The ability to manage conflicts is important not only for family relationships, but also for company executives. Indeed, the success and prospects of the business depend on the coordinated work of the team and the friendly atmosphere in it. Today, there are special trainings on conflict management that help to achieve your goals in a short time.
In this article, we will examine in more detail what it is, get acquainted with the features and exercises.
Goals
Scientists have proved that no society can exist without disagreements and quarrels. However, they are not only negative. Conflicts create competition. In a healthy sense, as you know, it can positively affect the work of the enterprise. Therefore, the goal of conflict management trainings is not just the development of skills for resolving internal problems in the team, but also the ability to recognize the depth and causes of them, choose the right behavior strategy in order to direct the whole process into the mainstream of the team's perspective.
A whole team of psychologists is working on the development of such trainings. Their task is, first of all, to make the leader aware of his role in the work team and not to plunge into a conflict with his head, but to be above him in order to take an objective position for a correct decision. For this, various techniques and tools are used, and a whole program is drawn up on the anatomy of the conflict and leverage on it.
What is conflict?
Conflict management training in a team usually begins with an analysis of what a conflict is, what its causes and types are. There are hidden (latent) and open (provoked). They play various roles in the team. If the former can be turned to the leader in their favor, the latter require special strategies and influence.
Also highlight internal and external conflicts. That is, those that occur within the personality. They are constructive and destructive. You can and should work with constructive ones. They lead to an increase in personality. As for destructive conflicts, the help of a specialist is required here.
Program
The manifestations of intrapersonal problems are neurasthenia, projection (criticism of others), regression (avoiding responsibility) and rationalism (self-government). Such behavior of at least one of the employees can provoke disputes and disagreements in the team. Interpersonal clashes take place. And this is just the subject of observation of conflict management trainings. As a solution, the following steps are proposed here:
- forecasting (the ability to see and feel an emerging conflict);
- warning (the use of certain tools for timely resolution of the conflict);
- regulation (finding a way out of the situation and applying the right strategies);
- conflict resolution (the result of the actions of the head).
Conflict management involves the following methods (strategies):
- compromise search (choosing the best option and its implementation);
- reorientation (change of claims in relation to the object, which became the initiator of the conflict);
- repression (suppression of personal feelings, aspirations, desires and the choice of an objective model of behavior).
Often interpersonal disagreements can be the motivation for the work of the team. Conflict management trainings also talk about this and even teach how to create controversial situations for a progressive workflow. They should be constructive, exclude manipulation and the long term.
Forms of work
Conflict management training for executives takes various forms. These may be mini-lectures. They involve the presentation of theoretical information (on the anatomy of the conflict and how to resolve them) with practical elements of discussion.
The consolidation of new knowledge takes place in group discussions. Participants in conflict management training courses are offered to be creative in role-playing games, cases, and analysis of complex situations. Work rarely takes place individually, more often in pairs or mini-groups.
Exercises
Exercises at trainings on conflict management are not only a methodological follow-up of the theory and “brainstorming”, but also a drawing of thematic situations that can arise in any company. In the process, he observes the original way to solve the problem. The main rule when considering conflicting realities is confidentiality.
Here are some examples of such exercises. The trainer writes the word “conflict” on the board and invites the group to pick up associations one by one. It can be “pain”, “struggle”, “energy”. Then the trainer, together with the group, looks at the resulting list and divides all the associations into positive, negative and neutral. These are standard group discussion exercises.
Another example concerns working in pairs. The trainer reads 5 unfinished sentences. Proposals are formulated like this:
- What excites me now is ....
- If I think about it, then I feel ...
- To the question of what I can do, I can answer ....
- The person with whom I can talk about this is ...
- It gives me hope ...
After each phrase, actions are suggested:
- repeat and finish;
- summarize the proposal;
- thank the listeners.
During the exercise, it is very important for the trainer to note not so much the answers of the participants as their willingness to speak and listen to others.
Prevention
Of course, the best way to resolve the conflict is to prevent it in a timely manner. Prevention skills are also taught in conflict management training. This program includes the formation of skills:
- assessments of the atmosphere in the team;
- conflict prevention;
- application of measures to reduce conflicts;
- establishing constructive feedback;
- organization of effective joint activities.
Conclusion
As a result of the training on conflict management with colleagues, participants receive several universal tools. They help them prevent and resolve contentious situations. The effectiveness of this depends on the ability to control your own emotions, the mood of others, as well as the ability to resist manipulation.