Reflecting on Conflict Management- Lessons Learned and Strategies for Improvement

Reflecting on Conflict Management- Lessons Learned and Strategies for Improvement

Conflict arises in people’s daily lives, whether at work with colleagues or at home with family members or friends. There are various methods of solving these conflicts and disagreements to ensure peace.

An Alternative Approach to Conflict Resolution

At a previous work engagement, my coworker took it upon herself to dodge work. Subsequently, her inability to show up at work left all the responsibilities on me. Furthermore, she put me in hot water without conversing with our immediate superior by having to cover for her. Accordingly, I set out to exhibit punishing behavior towards her. I called in sick to work and didn’t go in until she had a taste of her own medicine, which wasn’t a wise decision on my part.

The best approach to solve this conflict would have been ensuring the openness of communication lines and the use of a mediator. This approach allows the people in conflict to solve their disputes through communications. A mediator will act to ensure proper communication and ensure conflict is solved with ease (“The New Conflict Management: Effective Conflict Resolution Strategies to Avoid Litigation,” 2021). The use of rotating responsibilities would also solve this conflict because everyone would be assigned work to do.

Alternative Conflict Resolution with Better Outcome

Previously, a conflict arose with a house help at home. The conflict was baseless and leaned on hearsay as proof of the disagreement. As an adult, I decided to address the conflict head-on without a neutral third party. Accordingly, the argument spiraled into an intense fight that saw the house help quit her job. I would have preferred that the conflict was solved. There are a couple of strategies I could have used to get a better result. The first would have been to involve a mediator; the mediator would ensure that the two of us spoke respectfully and would oversee the conflict solution.

Another solution would come around from the establishment of a compromise. The two of us would agree on a compromise. Compromising solves the conflict because both parties can give up on something for the other’s benefit (Behfar et al., 2008).

References

Behfar, K., Peterson, R., Mannix, E., & Trochim, W. (2008). “The critical role of conflict resolution in teams: A close look at the links between conflict type, conflict management strategies, and team outcomes”: Correction. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 93(2), 462-462. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.93.2.462

The New Conflict Management: Effective Conflict Resolution Strategies to Avoid Litigation. PON – Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. (2021). Retrieved 25 March 2021, from https://www.pon.harvard.edu/freemium/new-conflict-management-effective-conflict-resolution-strategies-to-avoid-litigation/.

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Discuss a conflict you were engaged in that did not end as well as you would have liked.

Reflecting on Conflict Management- Lessons Learned and Strategies for Improvement

How do you think you could have managed it differently to achieve a more favorable outcome?