When Things Don’t Work: Recognizing and Resolving Conflict

When Things Don’t Work: Recognizing and Resolving Conflict

• LEADERSHIP PROGRAM 2012-2013
• Sponsored by the Provost’s Office
• Johns Hopkins University
• Catherine J. Morrison, JD
• Associate Faculty
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• cmorrison@createagreement.com

Learning Objectives

• 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
•  
• s

CONFLICT HAPPENS

• Conflict is…
• a normal, inescapable part of life
• a periodic occurrence in any relationship
• an opportunity to understand opposing preferences and values
• ENERGY

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.

Avoid affective conflict

• Personal antagonism fueled by differences of opinion
• Destructive to group performance and cohesion
• Ibid., 24.

How can we keep conflict cognitive?

• Make the approach
• Share perspectives
• Build understanding
• Agree on solutions
• Plan next steps
• Mediation Services. (2003). Foundational concepts for understanding conflict. Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

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
• Ibid.

Step 2. Share perspectives

• Ask for the other person’s perspective
• Paraphrase what you hear
• Acknowledge your contribution
• Describe your perspective
• Ibid.

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
• Ibid.

Step 4. Agree on solutions

• Reality test – Is this doable?
• Durability test – Is this durable?
• Interest test – Does this meet all parties’ interests?
• Ibid.

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?
• Ibid.

Tools for Conflict Management

That’s true but…

• What doesn’t
• work

That’s true and…

• What does
• work

BLAME

• What doesn’t
• 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

Sources

• 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

• Garmston, R.J. (Summer 2005). “Group Wise: How to turn conflict into an effective learning process.” Journal of Staff Development, 26(3), 65-66.
• Mediation Services. (2003). Foundational concepts for understanding conflict. Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

Recommended Reading

• 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

• 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.