From cost to opportunities: Learning to manage conflict productively
Module: 4. Skills Workshop | 5. Professional Development
Abstract
Conflict is a natural part of social experience. In the workplace, conflicts are particularly frequent as many people of varying responsibilities and personalities must work together. You can find conflict between groups, individual employees and even between members of management.
The cost of conflicts is very high and underestimated by organisations: research has shown that managers spend 20-40% addressing conflicts; a 2008 study (by CCP) showed than US employees spend an average of 2,8 hours a week dealing with conflict! Appropriately managing conflict is therefore a key professional skill.
Conflict management skills are abilities that help you manage how conflict affects you, those you work with and the workplace as a whole. Knowing that conflict is inevitable, conflict management aims to make conflict a productive part of the workplace, and if you have the skills to do so, you can contribute to an environment where conflict is accepted, managed and used positively.
Unfortunately, few people come naturally equipped with good conflict management skills. This course wants to start remedying that. The course will:
- Develop an understanding of common sources of conflict and awareness of what signs to look for, so you can prevent or minimise conflict by catching it early
- Focus on how to analyse conflicts
- Help participants reflect on their personal conflict management style
- Work on six key conflict management skills
- Effective communication
- Active listening
- Empathy
- Problem-solving
- Positive attitude
- Keeping one’s cool (emotional regulation)
- Learn tools and processes for constructive conflict conversations
- From a didactic perspective the course is conceived as a group coaching based around knowledge inputs, self-reflections (individual and as a group), discussions and evaluations
At the end of the training participants will:
- Know how to recognise conflicts early and understand the value of managing conflicts early on
- Understand the patterns conflicts follow and be able to analyse it
- Refine key conflict managing skills
- Have tools and methods for constructively addressing conflicts