Conflict Management
What Is Conflict?
Conflict Styles
Tools for Managing Conflict
Emotion
▪Emotions have the potential to play either a positive or
negative role in negotiation.
▪Negative emotions can cause intense and even
irrational behavior, andcan cause conflicts to escalate
and negotiations to break down.
▪Positive emotions facilitate reaching an agreement and
help to maximize joint gains.
Unresolved Conflict?
What does this lead do?
Why do people prefer this?
What role does fear play?
Conflict is a struggle between at least two
parties who perceive they have
incompatible goals.
Conflict InHigher Ed
▪Organizational Dynamics
▪Culture and Traditions
▪Policies and Procedures
▪Institutional Structure and History
▪Individual Responses to Conflict
Conflict–Negative
▪Wasted resources and energy spent dealing with the
conflict
▪Decreased productivity
▪Lowered motivation
▪Decreased morale
▪Poor decision-making
▪Trust Issues
▪Toxic culture
Conflict –Positive
▪Better information
▪Better choices
▪Reduces anxiety
▪Encourages collaboration
▪Increases understanding
▪Speeds decision making
Conflict Management
The tools, process and procedurefor managing conflict
Conflict Styles-Competing
▪Quick, decisive action is vital-e.g., emergencies
▪On important issues where unpopular courses of action
need implementing-e.g., cost cutting, enforcing
unpopular rules, discipline
▪On issues vital to group welfare when you know you're
right
▪To protect yourself against people who take advantage
of noncompetitive behavior.
Conflict Styles –Accomodating
▪The issue is much more important to the other person
than to you, and as a goodwill gesture to help maintain a
cooperative relationship;
▪To build up social credits for later issues which are
important to you;
▪Continued competition would only damage your cause-
when you are outmatched and losing.
▪Preserving harmony and avoiding disruption are
especially important. This is courting behavior.
▪You realize that you are wrong-to allow a better position
to be heard, to learn from others, and to show that you
are reasonable.
Conflict Styles –Avoiding
▪An issue is trivial, or when other more important issues
are pressing.
▪You perceive no chance of satisfying your concerns-
e.g., when you have low poweror you are frustrated by
something which would be very difficult to change
▪The potential damage of confronting a conflict outweighs
the benefits of its resolution.
▪Gathering more information outweighs the advantages
of an immediate decision.
▪To let peoplecool down-to reduce tensions to a
productive level and to regain perspective and
composure.
Conflict Styles –Compromising
▪Goals are moderately important, but not worth the effort
or potential disruption of more assertive modes.
▪Each side has equal powerand both are strongly
committed to mutually exclusive goals-are in labor-
management bargaining.
▪To achieve temporary settlements to complex issues.
▪To arrive an expedient solution under time pressure.
▪As a backup mode when collaboration or competition
fails to be successful.
Conflict Styles –Collaborating
▪To find an integrative solution.
▪Your objective is to learn-e.g., test your own
assumptions, understand the views of others.
▪To merge insights from people with different
perspectives on a problem.
▪To gain commitment by incorporating other's concerns
into a consensual decision.
▪To work through hard feelings which have been
interfering with an interpersonal relationship.
Conflict Styles
Different Modes have Different Goals
▪Competing: the goal is to win.
▪Accommodating: the goal is to yield.
▪Avoiding: the goal is to delay.
▪Collaborating: the goal is to ensure parity of goals.
▪Compromising: the goal is to find a middle ground.
Conflict Management Tools
▪Negotiation
▪Active Listening
▪Empathy
▪Body Language
▪Mediation
▪Conflict Process
Resources
▪National Institute of Advanced Conflict Resolution
▪http://www.niacr.org/
▪Art of Facilitation, by Dale Hunter
▪Thomas/KilmannConflict Style Instrument
▪http://www.kilmanndiagnostics.com/catalog/thomas-
kilmann-conflict-mode-instrument