Conflict Resolution

Dealing with conflict is an inevitable aspect of every manager’s job. It complicates individual decision-making as well as collaborations, team functioning, and interagency coordination. Left unresolved, conflicts can sap morale, damage workplace relationships, and impede progress on vital initiatives. But when handled effectively, conflict promotes mutual understanding, creative problem solving, and the development of high-performance teams and organizations.

In “Conflict Resolution” participants will examine alternative approaches to diagnosing, surfacing, and resolving conflicts. The program begins by exploring some current and potential conflicts that threaten to undermine ongoing and long-term effectiveness. Utilizing some straightforward assessments will enable participants to better understand systematic patterns in their approach to these situations. A comprehensive framework will provide the basis for understanding strengths and weaknesses in these approaches thereby enabling participants to make more appropriate strategic choices for matching an approach to a situation. Government-specific case studies will be used to translate the “know why” of the framework to “know-how” that can be used by participants in their own efforts at putting these strategies into practice.

The second day of the program will help participants develop the necessary understanding and skills for implementing some of the less familiar approaches. Resolving conflicts successfully will often entail dealing with strong emotions which is one reason why many instinctively fall back on an avoidance strategy. In this session, we will focus on techniques for communication, negotiation, and facilitation that can provide the basis for more direct, constructive resolution. Additional case studies will incorporate some effective practices that can be used to model the necessary behavior. Structured exercises will provide an opportunity to practice in a low-risk context, yielding some direct feedback and coaching.

OPM Competency:

Conflict Management

Learning Objectives/Course Benefits:

• Recognize the causes and consequences of conflict.
• Learn the basic approaches to managing conflicts.
• Identify your own preferred styles as well as the limitation of these approaches.
• Develop the necessary skills in communication, negotiation, and facilitation.
• Learn to make sound strategic choices in conflict intervention and resolution.