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Managing Conflict and Change Presentation - 5-26-15
Managing Conflict and Change Presentation - 5-26-15
• Communication is a must
Don’t stop talking until a solution is
reached
Truths continued:
• Conflict can help build relationships
• Conflict can be a motivator for change
• Most conflicts can be managed
• Most people deal with conflict by…
Fight or Flight
• Ignoring the situation
– Most common response
– It will only get worse
– Conflict seldom resolves on its own
• Becoming aggressive
“In your face”
• Firecracker
– Blow up to sudden anger
– Usually apologize
– You know it will happen again
• Cold Shoulder
– Two people who take pride in not communicating
with each other
– Contest to see who can hold out the longest
• Backstabbing
– Positive to your face/knife in the back
• Social Zinger
– Throw verbal darts in front of others
– The “I was just teasing” syndrome
• Trivia Fights
– Those who battle over the little things
– Fight over the details
– Seldom get to the real issues
• Having the Last Word
– Must have the last remark
– Conflict is seldom over
• Diversity
– People who think differently than I do
– Different cultures
– Social Similarity
• Differences
– Ways that we prefer to act and behave
• Needs
– Ignoring the other party’s needs
– Confusing needs and desires
• Perceptions
– Self-perceptions
– Perceptions of the other party
– Perceptions of threat
• Power
– Wanting to control behaviors in others
– Inflexibility
• Generations
The Generations
Traditionalist Baby Boomer Gen X Millennial
Baby Boomers
vs.
Millennials (Gen Y)
Baby Boomers vs. Gen Y’s
• Baby Boomers • Gen Y’s
Rode in the back of pick Children remain in car
up trucks seats till age 21
Emergency situations
Decisive action
Implementing unpopular change
When other methods fail
• Accommodation (allowing the other side to win)
Preserving the relationship vs
arguing the issue
When the issue is more important to
the other person
When you want others to express
their own point of view
When you want others to learn by
their own choices
• Avoidance (decision to not handle)
Loudmouths
Cunning
1. Loudmouths
• Love audiences
• “Here I Am”
• High profile Respond
• Get beyond the hostility
• Turn your back if needed
• Take away their audience
• Crack through the outer shell
2. Moderates
• Larger groups
• Less obvious
• May disguise resistance
Respond
• Straightforward
• Watch for resistance that
is masqueraded
3. Cunning
• Operate under cover
• Don’t want to get caught
• Silent enemies
• Size unknown Respond
• Get them in the open
• Ask questions in public
Show Respect
Be Patient
Remain on the “High
Road”
• Empower yourself
Take charge during change
Great opportunities for leaders
• Don’t waste time waiting for orders
• Effectiveness depends on credibility
• Admit mistakes
• Team reconstruction bogs down when employees
stop believing in the boss
• Identify subject experts
• Mix together right combinations
• Spread out the talent
• Surround yourself with the best and
most trusted employees
• Re-recruit your keepers
• Don’t surprise employees
• Give employees a voice
• Communicate change timely and thoroughly
• Ensure effective supervisor-subordinate
relationships
• Deal quickly with any conflict that has
surfaced
• Effective conflict resolution begins with
addressing conflict immediately
• Not all conflict is bad
• Don’t mistake diversity for conflict
• Embrace knowledge and experience from your
peers and subordinates ~ “It is not threatening”
• Learn to accept and value compromise
• Improve listening skills
• Look at the FUTURE, not the PAST
• The best teams have the best leaders
• Invest in team training
• Change begins with effective communication
• Identify the three types of change groups:
– Change friendly
– Fence sitters
– Resisters
• It’s all about Leadership
• Deal with the problem employee
Jean Lebedun, Ph.D, Managing Workplace Conflict; Urbandale, IA;
Provant Media Publishing, 1998
Muriel Solomon, Working With Difficult People; New York, NY;
Prentice Hall Press, 2002
Gary McClain, Ph.D, and Deborah S. Romaine, Managing People
Book; Avon, MA; Adams Media Corporation, 2002
Lani Arrendondo, Communicating Effectively; New York, NY; McGraw
Hill, 2000
Kirk Blackard, James W. Gibson, Capitalizing on Conflict; Palo Alto,
CA; Davies-Black Publishing, 2002
Chris Roebuck, Effective Communication; New York, NY;
AMACOM,1998
Marlane Miller, Brainstyles; New York, NY; Simon & Schuster, 1997
Edward M. Marshall, Transforming The Way We Work; New York,
NY; AMACOM, 1995
Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, Difficult Conversations;
New York, NY; Penguin Books,1999
Daniel Dana, Conflict Resolution; New York, NY; McGraw Hill, 2001
Lynne McClure, Ph.D., Anger and Conflict in the Workplace;
Manassas Park, VA; Impact Publications, 2000
N. Elizabeth Fried, Ph.D., Outrageous Conduct: Bizarre Behavior at
Work; Dublin, OH; Intermediaries Press, 1999
Thank you for attending!