Resolving Conflict: 10 Steps for Turning Negatives to Positives

Scharlatt

• Verlag: Center for Creative Leadership Press
• Jahr: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781604917314
• Thema: Business
• Thema: Leadership

Conflict is inevitable, in everyday life and especially in today's increasingly nonhierarchical organizations-in the workplace. So what has always been a key leadership skill, conflict resolution, has become even more critical. But too often, leaders receive little formal training in conflict resolution, and they struggle just to manage the simplest interpersonal conflicts. By using the lessons of this book, readers will be able to apply a thorough, proven method-summarized in ten steps-for resolving conflicts. Following these steps, leaders can analyze a conflict and move toward its resolution with more assurance of a positive outcome for everyone involved.

THREE

APPROACHES TO CONFLICT

ONE EFFECTIVE WAY TO THINK about approaches to managing conflict is to define them by the degree of assertiveness and cooperativeness in a person’s behavior. All of the five approaches discussed in this chapter are viable, depending on the situational variables present in the conflict. Choosing which approach to take requires you to analyze the situation and match it with what you believe is the best approach.

ASSERTIVENESS AND COOPERATIVENESS

Assertiveness in the context of a conflict is the degree to which you try to meet your needs. Cooperativeness is the degree to which you try to help the other person meet his or her needs or group to meet its needs. The combination of assertiveness and cooperativeness suggests five interaction approaches (sometimes referred to as conflict-management styles). These approaches are:

♦ Collaborative

♦ Competitive

♦ Accommodating

♦ Avoiding

♦ Compromising

Assertive or Aggressive?

Assertiveness is not the same thing as aggressiveness. Assertiveness refers to how hard you will try to meet your own needs in a conflict. Aggressiveness is assertiveness pushed too far: behaving offensively or insultingly to the other party or pushing the other party too far in an attempt to meet your needs. Because aggressiveness is dysfunctional assertiveness, it will hurt your chances of managing or resolving a conflict. No doubt you have seen others misspeak and create a difficult situation. You may have made the same error yourself. Knowing the distinction between assertiveness and aggressiveness, and acting accordingly, is especially important because it’s the other party that determines whether you have crossed that line.

To increase the likelihood of successful conflict resolutions, it’s best if you have all five interaction approaches. Most people, however, have learned to rely on one or two of them and miss the opportunity to react more situationally to conflict. Assessing the specific set of circumstances you are facing in a conflict, choosing the optimal approach, and then skillfully acting on that approach is a great advantage in resolving it.

SELECTING THE BEST INTERACTION APPROACH

When, or in what kinds of situations, should you use any of the five interaction approaches? Following are some broad guidelines that you can fit to your circumstances.

Choose a collaborative interaction approach:

♦ When implementation requires the other’s assistance

♦ To create a common power base to deal with a common foe

♦ When skills, interests, etc. are complementary

♦ When there is enough time for creative problem solving

♦ When the outcome will be worth the effort

♦ When trust exists between the parties

♦ To maintain future relationships

Some possible outcomes of using the collaborative approach are described in the following table:

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE OUTCOMES FROM USING A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH

POSITIVE	NEGATIVE
Win-win result	Time and energy consuming
Shared input	Sharing information
Ownership of outcome	Over-engineered outcome
Creative ideas	Establishing a precedent for using bilateral approaches when a unilateral approach might be more appropriate

Choose a competitive approach:

♦ When you are sure you’re right

♦ When the stakes are high

♦ In short term, “one-shot” situations

♦ When the relationship is unimportant

♦ When you are more powerful (never compete in a battle you can’t win)

Some possible outcomes of using a competitive approach are described in the following table:

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE OUTCOMES FROM USING A COMPETITIVE APPROACH

POSITIVE	NEGATIVE
Ideas are openly tested	Resistance to future collaborations
Boosts confidence, image	People might feel defeated
Clarifies views from both sides	Win-lose stance that might not have been necessary
Quick resolution	Nonoptimal solution, implementation

Use an accommodating approach:

♦ To reach a higher, overarching goal

♦ To create an obligation for a trade-off at a later date

♦ When the stakes are low

♦ To maintain harmony

♦ When many solutions are adequate

♦ To create goodwill

♦ When you’ll lose anyway, eventually

Some possible outcomes of using an accommodating approach are described in the following table:

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE OUTCOMES FROM USING AN ACCOMMODATING APPROACH

POSITIVE	NEGATIVE
Maintain a harmonious relationship	Loss of confidence, image
Establish trust	Seeking the simple solution
Reduce tension	One-sided input
Build credit for future	Builds resentment

Use an avoiding approach:

♦ When you can’t win

♦ When the stakes are low

♦ To gain time to better prepare

♦ To preserve neutrality

♦ When you think the conflict will just go away

♦ When you win by delaying resolution

♦ When you’re emotional

Some possible outcomes of using an avoiding approach are described in the following table:

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE OUTCOMES FROM USING AN AVOIDING APPROACH

POSITIVE	NEGATIVE
Reduces tension	Increases tension
Frees you up to focus elsewhere	No communication
You become better prepared to re-engage	No resolution
Conflict lessens or dissipates	Conflict worsens

Use a compromising approach:

♦ When both parties need to be seen as winners

♦ When you can’t compete successfully

♦ When others are as powerful as you are (or more powerful)

♦ When you have little time

♦ To maintain a relationship

♦ When you’re not sure you’re right

♦ When the stakes are moderate

♦ To avoid giving the impression of being unwilling to address the issue

Some possible outcomes of using a compromising approach are described in the following table:

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE OUTCOMES FROM USING A COMPROMISING APPROACH

POSITIVE	NEGATIVE
Some success	Unsatisfying result
Cooperative atmosphere established	No creative solutions
Quick resolution	Half-hearted commitment to implementation
An outcome you can live with allows you to move on to other things	Might establish a pattern of trading

ADDRESSING CONTEXT

The first step...