Conflict Resolution: Beyond Fight, Flight, or Freeze (Free Worksheet Included!)
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We’ve all been in conflict. We’ve even caused a few. But do we know how to successfully resolve disagreements, especially when emotions are involved?
The Will Smith / Chris Rock incident at the Oscars 👀 has a lot of people talking about this subject.
When you're in conflict, what's your go-to approach?
✔ Do you give in, get verbally aggressive, or take a passive/aggressive or manipulative approach?
✔ Or do you simply avoid the person or avoid discussing the problem hoping things will get better on their own?
You know these strategies rarely work on issues that are important to us.
The only way to resolve conflict is through intentional, meaningful conversation. This includes:
◉ Speaking about your perceptions and objectives clearly and directly
◉ Being open to hearing the other person's point of view
◉ Acknowledging your own role in the issue
◉ Bringing presence and attentive listening to the conversation
◉ Discussing options for resolution
◉ Staying in the conversation until a resolution is reached, or you can at least agree on a first step.
You may find this worksheet helpful in having this kind of conversation. Download it and give it a try.
The first page helps you to prepare for the conversation. The next two pages give you a step-by-step approach to the conversation itself.
This isn’t a magic wand of course. These conversations are often hard. However, we have to start somewhere.
Preparing ahead of time and having a roadmap to follow just may give you the confidence and direction you need to get started.
I hope you find it helpful!
𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 - Save the worksheet for when your team members need help on how they can approach their own conflict situations. That’s what our role as coaches is all about!
Full credit to Susan Scott. This worksheet was adapted from her fabulous book, 𝙁𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨.
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