Tjosvold et al. ( 2014 ) and Johnson et al. ( 2014 ) also elaborate on the skills needed for facilitating open-minded discussions and constructive controversy. They developed four mutually reinforcing strategies for managing conflict constructively:

Developing and expressing one’s own view. Parties need to know what each of the others wants and believes, and expressing one’s own needs, feelings, and ideas is essential to gaining that knowledge. By strengthening expression of their own positions, both parties can learn to investigate their position, present the best case they can for it, defend it vigorously, and try at the same time to refute opposing views. However, expressing one’s own position needs to be supplemented with an open-minded approach to the other’s position.

Questioning and understanding others’ views. Listening and understanding opposing views, as well as defending one’s own views, makes discussing conflicts more challenging but also more rewarding; therefore, the parties can point out weaknesses in each other’s arguments to encourage better development and expression of positions by finding more evidence and strengthening their reasoning.

Integrating and creating solutions. The creation of new alternatives lays the foundation for genuine agreements about a solution that both parties can accept and implement. However, protagonists may have to engage in repeated discussion to reach an agreement, or indeed they may be unable to create a solution that is mutually acceptable, and then they can both learn to become less adamant, to exchange views directly, and to show that they are trying to understand and integrate each other’s ideas so that all may benefit.

Agreeing to and implementing solutions. Parties can learn to seek the best reasoned judgment, instead of focusing on “winning”; to criticize ideas, not people; to listen and understand everyone’s position, even if they do not agree with it; to differentiate positions before trying to integrate them; and to change their minds when logically persuaded to do so.

Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution processes are aimed at ending a conflict. So, while conflict management can also include escalation, conflict resolution searches for a way of ending the conflict. The difference between resolution and management of conflict is more than semantic (Robbins, 1978 ). Conflict resolution means reduction, elimination, or termination of conflict.

To find a resolution, parties have to bring an extra piece of information, relate the information they have differently, or transform the issue, change the rules, change the actors or the structure, or bring in a third party (Vayrynen, 1991 ). The most popular conflict resolution processes are: negotiation, mediation, conflict coaching, and arbitration (Rahim, 2002 ). Conflict resolution can also be accomplished by ruling by authorities. Integration of the different techniques sequentially or simultaneously has been shown to support optimal conflict resolution (Jones, 2016 ).

Negotiation

Negotiation is a process in which the parties attempt to jointly create an agreement that resolves a conflict between them (Lewicki & Tomlinson, 2014 ). Walton and McKersie ( 1965 ) were the first to identify the two polar yet interdependent strategies known as distributive and integrative negotiation. Distributive negotiation means that activities are instrumental to the attainment of one party’s goals when they are in basic conflict with those of the other party. Integrative negotiation means that parties’ activities are oriented to find common or complementary interests and to solve problems confronting both parties. Other scholars also focused on the opposite tactical requirements of the two strategies, using a variety of terms, such as contending versus cooperating (Pruitt, 1981 ), claiming value versus creating value (Lax & Sebenius, 1987 ), and the difference between positions and interests (Fisher & Ury, 1981 ).

If a distributive strategy is pursued too vigorously, a negotiator may gain a greater share of gains, but of a smaller set of joint gains, or, worse, may generate an outcome in which both parties lose. However, if a negotiator pursues an integrative negotiation in a single-minded manner—being totally cooperative and giving freely accurate and credible information about his/her interests—he or she can be taken advantage of by the other party (Walton & McKersie, 1965 ). The different proposals that have been formulated to cope with these central dilemmas in negotiation are mainly based on a back-and-forth communication process between the parties, which is linked to the negotiators’ interpersonal skills (Brett, Shapiro, & Lytle, 1998 ; Fisher & Ury, 1981 ; Rubin et al., 1994 ).

Mediation is process by which a third party facilitates constructive communication among disputants, including decision making, problem solving and negotiation, in order to reach a mutually acceptable agreement (Bollen, Munduate, & Euwema, 2016 ; Goldman, Cropanzano, Stein, & Benson, 2008 ; Moore, 2014 ). Using mediation in conflict resolution has been proven to prevent the negative consequences of conflict in the workplace (Bollen & Euwema, 2010 ; Bollen et al., 2016 ), in collective bargaining (Martinez-Pecino et al., 2008 ), in inter- and intragroup relations (Jones, 2016 ), and in interpersonal relations (Herrman, 2006 ). However, mediation is not a magic bullet and works better in conflicts that are moderate rather than extreme, when parties are motivated to resolve the conflict, and when parties have equal power, among other characteristics (Kressel, 2014 ).

