1. Conflict Handling Styles
Nathaniel D. Danjibo

2. Five Approaches Confrontation (Coercion) Avoidance (Withdrawal)
Collaboration (Smoothing)
Compromising (Give and Take)
Joint-Problem Solving (Putting heads together)

3. Two Dimensional Approaches
Concern for self;
Concern for others

4. Joint Problem Solving/Integration
It involves the coming together of the different stakeholders to find solution to the conflict, but more so, it involves high concern for the self and others.
The approach involves openness, exchanging information, looking for alternatives and examination of differences to arrive at an effective and acceptable solution.

5. Collaboration
This approach has low concern for the self and high concern for the other.
It does occur when there is great understanding for one’s weakness and sacrificing maximally for the other, with the hope that someday, while in need, the other will also make sacrifices for one.

6. Competition/Confrontation
Involves high concern for self and low concern for others.
It is a win-lose type of approach where the dominating party seeks to impose its ideas and decisions on others and insists that it must win by all means.
The disadvantage of this approach is that the dominating party only wants to look at issues from their own myopic prism and not from the angle of the other conflicting party.

7. Avoiding
Those who adopt avoidance as a strategy for managing conflict have low concern for themselves and others.
The avoidance style is often associated with ‘withdrawal, buck-passing, or sidestepping situation’, and by so doing, the avoider fails to satisfy both himself and the other party.

8. Compromise
.This approach takes into consideration concern for both self and others.
It is more or less a give-and-take approach where conflicting parties get satisfies.
This approach also involves sacrifice from conflicting party.

9. When to Use Which Style
Each conflict handling style is more or less like a weapon that should be strategically utilised.
Since they cannot be utilized simultaneously, there are critical moments when each of the styles can be used/not used.

10. Competition, Forcing, Contending
When Appropriate to Use
When Inappropriate
An emergency looms
Collaboration or cooperation has not yet been attempted
You are sure you are right
Cooperation from others is important
The issue is trivial and others don’t really care what happens
Used routinely for most issues
Self-respect of others is diminished needlessly

11. Collaborating, Cooperating
When Appropriate
When Inappropriate
The issue and relationship are both significant
Time is short
Cooperation is important
You are overloaded with “processing”
A creative end is important
The issues are unimportant
Reasonable hope exists to meet all concerns
The goals of the other person are certainly wrong

12. Compromising When Appropriate When Inappropriate
Cooperation is important but time or resources are limited
Finding the most creative solutions possible is essential
When solutions are even less than the best, it is better than complete stalemate
When you cannot live with the consequences.
When efforts to collaborate will be misunderstood as forcing

13. Avoiding When Appropriate When Inappropriate The issue is trivial
You care about both the issue and the relationship
The relationship is insignificant
Used habitually for most issues
Time is short and a decision not necessary
Negative feeling may linger
You have little power

14. Thank You!