Conflict - Definition, Causes and Resolutions - Part II

In Part I of this two part article series we looked at the definition of Conflict and the various reasons why a conflict might occur in a workplace and the various participants and their roles in the conflict. If you have not already gone through Part I, I strongly suggest you do that, as this article heavily refers to Part I. In this article we are going to go over the methods of Conflict Resolution.

Conflict Resolution Approaches

There are 5 tried and tested approaches to Conflict Resolution:

• Confronting (the problem) – Approaching the conflict in a manner that attacks and eliminates the problem due to which the conflict exists – Win-Win
• Compromising – Accepting that the conflict is inevitable and coming to a mutual consensus on a way to deal with the conflict getting the best out of it for all the involved parties – Win-Win
• Smoothening – Sacrificing your stand in favor of the stand of the other party in order to eliminate the conflict (maybe in hopes of a later gain) – Lose-Win
• Forcing – Asserting your stand forcibly on the other party in order to eliminate the conflict by ordering/forcing the other party into agreement – Win-Lose
• Avoiding – Ignoring the existence of the conflict in the hopes that the problem will somehow go away or solve itself

In a given situation, any one of the above methods for conflict resolution can be employed. However, one way is always better than the rest depending on the dynamics of the situation. Therefore, before deciding on what to do, it is important to understand the deterministic factors for the approach to be employed.

Win	Forcing	Confronting Compromising
Lose	Avoiding	Smoothening
	Lose	Win

Factors determining the Approach to Conflict Resolution

• Can there be a Win-Win situation?
• How much time is available for conflict resolution?
• Is there trust between the two parties?
• How high are the stakes?

The below tables provides the list of considerations and their relationship with the Conflict Resolution Mechanism to be chosen.

	Confronting	Compromising	Smoothening	Forcing	Avoiding
Win-Win Possible	X	X
Win-Win Not Possible			X	X	X
Sufficient Time is Available	X
Sufficient Time is Not Available		X	X		X
Emergency Situation				X
Trust Exists	X	X
Trust Doesn’t Exist			X	X	X
Stakes are High	X			X
Stakes are Medium		X
Stakes are Low			X		X
Goal is Feasible	X	X
Goal is not Feasible			X	X	X
High need to Create Goodwill		X	X		X
No need to Create Goodwill	X			X
Opportunity for a Later Tradeoff			X
No Opportunity for a Later Tradeoff	X			X	X
High Liability		X		X
Medium Liability	X
Low Liability			X		X
Need to Gain Time			X		X
No Requirement to Gain Time	X	X		X
Win is possible by Delaying					X
Delaying will cause Loss	X	X	X	X

Conclusion

While there are various formal methods that provide a framework for conflict resolution, they are not a substitute for presence of mind and out-of-the-box thinking. Many conflicts can be resolved even before they begin, if the manager applies common sense and clear thinking to identify and resolve conflict festering situations and environments.

I hope this article series was of help to you. As always, your comments, queries and suggestions are most welcome.