Conflict Coaching

Conflict coaching is a new and rapidly growing process in the public as well as private sector (Brinkert, 2016 ). In this process, a conflict coach works with a party to accomplish three goals (Jones & Brinkert, 2008 ): (a) analysis and coherent understanding of the conflict, (b) identification of a future preferred direction, and (c) skills development to implement the preferred strategy. Therefore, a conflict coach is defined as a conflict expert who respects the other party’s self-determination and aims to promote the well-being of the parties involved. Giebels and Janssen ( 2005 ) found that, when outside help was called in, parties in conflict experienced fewer negative consequences in terms of individual well-being than people who did not ask for third-party help.

Sometimes, the leader of a team can act as conflict coach. A study by Romer and colleagues ( 2012 ) showed that a workplace leader’s problem-solving approach to conflicts increased employees’ perception of justice and their sense that they had a voice in their workplace, as well as reduced employees’ stress (De Reuver & Van Woerkom, 2010 ; Romer et al., 2012 ). In contrast, the direct expression of power in the form of forcing behavior can harm employees’ well-being (Peterson & Harvey, 2009 ). A forcing leader may become an additional party to the conflict (i.e., employees may turn against their leader; Romer et al, 2012 ).

Conflict coaching and mediation are different processes. First, in conflict coaching, only one party is involved in the process, while in mediation, the mediator helps all the parties in conflict to engage in constructive interaction. Second, conflict coaching focuses on direct skills instructions to the party (i.e., negotiation skills). In that, conflict coaching is also a leadership development tool (Romer et al., 2012 ). There is a growing tendency to integrate conflict coaching and workplace mediation, particularly in preparation for conflict resolution, because the coach can help the coached party to investigate options and weigh the advantages of the different options (Jones, 2016 ).

Arbitration

Arbitration is an institutionalized procedure in which a third party provides a final and binding or voluntary decision (Lewicki, Saunders, & Barry, 2014 ; Mohr & Spekman, 1994 ). Arbitration allows the parties to have control over the process, but not over the outcomes. Therefore, arbitration differs from negotiation, mediation, and conflict coaching, in which the parties decide the agreement themselves (Posthuma & Dworkin, 2000 ; Lewicki et al., 2014 ). In arbitration, the third party listens to the parties and decides the outcome. This procedure is used mainly in conflicts between organizations, in commercial disputes, and in collective labor conflicts (Beechey, 2000 ; Elkouri & Elkouri, 1995 ).

Decision Making by Authorities

The strategies of negotiation, mediation, conflict coaching, and arbitration have in common that the parties together decide about the conflict process, even when they agree to accept an arbitration. This is different from how authorities resolve conflict. Decision making by authorities varies from parents’ intervening in children’s fights to rulings by teachers, police officers, managers, complaint officers, ombudsmen, and judges. Here, often one party complains and the authority acts to intervene and end the conflict. This strategy is good for ending physical violence and misuse of power. However, the authorities’ decisive power is limited, and therefore in most situations authorities are strongly urged to first explore the potential for conflict resolution and reconciliation among the parties involved. The authority can act as an escalator for the process, or as a facilitator, and only in cases of immediate threat can intervene or rule as a last resort. Authorities who employ this strategy can improve the learning skills of the parties and can impose upon the parties an acceptance of responsibility, both for the conflict and for the ways to end it.

It is important to emphasize the natural and positive aspects of conflict management. Conflict occurs in all areas of organizations and private lives and its management is vital for their effectiveness. Through conflict, conventional thinking is challenged, threats and opportunities are identified, and new solutions are forged (Tjosvold et al., 2014 ). Therefore, when conflict occurs, it shouldn’t be avoided but should be managed constructively.

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Conflict Management: Definition, Strategies, and Styles

Learn how to manage disputes at home or work using various conflict management styles and strategies.

[Featured Image] A manager discusses conflict management with her team in front of a whiteboard.

Conflict management is an umbrella term for the way we identify and handle conflicts fairly and efficiently. The goal is to minimize the potential negative impacts that can arise from disagreements and increase the odds of a positive outcome.

