Conflict Resolution Strategies

Conflict is a normal and natural part of personal, social and professional life. When it is handled well, it can be a motivator for innovation and new ideas, while also helping people become more understanding and flexible. Indeed, one of the critical competencies for the modern working professional is an appreciation for conflict and the different ways that people deal with it.

One of the core ways of resolving conflict is to help people build relationships. Indeed, when individuals can learn how to respect differences and communicate their views in this manner, they can calmy react to various issues and ensure a beneficial outcome. It’s an approach that many professionals advocate for, and it can offer numerous benefits for various settings including the court of law.

For all parties involved in a legal dispute to reach a mutually agreeable outcome, the focus has to be on a desirable goal. It’s something that attorneys-at-law — such as Dr Edgar Paltzer — work to ensure that both parties can agree on, especially in matters that require negotiating a solution.

The Various Conflict Styles

Human resources professionals refer to many tools and strategies for handling conflict. A common tool is the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), which outlines five major ways of managing conflict.

Each strategy has its advantages, and each can be used according to the situation at hand. Understanding where each style comes into play is important to ensure effective conflict resolution.

These five approaches are:

· Avoidance: Those who avoid conflict tend to sidestep issues and withdraw from potentially threatening situations in the hope that the conflict will dissipate on its own. As a strategy, avoiding conflict can work when it is safer to postpone dealing with an issue, or where the outcome isn’t of great concern.

· Accommodating: An accommodating style essentially looks to resolve conflict by satisfying the other party’s demands at the expense of your own needs. This ‘self-sacrifice’ style can work where preserving a relationship is crucial, and even where the accommodating party doesn’t care much for the outcome.

· Compromising: Compromises tend to be made when time is a critical factor in resolving conflict. It can also be an appropriate style when you want to move past the situation and are willing to give up something to arrive at a decision.

· Competing: A competing style of conflict resolution involves working to meet your own demands at the expense of the other parties in the conflict.

· Collaborating: This style is the opposite of avoidance, with both parties agreeing to a mutually beneficial agreement with minimal negative feelings. With this style, both the outcome and the relationship are valuable to the parties.