Conflict Management September 22nd, 2013

Learning Objectives Learn the nature of conflict. Learn strategies and negotiation skills for conflict resolution.

What is a Team? A group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance and goals bring different ideas, values, beliefs.

How would you define conflict? What is Conflict? How would you define conflict?

Conflict Defined Conflict is when two or more values, perspectives and opinions are contradictory and haven't been aligned or agreed.

Conflict is Inevitable No matter where or who you are working with, sooner or later you might find yourself in a disagreement with someone. A simple personality conflict between two members of a team can cripple productivity and in the end leave the entire team feeling upset or unsuccessful.

Why does conflict happen? When you're not living according to your values. When your values and perspectives are threatened. Discomfort from fear of the unknown.

What is at risk with conflict? The success of the team. The success of your program/event. Personal feelings and relationships can be damaged. Group/Individual productivity decreases due to lowered morale. More and continued conflicts.

Types of Conflict Latent Conflict: Where a competitive situation could easily turn into conflict. - e.g. An organization President and Treasurer who have different leadership styles. Open Conflict: which can be triggered by an incident and suddenly become real conflict. - e.g. When 2 members purchase duplicate products, causing a budget deficit. Aftermath Conflict: A situation where a problem may have been resolved but the potential for conflict still exists. - e.g. A performer cancels a show and they didn’t have a contract. Another performer is booked in time.

What Causes Conflict?

Poor Communication Experience continuing surprises, they aren't informed of new decisions, programs, etc. Don't understand reasons for decisions, they aren't involved in decision-making. As a result, the "rumor mill" overtakes.

Resources Where resources are being placed (financial or personnel). Disagreement about "who does what". Stress from working with inadequate resources (financial or personnel).

Personal Chemistry Conflicting values or actions. Strong personalities don't match. Envious or jealous of others abilities of performance.

Leadership "Passing of the buck" with little follow-through on decisions. Members see the same continued issues.

Who Moved My Cheese? Everyday the mice and the little people spent time in the maze looking for their own special cheese. The mice, Sniff and Scurry, possessing only simple rodent brains, but good instincts, searching for the hard nibbling cheese they like, as mice often do. The two little people, Hem and How, used their brains, filled with many beliefs, to search for a very different kind of cheese- with a Capital C- which they believed would make them feel happy and successful.

Who Moved My Cheese As different as the mice and little people were, they shared something in common; every morning, they each put on their jogging suits and running shoes, left their little homes, and raced out into the maze looking for their favorite cheese. The maze was a labyrinth of corridors and chambers, some containing delicious cheese. But there were also dark corners and blind alleys leading nowhere. It was an easy place for anyone to get lost. However, for those who found their way, the maze held secrets that let them enjoy a better life. The mice, Sniff and Scurry, used the simple, but inefficient, trial and-error method of finding cheese. They ran down one corridor and if it proved empty, they turned and ran down another.

Who Moved My Cheese Sniff would smell out the general direction of the cheese, using his great nose, and Scurry would race ahead. They got lost, as you might expect, went off in the wrong direction and often bumped into walls. However, the two little people, Hem and Haw, used a different method that relied on their ability to think and learn from their past experiences, although, they would sometimes get confused by their beliefs and emotions. Eventually in their own way, they all discovered what they were looking for they each found their own kind of cheese one day at the end of one of the corridors in Cheese Station C.

Who Moved My Cheese Eventually the cheese in at Station C began to decrease. Sniff and Scurry noticed! One morning Hem and Haw arrived at Cheese Station C and discovered there were no cheese. Hem and Haw became too comfortable and entitled.

Who Moved My Cheese Finally, one day Haw began laughing at himself. “Haw, Haw, look at me”. I keep doing the same things over and over again and wonder why things don’t get better. If this wasn't so ridiculous, it would be even funnier.

In the End The mice did not over analyze things. And they were not burdened with many complex beliefs. To the mice, the problem and the answer were both simple. The situation at Cheese station C had changed. So, Sniff and Scurry decided to change. Because, you just don’t get it, Haw said. I didn’t want to see it either, but now I realized they’re never going to put the Old Cheese back. That was yesterday’s Cheese. Itís time to find New Cheese.

The Moral of the Story Change Happens They Keep Moving The Cheese Anticipate Change Get Ready For The Cheese To Move Monitor Change Smell The Cheese Often So You Know When It Is Getting Old Adapt To Change Quickly The Quicker You Let Go Of Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese Change Move With The Cheese Enjoy Change! Savor The Adventure And Enjoy The Taste Of New Cheese! Be Ready To Change Quickly And Enjoy It Again They Keep Moving The Cheese.

Conflict Management 1:1 Once you are involved in a conflict, there are some very basic steps through the confrontation. If you have prepared yourself, you will have a much easier time getting through these steps successfully. Describe how it is affecting performance (yours, the organization's, and the individual's you are speaking with) Ask for the other viewpoint to be explained. Find some common ground with the other person. Agree on the problem. Explore and discuss possible solutions. Listen; leave your mind open for opinions differing from yours. Agree on what each person will do to solve the problem. Set a date for follow-up.

Conflict Management for Groups Follow these steps in a small or large group when a conflict has risen to the surface Step 1: Announce the situation/problem to the group. Lay out as many facts and as much data as is necessary to prepare the group to make a decision. Using "I" Statements reflects your own feeling and opinion of the situation. Step 2: Lead a discussion to find out where people stand on the issue. What do they think is the conflict? What do they think is the solution? Try to draw everyone out. Ask people not to get into discussions at this time but simply to state their opinions and ideas.

Step 3: Break into groups based on viewpoint and have groups feedback to one another what they have heard the "opposing" sides say. It is a good idea to have the ideas written out on a flip chart for everyone to see as they present back to the larger group. Ask these groups not to debate the reasons of the other side, but to show they heard and understood the other side's point of view, even if they do not agree. Step 4: Allow the groups to give feedback to the presenters, letting them know whether they presented their opinions accurately and whether any were left out. If any were left out, the presenting group should write these down in the words of the person(s) whose opinion it is. During this step, it is important that all sides have their ideas written out or heard accurately.

Step 5: Form small groups that are comprised of individuals representing each side of the conflict. Each group should come up with what it thinks is the common goal of all sides of the issue. Each small group will then present its goal to the larger group. Step 6: Once a goal has been agreed on, the entire group brainstorms solutions to reach that goal. Step 7: Clarify the brainstormed ideas, eliminate any that are unworkable, and discuss the merits of the remaining ideas.

Step 8: Find a few top ideas that are most appealing to the group and evaluate their potential effectiveness. Step 9: Decide as a group on which idea is the best, combining more than one idea or reflecting on all ideas and looking for a better one. Step 10: Decide how the group members will hold each other responsible for making sure the goal is achieved.

The End Questions?