At home or work, disagreements can be unpleasant, and not every dispute calls for the same response. Learn to choose the right conflict management style, and you'll be better able to respond constructively whenever disputes arise.

Learn key approaches to conflict management

If you want to learn conflict management skills and approaches, consider enrolling in UC Irvine's Conflict Management Specialization . Start learning with Coursera Plus today with a free 7-day trial.

What is conflict management?

Conflict management refers to the way that you handle disagreements. On any given day, you may have to deal with a dispute between you and another individual, your family members, or fellow employees.

Although there are many reasons people disagree, many conflicts revolve around:

Personal values (real or perceived)

Perceptions

Conflicting goals

Power dynamics

Communication style

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5 conflict management styles

It's human to deal with conflict by defaulting to what's comfortable. According to University of Pittsburgh professors of management Ken Thomas and Ralph Kilmann, most people take one of two approaches to conflict management, assertiveness or cooperativeness [ 1 ]. From these approaches come five modes or styles of conflict management:

1. Accommodating

An accommodating mode of conflict management tends to be high in cooperation but low in assertiveness. When you use this style, you resolve the disagreement by sacrificing your own needs and desires for those of the other party.

This management style might benefit your work when conflicts are trivial and you need to move on quickly. At home, this style works when your relationship with your roommate, partner, or child is more important than being right. Although accommodation might be optimal for some conflicts, others require a more assertive style.

2. Avoiding

When avoiding, you try to dodge or bypass a conflict. This style of managing conflicts is low in assertiveness and cooperativeness. Avoidance is unproductive for handling most disputes because it may leave the other party feeling like you don't care. Also, if left unresolved, some conflicts become much more troublesome.

However, an avoiding management style works in situations where:

You need time to think through a disagreement.

You have more pressing problems to deal with first.

The risks of confronting a problem outweigh the benefits.

3. Collaborating

A collaborating conflict management style demands a high level of cooperation from all parties involved. Individuals in a dispute come together to find a respectful resolution that benefits everyone. Collaborating works best if you have plenty of time and are on the same power level as the other parties involved. If not, you may be better off choosing another style.

4. Competing

When you use a competitive conflict management style (sometimes called 'forcing'), you put your own needs and desires over those of others. This style is high in assertiveness and low in cooperation. In other words, it's the opposite of accommodating. While you might think this style would never be acceptable, it's sometimes needed when you are in a higher position of power than other parties and need to resolve a dispute quickly.

5. Compromising

Compromising demands moderate assertiveness and cooperation from all parties involved. With this type of resolution, everyone gets something they want or need. This style of managing conflict works well when time is limited. Because of time constraints, compromising isn't always as creative as collaborating, and some parties may come away less satisfied than others.

Learn more about these conflict management approaches in this video from Rice University:

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. When you're wondering which method of conflict management to choose, ask yourself the following questions:

How important are your needs and wants?

What will happen if your needs and wants aren't met?

How much do you value the other person/people involved?

How much value do you place on the issue involved?

Have you thought through the consequences of using differing styles?

Do you have the time and energy to address the situation right now?

The answers to these questions can help you decide which style to pick in a particular situation based on what you've learned about the various conflict management styles.

Tips and strategies for conflict management

Conflicts inevitably pop up when you spend time with other people, whether at work or home. However, when conflicts aren’t resolved, they can lead to various negative consequences. These include:

Hurt feelings

Resentment and frustration

Loneliness and depression

Passive aggression and communication issues

Increased stress and stress-related health problems

Reduced productivity

Staff turnover

Conflict is a part of life. Knowing a few strategies for managing conflict can help keep your home or workplace healthy. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when conflict arises:

Acknowledge the problem.

If someone comes to you with a dispute that seems trivial to you, remember it may not be trivial to them. Actively listen to help the other person feel heard, then decide what to do about the situation.

Gather the necessary information.

You can't resolve a conflict unless you've investigated all sides of the problem. Take the time you need to understand all the necessary information. This way, you'll choose the best conflict management style and find an optimal resolution.

Set guidelines.

Whether discussing a conflict with a spouse or intervening for two employees, setting guidelines before you begin is essential. Participants should agree to speak calmly, listen, and try to understand the other person's point of view. Agree up front that if the guidelines aren't followed, the discussion will end and resume later.

Keep emotion out of the discussion.

An angry outburst may end a conflict, but it's only temporary. Talk things out calmly to avoid having the dispute pop up again.

