Conflict resolution training for supervisors

Supervisory Training Series:
Resolving Conflict
April 2018
Martha Tetrault
Director of Human Resources

Introduction
“Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one factor
that can make the difference between damaging your
relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.”
—William James
This training focuses on ways that you, as supervisors, can
work with your employees to resolve conflict in the
workplace. It provides practical steps and techniques that
everyone can learn.
The purpose of this presentation is to provide you with the
knowledge to recognize causes of workplace conflict, how to
facilitate resolution of conflict and how to manage the work
relationships once the conflict has been resolved.
2

Agenda
1. Causes of workplace conflict
2. Importance of resolving conflict
3. Methods of resolving conflict
4. Do’s and don’ts of workplace conflict
5. Steps in the conflict resolution process
3

Causes of Workplace Conflict
 Conflict arises because employees:
• Have different points of view.
• Communicate with one another differently.
• Spend large amounts of time together.
• Depend on one another to “get the job done.”
• Have established expectations of one another that are not
communicated and then not met.
4

(cont.)
 Conflict does not always have to be negative. When
employees are able to challenge one another’s ideas in
a supportive environment, new ideas are generated
and fostered.
 It is important to remember that conflict will always exist
between employees. Effective supervisors have the
skills to manage the conflict process and turn
disagreements into ideas.
5

(cont.)
6
Healthy conflict:
• Disagreements
communicated in a
supportive environment
that foster the generation
of new ideas or ways to
problem-solve.
• Tension that increases
awareness or sheds light
on a growing workplace
problem.
Damaging conflict:
• Name calling.
• Personal attacks.
• Employees becoming
silent, withdrawn and/or
afraid to speak up.
• Cliques, gossip and
rumors.
• Lack of mutual respect.
Examples of Healthy vs. Damaging Conflict

Importance of Resolving Conflict
Why should we get involved? It’s their problem, right?
No—you, as supervisors, must learn to manage conflicts
among your team members so that the business
continues to run effectively and objectives are met.
7

(cont.)
Consequences of letting conflict fester:
• Employees not involved in the conflict either “pile on”
or withdraw from the conflict.
• Employees take sides or “check out” from work entirely.
• Morale and productivity are lowered because
employees are focused on the conflict.
• Employees who work in teams are now divided
because of the conflict.
8

(cont.)
 In extreme instances, unresolved conflict can lead to
violent or aggressive situations.
• Employees may become injured.
• The company may have legal risks associated with violent
situations in the workplace.
• Work can slow dramatically or halt altogether.
9

Case Study
Your city has a large number of homeless people. The mayor has just given her support to a plan to build a homeless shelter
in your neighborhood. You support the plan, but many of your friends are opposed. Last week you debated the issue on
local television with one of your longtime friends; the debate became heated and the friend stomped out of the studio and
hasn’t spoken to you since. The local newspaper ran an article on the debate that further inflamed passions in the
neighborhood. You have received calls from several people blaming you for causing conflict in what used to be a lovely
community. You feel you must do something, but what? What would you do? Why?
1. Complain to your spouse that you are being blamed for everything, but do nothing else.
2. Call the reporter who wrote the article and demand that she retract some of the more libelous comments made about you
or else you will bring a lawsuit against the reporter and the paper.
3. Take some food to the homeless people on Elm Street.
4. Use your position as the president of the Neighborhood Projects Committee to try to ram through a vote in favor of the
shelter at the next meeting, a meeting you know your debate opponent won’t attend because of a prior commitment.
5. Talk to a leader of the adjacent neighborhood to try to get that neighborhood to house the shelter in return for your
neighborhood’s offer to host the deficit-ridden Founder's Day Fair the next two years.

Methods of Resolving Conflict
There are five basic ways of handling conflict in the workplace:
• Competing.
• Collaborating.
• Compromising.
• Avoiding.
• Accommodating.
There is no one way to resolve a conflict, and often managers need to
use multiple methods to reach a resolution.
(Source: Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument)
11

Approaches
ACCOMMODATE COMPROMISE AVOID COMPETE COLLABORATE
Don’t reveal your
needs,
perceptions or
feelings to others
Reveal your
surface
needs, but
conceal
your
underlying
needs
Don’t reveal
your needs,
perceptions
or feelings
to others
Accuse, label,
and/or blame
the other
Disclose
relevant
information
about thoughts,
feelings and
interests
Agree, “go along” Maintain
direct eye
contact and
direct body
orientation
Look away,
fidget or
leave
Use words
such as
“should” and
“must”
Use “I” language
Look down or
away and use an
indirect body
orientation
Acknowledg
e other’s
surface
needs,
perceptions
Turn your
body away
from others.
Focus on
something
Use “you”
language and
sarcasm
Separate the
people from the
problem

Approaches (cont)ACCOMMODATE COMPROMISE AVOID COMPETE COLLABORATE
Speak softly
and use plenty
of clarifiers
Use
“negotiation
talk” – let’s
split the
difference” to
get to a
solution
Change the
subject,
change the
tone or the
interactions,
or put off the
solution
Invade their
space
Listen
attentively
Give up your
belief in things
just so others
will accept you
Put getting
something
ahead of
principle
Believe the
situation is
hopeless
Sacrifice
others’ needs
or feeling to
gain
achievement
by winning
Generate
options

