Conflict Management

Transcript of the free preview lesson. Remaining lessons unlock with the full course.

Conflict management. One of the most serious and often unpleasant challenges that an organization can face is internal conflict. It is true that are those managers who have dealt with internal conflict in the past, and those that are going to be dealing with it in the future. No one gets out unmarked. If the conflict is identified quickly, dealt with openly, and resolved in a timely and professional manner, it can be more that an unpleasant reality. It can actually be an opportunity for company growth, strength, and positive change. Conflict can offer the chance to fix problems, reset procedures and relationships, establish new standards of behavior, demonstrate qualities of leadership, equality, fairness, and trust. My name is Brian Goldojarb. I'm going to be teaching this class on conflict management. My background goes 20 years in the past, in managing and running a family business with, at times, up to 150 different employees. My experience in dealing with conflict management, working in a diverse workforce is deep and extensive. And it'll be my pleasure and opportunity to share some of my insights, experience, and help with you as we go through this course. Because of the strong emotions that often accompany workplace conflict, the most common management response to it is unfortunately to ignore it and hope that it goes away. The likely result is that the conflict grows like a snowball barreling downhill getting progressively bigger, causing chaos and confusion in it's passing, and damaging an ever growing population of innocent co-workers. The risk of not acknowledging and resolving conflict with focused and purposeful action is the potential lose of valuable, key employees, plummeting company morale, and severally reduced quality and productivity. As the conflict spills over onto your customer service presence, well your ability to compete successfully in a tough market place may be lost as well. We'll examine workplace conflict from it's fundamental causes, it's tell-tale signs, what should be done, how to do it, and when to start. We'll examine the strategies of conflict facilitation, negotiation, mediation, and the very structure of how a successful and lasting resolution process is built. We'll take a look at your role in the process, including skill sets, qualities, and personal characteristics that promote leadership in you and trust from your employees. As every organization is unique as the individuals within them, there is no hard and fast rule book to follow. This course won't be paint-by-the-numbers work. This is about fundamentals and guidelines. The most valuable guidelines we'll offer are the principles of neutral behavior, active listening, patience, and tolerance. What we've assembled for you here is a detailed and comprehensive overview of these principles and how they can assist you in managing the stormy seas of workplace conflict.