Be decisive.

Once you've discussed a dispute and evaluated the best approach, take action on the solution you've identified. Letting others in on your decision lets them know you care and are moving forward.

Build conflict management skills today

Learn key conflict types and strategies to resolve them. Enroll in the Conflict Management Specialization from UC Irvine today to build your skills.

Article sources

Management Weekly. " Thomas Kilmann Conflict Model , https://managementweekly.org/thomas-kilmann-conflict-resolution-model/." Accessed March 13, 2024.

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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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Article • 9 min read

How to Manage Workplace Conflict

Handling team conflict effectively.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Your people bring different perspectives and knowledge to your team, improving problem solving and performance. But difference can sometimes lead to conflict. And you'll need to deal with it!

In this article, we'll look at ways to identify and resolve conflict in your team, and to keep working relationships healthy and productive.

First, we'll highlight a few general skills and approaches that a manager can call on in conflict situations. Then we'll look at a five-step process for applying those skills in practice.

(If you want to understand why conflict arises and how to resolve it, read our introductory article, Conflict Resolution .)

Conflict Resolution Skills for Managers

By using the following approach, managers will likely be able to stop conflict before it gets out of hand.

Be Proactive

Leaving someone out of an email chain, making an inappropriate remark, or speaking over people in a meeting... conflict often starts with small disagreements that escalate fast.

So, if you spot conflict, avoid leaving it to team members or HR to resolve – instead, act! This shows that you treat conflict seriously and won't condone potentially destructive behavior.

Signs of conflict can be subtle, but you can detect them by being aware of the interactions within your team. Conflict might be reflected in individuals' body language, facial expressions, or tone of voice.

The better you know your team members, the more easily you'll pick up on cues and spot tensions that may be lurking under the surface. As well as the details of the conflict, keep in mind that you may need to consider if competing values are contributing to the tension.

Develop your emotional intelligence to better identify and manage the emotions of your team members.

Be Fair and Impartial

Even if you agree with one or more individuals in a conflicting team, make sure that you remain objective. Your role is to address the issue cauding the conflict and to reach a solution that works for all parties.

Treat each person fairly. Give everyone the time and opportunity to present their own perspective and to respond to any criticism. It's vital that all parties can state their case and are listened to.

Step in When Needed

Don't allow individuals to hijack the conversation or to dominate more-reserved colleagues. If one person is constantly talking over others, keep your questions directed at the person being interrupted.

If people still attempt to interrupt, politely ask them to wait until their co-worker has finished before inviting their point of view.

Avoid Assumptions

When facilitating a conflict discussion, avoid stating as facts things that you only think you know or may have heard. For example, it's best to use phrases like, "As far as I'm aware," or, "As I understand it."

This also allows for the possibility that your understanding is wrong or incomplete. And it creates an opportunity for the conflicting parties to restate their cases and clarify misunderstandings.

It's important to be patient and to perservere. Read our article The Role of the Facilitator for more ways to move talks forward.

Managing Conflict in the Workplace in Five Steps

When a situation gets out of hand, you may need to step in as a direct facilitator, with a targeted approach to resolving team conflict.

You can follow these five steps, which we've adapted from a framework used by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). [1]

1. Speak to Team Members Individually

Start by having an informal one-on-one with each team member involved in the conflict. This way you can hear people's concerns in a safe, confidential setting. In these meetings:

Avoid making assumptions and let people open up in their own time.
Reassure them that the discussion is confidential.
Ask each party the same questions, to remain impartial.

2. Bring People Together

Once you've got a better understanding of the conflict and everyone's perspectives, it's time to bring the relevant parties together and act as a moderator.

Set some ground rules before getting the conversation underway. Encourage team members to listen to one another, respect each other's points of view, and not interrupt or make personal comments. During the conversation:

Keep the tone of the conversation calm and non-threatening.
Encourage active listening , so people understand where the other person is coming from.
Encourage individuals to share ideas. What do they want or need? What would they be prepared to commit to? Have them to brainstorm some solutions.
Ask them about situations where they've worked well together in the past. See if they can build on those positive experiences.

If the discussion becomes heated, take a break and reconvene when everyone's had a chance to calm down. Be alert for any passive-aggressive behavior .

Read our article Managing Emotion in Your Team for more tips on handling heated conversations.