Methods of Resolving Conflict
(cont.)
Competing
 The competing method involves handling the conflict
through unilateral decision-making. This approach is most
appropriately used by managers and leaders in the
workplace.
The competing method is used primarily for:
• Situations that involve quick action.
• Instances in which there is no compromise or debate.
• Situations requiring the need to make hard or unpopular
decisions.
14

Do’s and Don’ts of Resolving
Conflict
Do:
• Understand that conflicts are inevitable.
• Resolve to address conflict quickly.
• Focus on the problem.
• Be open to solutions.
• Acknowledge how employees are feeling.
• Listen actively.
15

Do’s and Don’ts of Resolving
Conflict (cont.)
Don’t:
• Focus on personality traits that cannot be changed.
• Interrupt.
• Attack.
• Disregard the feelings of employees.
• Avoid the conflict.
• Allow emotions to take over the conversation.
• Impose personal values or beliefs.
16

Steps in the Conflict Resolution
Process
There are six steps to the conflict resolution process:
1. Clarify what the disagreement is.
2. Establish a common goal for both parties.
3. Discuss ways to meet the common goal.
4. Determine the barriers to the common goal.
5. Agree on the best way to resolve the conflict.
6. Acknowledge the agreed solution and determine the responsibilities
each party has in the resolution.
This process should be completed by all parties in the conflict together.
(Source: Conflict Resolution Skills for HR Professionals by Marla Bradley)
17

Process (cont.)
Step 1: Clarify what the disagreement is.
Clarifying involves getting to the heart of the conflict. The goal
of this step is to get both sides to agree on what the
disagreement is.
Tips:
• Discuss what needs are not being met on both sides of the
conflict. Ensure mutual understanding.
• Obtain as much information as possible on each side’s point
of view.
• Continue to ask questions until you are certain that you, and
each side of the conflict, understand the issue.
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Process (cont.)
 Step 2: Establish a common goal for both parties.
 In this step of the process, both sides agree on the
desired outcome of the conflict.
Tips:
• Discuss what each party would like to see happen.
• Find a commonality in both sides as a starting point for
a shared outcome. That commonality can be as simple
as “both sides want to end the conflict.”
19

Process (cont.)
 Step 3: Discuss ways to meet the common goal.
 Both sides work together to discuss ways that they can
meet the goal they agreed on in step 2.
 Tips:
• Brainstorm different approaches to meet the goal.
• Discuss until all the options are exhausted.
20

Process (cont.)
 Step 4: Determine the barriers to the common goal.
 In this step of the process, the two parties acknowledge
what has brought them into the conflict.
Tips:
• Ask, “If we could have the outcome that we both wanted,
how would that look?”
• Define what can and cannot be changed about the situation.
• For the items that cannot be changed, discuss ways of
getting around those road blocks.
21

Process (cont.)
 Step 5: Agree on the best way to resolve the conflict.
 Both parties come to a conclusion on the best resolution.
Tips:
• Determine a solution that both sides can live with.
• Discuss the responsibility each party has in maintaining the
solution.
• Settle on a means of ensuring that this conflict does not arise
again.
22

Process (cont.)
 Step 6: Acknowledge the agreed solution and
determine the responsibilities each party has in the
resolution.
 Both sides own their responsibility in the resolution of
the conflict and express aloud what they have agreed
to.
Tips:
• Get both parties to acknowledge a win-win situation.
• Ask both parties to use phrases such as “I agree to . .
.” and “I acknowledge that I have responsibility for . . .”
23

Case Study 2
Instructions:
 1. Assign roles for Joan Wirght (personnel
director) and Lou Pierce ( receptionist).
 2. read scenarios and discuss possible outcomes
 3. report to the group

Conflict Partnership
From
1. An I-versus-you battle for victory and/or
advantage over adversaries
2. Solely a rescue-squad reaction aimed at
putting out conflict fires or temporarily
fixing them
3. An event that begins when parties in
conflict sit down to negotiate and end
when a temporary agreement is reached
on a conflict
4. A way of dealing with conflicts that
focuses on making demands and then on
trading portions of those demands to gain
advantage
To
1. A shared “we” responsibility and
opportunity to clarify and improve the
relationship while resolving with mutual
benefit particular conflict arising within the
relationship.
2. Both a proactive process through which
healthy relationships can be built and
strengthened and a process to deal
effectively with conflicts once they occur.
3. A process consisting of skills and steps
taken both alone and with the other party
before, during and after working out
mutually beneficial resolution.
4. A process based on needs, both individual
and shared, on clarified perceptions, on
improving the relationship an on mutual
benefits, not domination.

Summary
 Conflict is inevitable in the workplace. There is healthy
and damaging conflict.
 Some causes of workplace conflict are:
• Employees with different points of view.
• Employees who communicate differently.
• Employees spending large amounts of time together.
 It is important to address conflict because unresolved
conflict leads to low morale, productivity and, in
extreme cases, workplace violence.
26

Summary (cont.)
 The five methods of resolving conflict are:
• Competing.
• Collaborating.
• Compromising.
• Avoiding.
• Accommodating.
27

Summary (cont.)
 The six steps in the conflict resolution process are:
1. Clarify what the disagreement is.
2. Establish a common goal for both parties.
3. Discuss ways to meet the common goal.
4. Determine the barriers to the common goal.
5. Agree on the best way to resolve the conflict.
6. Acknowledge the agreed solution and determine the
responsibilities each party has in the resolution.
28

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