Click here to download this overview as a pdf.

Conflict is bound to be present when people work together. In projects and operational activities, conflicts may be about goals, strategies, methods, etc, these are content related conflicts. There may also be conflicts that are based on personality differences, perceived rights and privileges or other more subtle issues these are relationship related conflicts. We want to be able to minimize conflict’s negative impact and, at the same time, make use of its powerful energy to learn about ourselves and those with whom we conflict.  We want to use conflict as an opportunity to improve relationships and quality.

There are no bad conflicts, only poorly managed ones. Managing conflict well improves performance and maintains and improves relationships. Managing conflict well means avoiding unnecessary conflict and resolving the remainder in a productive, realistic, win-win way.  This workshop cuts to the heart of conflict management to change the way you take part in conflicts and how that affects the conflict, its resolution and its aftermath.

Prerequisites

• None

Learning Objectives

At the end of this class, participants should be able to:

• Distinguish between relationship from content conflicts

• Use a seven step decision making process to more effectively manage conflict 

• Apply techniques for effectively avoiding and resolving conflicts

Who Should Attend

• Managers or staff who are actively involved in activities or projects

• Groups of people working together to perform projects or provide services

Course Outline

• Introduction:  What is conflict?  Applying mindfulness and open-mindedness. Values.

• How can it be managed?:  Goals, wants, positions and needs

• Techniques: the anatomy of a conflict, diagramming, mindful dialogue, multiple perspectives

• Recap and application

This is a workshop with numerous exercises and dialogue; experiential learning with real-world context.

Class Length

• One day (8 PDUs) OR

• Two days (16 PDUs)