3. Ask the Wider Team for Ideas

When a conflict affects the whole team, provided it's not sensitive or confidential, you can ask for everyone's perspective.

Talking things out helps you and your team to consider different assumptions, beliefs, and decision-making approaches. This can also be a part of creating a " psychologically safe " environment, where people feel comfortable sharing ideas and concerns, thus preventing future conflicts.

4. Draw up a Plan

Ask the parties to detail agreed-on actions for reconciliation. And get each to commit to this strategy. You can draw up a timetable for actions, ticking them off as and when they are achieved. Hold all relevant parties accountable.

5. Follow up

Ensure that issues have been resolved properly by following up on the situation. For example, people may still feel irritated but not want to drag things out. You can use one-on-ones to prevent old disagreements from resurfacing. And try an anonymous team survey to get feedback and uncover any lingering frustrations.

Discover more ways to manage disputes in our article, Resolving Workplace Conflict Through Mediation .

Seek Guidance and Support

When you're faced with a challenging conflict in your team and are unsure how to handle it, seek support from a trusted colleague, your line manager, or your HR department.

If your efforts at conflict resolution don't work, you'll need to be willing to pursue formal procedures if necessary. And some situations, such as harassment, discrimination or bullying , require a formal disciplinary process to be followed. In these instances, or if you are in any doubt, liaise with your HR team for advice.

Reflect on Your Conflict Management Skills

Consider what you did well and where you could improve after handling a conflict situation in your team. Solicit feedback from the team members involved to find out how effective they felt you were at helping resolve the situation.

Now think about structural or procedural improvements you can make to prevent future conflict. These could be:

Setting clear goals for every team member – when people experience the right amount of pressure , they perform well.
Make sure that people's responsibilities match their skills . Offer learning and development opportunities to plug skills gaps and help your people to realize their career aspirations .
Using regular one-on-ones to sound out potential sources of future conflict.

As the CIPD concludes, the key to resolving conflict is to, "Build an environment in your team that is open, respectful, kind, fair and consistent, in which people feel 'psychologically safe.'"

Team conflict is natural. But by practicing the conflict management skills we outline here, you'll be able to spot and deal with issues between team members before they escalate.

To avoid team conflict:

Be proactive.
Be impartial.
Step in when needed.
Avoid assumptions.
Be patient.

If team conflict persists, address it by implementing these five steps:

Speak to team members individually.
Bring people together.
Ask the wider team for ideas.
Draw up a plan.

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Hi, it’s a nice post about Conflict Management Training Courses Online. Thanks for sharing this Article. https://www.shinebrightx.com/soft-skill-training/conflict-management-training

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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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Conflict Management Essay Sample

Published by gudwriter on January 4, 2021 January 4, 2021

As of now, we complete more than 20 management papers per week, providing our clients with free time to engage in other activites along with high-quality writing according to their instructions. We are a professional writing service for psychology and according to our clients, more than 80% referred our service as “excellent.” Reach out to us and get the best service.

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Content Guidelines for Conflict Management Essay

Outline of the conflict.

Presentations and papers should be structured around and contain the following topics: 1. Outline of the Conflict: Identify the issue that began the conflict, the players and their roles within the conflict, the severity of the conflict, and your personal role in the conflict at the initial stage. 2. Identification of the Conflict: Identify the type of conflict (value, structural, data, relationship, or interest) and support the identification with evidence from the conflict. 3. Initial Management of the Conflict: Discuss the initial steps used to manage the conflict and the form of management taken (accommodation, avoidance, competition, compromise, collaboration, or a combination of these). 4. Escalation: Identify why the initial method of conflict management failed and why the conflict escalated. Be sure to examine closely the roles that emotion, intimacy, and relationships played at this stage. 5. Outcomes: Assess the potential outcomes of the conflict after it escalated. Describe a possible outcome for each of the three scenarios: win-win, win-lose, and lose-lose. 6. Mediation : Discuss the necessity of having a mediator, assess what kind of mediator could have been used in this conflict, and describe the possible benefits and drawbacks of mediation for this case. 7. Resolution: Describe how the conflict was resolved and whether the resolution was effective. Map out the actual or potential results of the resolution on a timeline.

Explore a college essay about depression , with outline example.

