Managing Conflict Constructively
Download
Report
Transcript Managing Conflict Constructively
Managing Conflict
Constructively
EDHE 6730
Organization and Administration of Student
Development Services
By Lisa S. Estrada-Hamby
Conflict on campus
Managing conflict is one of the most
frequently called for skills in daily
interactions on a college campus.
Many of us feel uncomfortable and
unskilled in responding to conflict
situations and experience the negative
result of conflict.
Conflict Assumptions
One’s view of conflict is influenced in part
by cultural values about conflict and
interpersonal relationships.
Those whose values resemble mainstream
America have learned the values of
Western culture.
Western Culture
Culturally-biased assumptions includes
that everyone has the same definitions of
“good” and “bad,” of “right” and “wrong.”
Common view of human behavior is “more
or less universal across social, cultural,
economic, and political backgrounds.”
Viewing Conflict
When we view conflict, we see the conflict
from our worldview that may not include
positive experiences.
Whatever the view may be, we do not
recognize the existence of other
worldviews of the same conflict.
Values on a Continuum
Competition
Egalitarian
Admission of Error
Individualistic
Youth-Oriented
Emotional Responses
Deadline Intensive
Casual Behavior
Authoritative Decisions
Contractual
Openness to Change
Collaboration
Hierarchical
Saving Face
Collectivistic
Respect for Age
Controlled Responses
Time Not an Issue
Formal Behavior
Consensus
Implied Agreement
Reluctance to Change
Knowledge about Conflict
Conflict may be defined as “a situation
between two or more parties who see
their perspectives as incompatible.”
Power imbalances between parties to a
conflict may significantly affect the range
of approaches that might be used to
address conflict.
Approach to Conflict
The range of approaches moves from conflict
avoidance to direct action in the form of
violence.
Includes: avoidance, informal discussion and
problem-solving, negotiation, and mediation are
characterized as involving private decisionmaking by the parties involved in the conflict,
with low potential for coercion or win-lose
tactics.
Range of Approaches
Based on mutual willingness to participate
in addressing the conflict, depends on
identifying mutually acceptable solutions
and, in the case of mediation, results in a
mutually agreed-upon approach to
resolving or reducing the conflict.
Mediation
Defined as “the intervention into a dispute
or negotiation by an acceptable, impartial,
and neutral third party who has no
authoritative decision-making power to
assist disputing parties in voluntarily
reaching their own mutually acceptable
settlement of issues in dispute.”
Mediator’s Role
Helping the parties communicate more clearly with one another
Identifying misunderstandings or misconceptions that seem to be
impeding communication
Helping to sort out multiple issues related to the conflict and
assisting the parties to agree on which issues need attention first
Offering ways to improve the parties’ skills in discussing solution,
and
Helping to sort out perceived incompatibilities from actual
differences
Attitudes Toward Conflict
Models of managing conflict seem to be built on
an assumption that doing something is better
than doing nothing at all
Or that collaboration is always better than
compromise when it comes to managing conflict
Previous characterizations of approaches add an
unrealistic and limiting attitude toward conflict
management, namely that certain approaches
are never as good as others.
Thomas and Kilmann (1974)
Begin with the assumptions that the
situation shapes approaches to conflict,
and that based on the situation all
approaches have value.
Developed the Conflict Mode Instrument
(CMI)
Conflict Mode Instrument
(CMI)
A self-report instrument used in
workshops on conflict to help participants
understand their typical approaches to
interpersonal conflict
The resulting scores are displayed as a
combination of two dimensions
CMI Two Dimensions
The extent to which the approach satisfies
the individual’s needs or concerns related
to the conflict, and
The extent to which the approach satisfies
the other person’s needs or concerns
CMI Five Conflict Modes
Competing
– Power-oriented and focused on winning
Collaborating
– Full acknowledgment of both the individual’s and the other’s
needs or concerns and a focus on finding common ground within
a conflict on which to base some mutually agreeable approach
to the conflict
Compromising
– Characterized as a more expedient approach to conflict that
partially responds to both parties. It usually involves giving up
something in order to solve the problem, seeking a middle
ground
CMI Five Conflict Modes con’t
Avoiding
– Characterized as responding to neither the individual
nor the other person. Might take the form of
diplomatically sidestepping an issue, postponing an
issue until a better time, or simply withdrawing from
a threatening situation.
Accommodating
– Characterized as responding entirely to the other’s
needs or concerns while neglecting or ignoring one’s
own. Might include obeying another’s order when
one might prefer not to, or yielding to another’s
opinion
Conflict Mode Instrument
Is then used to assess an individual’s
tendency to rely too much on certain
approaches or to avoid using other
approaches
The message of the instrument and its
interpretation is that all approaches have
value, depending on the situation
surrounding the conflict
Situation-Based Approach
Concept that a clear idea of the outcomes
sought will help those involved in a
conflict to select approaches that match
these outcomes
The work of finding outcomes that the
parties can agree on is often the most
important action in managing conflict
Skills in Managing Conflict
Come from Counseling
– Active listening
– Clarifying statements made by others
– Expressing empathy,
– Building trust, and
– Basic skills of problem solving
Skills Developed in Leadership
Education Programs
Summarizing
Reframing comments to reduce negative perceptions of the ideas of
others
Helping group members respond to issues and ideas and not to
personality
Assuring that all have the opportunity to state their opinions and
thoughts
Identifying power imbalances among group members that seem to
be a potential detriment to clear communication, and
Being aware of nonverbal communication
Intercultural Communication Skills
Being aware of our own frame of reference as
well as that of others
Identifying and checking with the other person
assumptions and inferences made about that
person’s perspective, and
Paying attention to the variety of meanings
assigned by different cultures to nonverbal
behaviors.
Pedersen’s (1994) Development of
Skills
Accomplished effectively through modeling and
demonstration
The use of videotaping to provide students with
feedback about their skill level
Supervising students in the application and use
of skills, and
Practicing the skills and behaviors in as many
settings and different situations as possible
Summary
Establish the notion that conflict is
inevitable, and that its lack of constructive
management is both common and
problematic
Learning to deal with conflict is one of the
most important and difficult skills SA
administrators can develop
Summary con’t
Graduate preparation programs and staff
development programs need to provide frequent
opportunities for practicing the skills of conflict
management, add opportunities for discussing
case studies involving conflict, and include more
systematic study of knowledge about conflict as
part of professional development
Summary con’t
Practitioner should address management of conflict as
part of a campus culture change
Students need skills workshops on managing conflict
Peer educators can be a very effective means of
delivering these workshops
Student leadership development programs should
contain workshops and case studies about conflict
Students conduct skill-building among parties involved in
conflict
Summary con’t
Senior SA officer must endorse and exemplify flexibility in
approaches to conflict and serve as a spokesperson with other
campus constituencies about the importance of developing conflict
management skills
Employee grievance procedures should include skills-building in
managing conflict
Staff evaluations should speak directly to an employee’s conflict
management capabilities
Members of the campus community should know where to go on
campus to find information, support, and education on matters
related to conflict
Reference
Barr, M. J., Desler, M. K., and Associates.
(2000). The handbook of student affairs
administration. Jossey-Bass Publishers.