Conflict Management

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Conflict Management
For Health Mangers
Instructor Name
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Learning Objectives

• Identify common causes of conflict
• Recognize conflicting priorities and
  personalities within a work team or between a
  manger and employee
• Use productive strategies to resolve conflict
• Describe ways to prevent conflict 

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Session Overview

• Define causes of conflict
• Discuss methods of resolving conflict
• Practice conflict resolution
• Discuss ways to prevent conflict

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Understanding Conflict

• Expression of disagreement over something
  important
• Competing interests or ideas
• Arises for many different reasons

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Is conflict bad?
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Productive
Unproductive

• Focuses on concepts ideas
• Supports the expression of differing opinions

• Focuses on trivial issues
• Frequent, repetitive, unresolved arguments
• Leaves people angrier and more frustrated

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Common Causes of Conflict
Unproductive Experiences
Moods Personal Issues
Values
Information/Communica-tion
Interests
Management and Institutional Factors
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The Cause Can Help Identify the Solution
Emotional charge
Disagreement
Emotional charge
Resolution
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Defuse by Agreement

• Find something to agree about-if your team member
  is already angry and blaming you
• Acknowledge different points of view to help move
  the situation forward
• There is always truth in what your team member
  says
• Finding the truth in the others point of view
  will make it difficult for the other person to
  maintain anger

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Empathy

• Thought empathy Show that you
  understand what the other person is trying to say
• Feeling empathy Acknowledge how the other person
  probably feels
• CAUTION Say I know how you feel only when you
  really do

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Explore with Questions

• Ask gentle questions
• Show interest in understanding the other person
• Focus on the
  other persons
• Thoughts
• Feelings

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Use I Statements

• Focus on your reaction
• Use phrases beginning with I
• I think
• I feel
• I want
• Avoid you statements

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Show Respect

• Find positive things to say about your team
  member or employee
• Name specific things that you respect about your
  team member
• Thoughts
• Feelings
• Opinions
• Contributions

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Use Alignment

• Acknowledge the contribution of the differing
  opinion
• Clearly state what you and the others in the
  conflict have in common

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Use Reflective Listening

• Ensure you understand what your team member is
  trying to communicate
• State what you heard to ensure that you and your
  team member are on the same page
• Seek to understand your team member before you
  seek to be understood

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Use Degrees of Agreement

• Goal Partial agreement on an aspect of the
  problem without complete agreement among the team
  members
• Moves the situation forward even if the entire
  team is not in agreement
• Caution Focusing on achieving 100 agreement can
  get the team stuck in the conflict

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Focus on Interests for Resolution

• Key - consider the team members differing and
  similar underlying interests
• All members will share some basic interests
• Establish common ground
• Focus on complementary or compatible solutions
• Focus on the future, not the past

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Take a breath and follow the steps

1. Acknowledge the problem
2. State the problem
3. Confirm understanding
4. Seek their perception

1. Summarize
2. Brainstorm agreements
3. Commit
4. Express remorse

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What Prevents Unproductive Conflict?
Communication

• Rules governing individual and group behavior
• Rapid intervention by team (and manager if
  necessary)

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Summary

• Practice the eight techniques for reducing the
  emotional charge
• Focus on team members interests to resolve the
  conflict
• Use communication skills and early intervention
  to prevent unproductive conflict in the first
  place
• Develop a communication plan
• Clearly define expectations