Conflict Management Project

I was once an intern in a large and well established publishing company. During my time at the company, one of my colleagues was a young lady named Jane (pseudonym). She was working as a copy editor for a journal that was one of the productions of the company. Within the editing team Jane was working with were other eight members, including me and James, who was a senior editor. One evening, the team organized a happy-hour after work. All the members went for this mini and casual get-together. Jane had been in the company for a month by that time. Everybody enjoyed themselves to the brim and as would be expected, people had taken alcohol in significant amounts. Time came when we were to leave for home from the bar. James offered to share a ride with Jane in the same cab. This was less surprising since James had been secretly interested in Jane since she joined the organization. The offer was accepted by Jane. I had a good working relationship with Jane. She thus confided in me the following day that James had made an aggressive sexual advance on her while inside the cab. She told me that she had yelled at James and firmly asked him to get out of the vehicle, a request James obeyed albeit unwillingly.

Jane suffered from some apprehension the day following the incident. How was she going to deal with James? Would her job be affected by the cab incident? Would James try to have her sacked, even though he was never her supervisor? Immediately, James went to Jane’s office and tendered his profound apologies and denounced his regrettable behavior towards her the previous evening. Jane felt somewhat relieved and once again sought for my opinion on the same. I advised her that if indeed she felt relieved by the apology, she should let the matter rest. She thus decided she would not use any formal channels to address the matter further. Together with her, we reasoned that there was no need dwelling on the incident now that James had apologized. After all, she was still new in the company and was still using her time to prove her editing competency and learn the politics of the office. She was thus not just about to create negative attention to herself and potentially make her time in the company tough and rocky.

Identification of the Conflict

The conflict between Jane and James was a relationship conflict. Specifically, it was an interpersonal relationship conflict. As pointed out by Wesley (2015), the personalities of the people within an organization are significant in the causation and resolution of conflicts within organizations. When entering the workplace, people find it hard to set aside their negative personalities and personal prejudices that may hinder the way they relate with their coworkers, just like it had happened to James in the conflict under analysis herein. However, it would be important for one to recognize their personality and personal prejudices and address them before they plunge them into conflicts at the workplace (Wesley, 2015). It is evident that James had failed in doing this. He had let his personal desire for an intimate relationship with Jane get the better of him and drive him into sexually harassing the lady, who happened to be her junior at the workplace. It is clear that had James had his way so that his advances would have been accepted by Jane, they would have initiated office romance between themselves from that time henceforth. This would have definitely affected their performance in the office and the way they treated each other.

This conflict is a relationship conflict in two ways. One, James viewed Jane as somebody with who he should have had not just a working relationship but an intimate one too. As a matter of fact, to him, the latter should have taken precedence so as to fulfill his personal desire. Two, Jane knew that James was purely a workmate and that the relationship between them was entirely pegged on office work and team participation. This view of Jane’s had just been dealt a thorough blow by James’s behavior. She no longer was sure how to handle James because after the incidence, she would never have known whether or not James would change this attitude in his inner self. It is also noteworthy that Jane was keen on not letting the matter be in the eyes of the public because this would potentially ruin her working relationship with her other workmates. She now had to manage the already strained relationship between her and James while maintaining her cordial working relationship with the other members of her editing team. On the same note, James faced the herculean task of suppressing his desires for an intimate relationship with Jane and ensuring that the good working relationship between them continued.

Initial Management of the Conflict

The conflict was managed in an informal manner. James realized that he was on the wrong and that his actions did not ogre well for his working relationship with Jane. He thus went straight to Jane’s office and heartily apologized in the presence of only the two of them. Jane felt some relief with regard to the cab incident following the apology. Although she strongly thought about and considered not taking the matter further through formal organizational means, she was not sure about it. She thus sought the advice of a colleague (me) on the matter and whether her decision was the right one to take. Before offering his advice, this colleague of hers needed to ensure that she was indeed satisfied with James’s apology. He needed to confirm that she was indeed convinced that James was remorseful and regretted his behavior to an extent that he would not possibly repeat it on her again in the future. After Jane confirmed that she was satisfied, the colleague advised her that she had taken the right decision because by letting the matter rest at that level, she was avoiding it from blowing up in the entire organization. Since she was still only a month old in the organization, negative attention is the least thing Jane wanted for herself.

