Conflict Management

As a manager, what should you do to resolve conflict?

• Talk to people separately

• Bring everyone together and talk

• Have a neutral third party present during discussions

• Admit that everyone involved is right

For a manager, part of conflict resolution is to:

• Wait until someone quits

• Acknowledge the emotions

• Transfer the most troublesome employee

• Ignore the emotions and get to the facts

One of the ground rules for solving conflicts is to:

• Ensure that everyone is heard

• Use nonverbal communication

• Rely on adults behaving properly

• Maintain a sense of humor

To keep a conflict resolution meeting controlled and productive you should:

• Allow participants to leave whenever they want

• Use a stopwatch to establish time limits

• Take notes on what each person says

• State ground rules

To discover viewpoints concerning conflict:

• Send out a questionnaire

• Ask open-ended questions

• Hold individual interviews with participants

• Survey everyone using simple Yes-No questions

What would you do if one of the parties in the conflict would not open up and talk?

• Ask more open-ended questions

• Assume that person is disinterested

• Allow private conversations among participants

• Suggest solutions and ask for a show of hands

How do you get conflicting parties to agree on the problem?

• Agreement is not necessary to resolve the problem

• Warn them of consequences if there is not agreement

• Suggest solutions and ask for a vote

• Paraphrase what you hear

As a manager, how do you define the problem that is causing the conflict?

• Restate the differing points of view for clarification

• Record the group discussion and study it afterwards

• Put people in small groups to brainstorm solutions

• Encourage emotional outbursts (arrebatos emocionales) to relieve stress

After the team has defined the problem you will:

• Invent a solution

• Create a plan of action

• Change operating procedures

• Assign blame and responsibility

If you create an action plan to resolve the problem you should:

• Submit it for approval

• Focus on changing behaviors

• Have all parties sign the plan document

• Let everyone vent personal frustrations