Presented by:

Mr. Ihab AlAwour Nurse Manager

King Salman Heart Center King Fahad Medical City

Conflict Management

Understand the fundamental concepts of conflict management

Acquire specific tactical approaches to conflict situations

Apply that understanding to more effectively assess and manage two-party and multi-party conflicts

Learning Objectives

CONFLICT is…

a normal, inescapable part of life

a periodic occurrence in any relationship

an opportunity to understand opposing

preferences and values

ENERGY

CONFLICT HAPPENS

How can we manage the

energy of CONFLICT?

Use cognitive conflict

Disagreement about ideas and

approaches

Issue focused, not personal

Characteristic of high performing groups

Amason, A.C., Thompson, K.R., Hochwarter, W.A., & Harrison, A.W. (1995, Autumn). “Conflict: An Important Dimension in

Successful Management Teams.” Organizational Dynamics, 24(2),

22-23.

Personal antagonism fueled by

differences of opinion

Destructive to group performance and

cohesion

Ibid., 24.

Avoid affective conflict

How can we keep conflict cognitive?

Make the approach

Share perspectives

Build understanding

Agree on solutions

Plan next steps

Step 1. Make the approach

Reflect before you begin

Invite the other party to a conversation

Be clear about your intentions

State your goal - a positive resolution

Step 2. Share perspectives

Ask for the other person’s perspective

Paraphrase what you hear

Acknowledge your contribution

Describe your perspective

Understand why your views differ (Read from bottom to top)

I take action

I adopt beliefs

I draw conclusions

I add meaning

I select data

Observable data Clark, W. (October 17, 2005). People Whose Ideas Influence Organisational

Work - Chris Argyris. In Organisations@Onepine. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from

http://www.onepine.info/pargy.htm

Name the issues

Identify topics that the parties view as

important to address

Use concise neutral language

Avoid pronouns

Use issues to create the agenda

Foundational Concepts for Understanding Conflict.

Step 3. Build understanding

Discuss one issue at a time

Clarify assumptions

Explore interests and feelings

Step 4. Agree on solutions

Reality test – Is this doable?

Durability test – Is this durable?

Interest test – Does this meet all parties’

interests?

Step 5. Plan next steps

Jointly create action plan

What needs to happen?

Who needs to do what? By when?

How will interaction take place if

problems occur?

Tools for

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

That’s true but…

WHAT DOESN’T WORK

BLAME

WHAT DOESN’T WORK

That’s true and…

WHAT DOES WORK

The “third story”

WHAT DOES WORK

Contribution Mapping

WHAT DOES WORK

You get the picture…

WHAT DOESN’T WORK

Match and lower,

match and raise

WHAT DOES WORK

“Faced with the choice

between changing one’s mind

and proving that there is no

need to do so, almost

everybody gets busy on the

proof.”

-John Kenneth Galbraith

Sources and Recommended Reading

Amason, A.C., Thompson, K.R., Hochwarter, W.A., & Harrison, A.W. (1995, Autumn). “Conflict: An Important Dimension in Successful Management Teams.”

Organizational Dynamics, 24(2), 20-35.

Clark, W. (October 17, 2005). People Whose Ideas Influence Organisational Work - Chris Argyris. In Organisations@Onepine. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from

http://www.onepine.info/pargy.htm

Sources

Conger, J. A. (1998, May-June). The Necessary Art of Persuasion. Harvard Business Review, pp. 84-95.

Eisenhardt, K., Kahwajy, L., & Bourgeois, L. J. (1997, July-August). How Management

Teams Can Have a Good Fight. Harvard Business Review, pp. 77-85.

Robinson, R. J. (1997, February 6). Errors in Social Judgment: Implications for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. Harvard Business School Publishing, Case Note

897103, pp. 1-7.

Recommended Reading

Recommended Reading

Sussman, L. (1999, January 15). How to Frame a Message: The Art of Persuasion and Negotiation. Business Horizons, pp. 2-6.

Tannen, D. (1995, September-October). The power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why. Harvard

Business Review, pp. 138-148