This initial management of the conflict had taken a combination of collaboration and compromise forms of conflict management. In managing conflicts, collaboration works in the sense that those involved in the conflict work together in creating a solution that is acceptable to all (Raines, 2012). This conflict management style involves collaborating with the other party to find a creative way of obtaining a solution that is beneficial. The style requires that involved parties should be both assertive and cooperative. Since it yields a solution that is beneficial to all the parties in a conflict, this style is the most advantageous. It can be argued that Jane and James collaborated in arriving at this initial solution. By James going to Jane’s office, he showed that he was ready to collaborate with her in order for them to solve the matter between themselves without taking it further or inviting other people. In essence, he was the initiator of the process of collaboration in this conflict. On the other hand, Jane collaborated by first letting James into her office and then agreeing to listen to what he had to say and eventually deciding not to pursue the matter further. According to Raines (2012), compromise involves reaching an agreeable solution by both sides in a conflict giving up elements of their position. In this style of conflict management, each party gives up something in order to gain something valuable. It ensures that something is received by the compromising parties albeit partly. For instance, a manager and his junior employees could agree that the employees would be paid for half of their leave days. Back to the case under analysis, James compromised by giving up his interest in Jane while Jane compromised by choosing not to take the matter to another level by for instance informing senior management about James’s behavior.

The initial method of conflict management failed because James continued apologizing to Jane whenever he found himself alone with her. Things would have just faded away had he stopped apologizing after he had made that one sincere apology, the one he had done at Jane’s office. It was unfortunate that he continued apologizing again and again whenever he had the opportunity. For three and a half months, he said sorry to Jane, with reference to the cab incident, at any opportune moment. Jane became tired of this constant apology as she found it both annoying and awkward. Ironically, as he continued to apologize, James was creating yet another attention on Jane, an attention that was in every sense unwanted. Jane had told James it was ok when he first apologized. She however asked that he stops making the apologies when, after three and a half months, he was still showing no signs of stopping. Jane grew frustrated and broke her dilemma to a few colleagues who thereby lost the respect they had for James. James learnt that other people had known about the issue from how they started interacting with him. Though not explicitly acknowledged, the issue had become the “elephant” in the office.

As per Halperin and Schwartz (2010), “Emotions are flexible response sequences that transform a substantive event into a motivation to respond to it in a particular manner.” The constant apologies by James provoked frustrations and anger in Jane and she thus chose to respond by confiding in more co-workers. She had suppressed the emotions for well over three months and she could do it no more. According to Scott (2014), engagement in intimate conversation helps in maintaining intimacy and that intimacy forms a significant part of romantic relationships. By continuing to apologize, James must have been trying to evoke an intimate conversation with Jane that would possibly culminate into them initiating a romantic relationship. Even though Jane did not have any intimate feelings towards James, James must have continued suffering from feelings of connectedness and closeness towards Jane. He thus continued to exploit the fact that he had a working relationship with Jane to try and convince the junior editor into having a romantic affair with him. Unfortunately, this worked against him as it only served to blow the issue out of proportion and make it an “office-wide” issue. He had escalated the issue by misusing the working relationship he shared with Jane.

There might not have been a win-win scenario after the conflict had escalated. A win-win situation implies that after a conflict or a negotiation, both the parties involved emerge as winners or as being better off than they were before the conflict or negotiation (Lewin et al., 2016). Given the nature of the conflict under analysis (sexual harassment) and that one of the parties involved was clearly on the wrong, there is no possibility that a win-win situation could emerge, especially after the matter had escalated. While Jane could possibly gain from the escalation of the conflict, there was absolutely no way James was going to gain. It has to be noted here that for James, a win would only be if his sexual advances would be accepted by Jane.

There would potentially be a win-lose situation after the escalation. As stipulated by Lewin et al. (2016), a win-lose situation emerges if after a conflict or negotiation, one of the conflicting parties perceives the outcomes as being favorable to them while the other party does not achieve their target. The escalation of the conflict in the case herein might see Jane win. The matter might finally get to the top management and this would see James being summoned and potentially punished by the management. Jane would thereafter have what she wanted in that James would no longer continue apologizing to her or reminding her of the cab incident. On the other hand, on top of a potential punishment by the management, James would lose in that his chances of having Jane agree to her sexual advances would forever be gone.

A lose-lose situation is also possible in this scenario. In such a situation, all the parties involved in a conflict become worse off than they were before the conflict (Lewin et al., 2016). Both Jane and James could lose after the escalation of the conflict. Since they were only the two of them in the cab, James might decide to twist the story and say that it was Jane who started making intimate relationship advances towards him. Not knowing whose side of the story to believe, the management of the company might decide to mete out punishment to both the parties for allowing their emotions affect their workplace ethics. Here, Jane loses because James would likely continue asking her for forgiveness for the cab incident while James loses because he would continue annoying Jane who would continue to refuse to give in to his advances.

A mediator would be necessary for this conflict as he or she would facilitate the resolution of the conflict by the two parties. The mediator would only serve as the “manager” of the talk between the two and would take no part in determining the outcome of the mediation. As such, he or she would remain as impartial as possible. He would not impose a solution or be a judge for the parties. However, he or she would be necessary for ensuring that the parties talk extensively and arrive at an amicable solution that would be satisfying to both of them (Scott, 2014). The kind of mediator who could have been used in this conflict would be an organizational ombudsman. This is because in an organization, it is the role of an ombudsman to resolve disputes impartially and neutrally using informal means (Scott, 2014). An ombudsman would provide Jane and James informal, confidential, impartial, and independent assistance concerning their conflict. In addition, an ombudsman usually has no conflicts of interest in handling their organizational conflict resolution duties. Had Jane approached the organization’s ombudsman in good time, the conflict could not have escalated and could have remained confidential. Additionally, it could have highly likely solved her problem of having to hear “I’m sorry” messages from James on a daily basis.

One of the possible benefits of mediation for this case would be that James would see the need to stop constantly saying “sorry’ to Jane against her wish. Similarly, Jane would understand and sincerely forgive James for his untoward behavior in the cab. Therefore, mediation could have possibly put the matter to rest and prevented it from escalating. Mediation would also help James to start seeing Jane just as her workmate and not a potential soul-mate or intimate partner. Mediation therefore could have restored the cordial working relationship the two shared before the occurrence of the incident. On the other hand, mediation could have been disadvantageous in that it could have been a good opportunity for James to lie that he had stopped his annoying habit only to continue with it afterwards. Mediation would also not reveal whether Jane would have sincerely forgiven James. It is thus possible that even after the mediation process; Jane would still find it hard working alongside James. In addition, one or both the parties could have possibly felt less satisfied with the solution reached and hence the conflict could have remained partially unresolved.

The conflict was resolved by Jane having to move to another journal thereby ditching the team in which James was working. After she had become so tired of the apologies from James that she could take them no more, she grew increasingly uncomfortable. Another journal division of the company announced the opening up of another editor position within it just in time for Jane’s situation. She earned a transfer to the journal after successfully applying for the position. With respect to the specific conflict Jane was facing, this resolution had worked perfectly well. This is because her new position ensured that she no longer had James bothering her. However, the resolution did not work out in terms of giving happiness to Jane while at work. She grew unhappy at her new position. First, she had to contend with editing a very boring journal material. Second, she did not find her new co-workers as exciting to work with as her co-workers in the previous journal, of course with the exception of James. It dawned on her that her old position was really enjoyable. She began wishing that she had not taken the drastic step of shifting positions just to avoid James and his never ending apologies. She again started planning on how to move to another position if one would arise or even move back to her old position.

At the beginning when Jane earned herself the transfer, she was very happy that she had evaded the conflict she had with James. James stopped bothering her forthwith given that the new position did not make it possible. As time started moving by, she learnt that the new position was boring and that the new workmates were less exciting to work with. She grew unhappier and lonelier by each passing day. She thereafter began regretting her decision to apply for and eventually assume this new position. She thus started planning how to get into a new position that would be potentially as enjoyable as her old position or get back her old position. Below is a timeline showing the actual results of the resolution (assumption of a new position by Jane).

Halperin, E., & Schwartz, D. (2010). emotions in conflict resolution and post-conflict reconciliation. The International Notebooks of Social Psychology , 87 (3), 423-442.

Lewin, D., Gollan, P. J., Lipsky, D. B., Avgar, A. C., & Lamare, J. R. (2016). Managing and resolving workplace conflict . Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.

Raines, S. S. (2012). Conflict management for managers: resolving workplace, client, and policy disputes . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Scott, V. (2014). Workplace conflict resolution essentials for dummies . Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Wesley, D. (2015). Conflict resolution in the workplace: how to handle and resolve conflict at work ~ an essential guide to resolving conflict in the workplace . Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Guide on where to start when writing your dissertation .

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