Conflict Resolution

I am not any conflicts and have not had any in recent times that may be relevant to this discussion. I will, therefore, share one that I have witnessed between two of my colleagues. I have seen them give each other the ‘silent treatment’ for five days because of a disagreement over the balancing of their workloads. One strategy that could have helped to resolve the conflict more productively would have been honest communication. As they confided in me separately I realized that they were not aware of some things that were being experienced and felt among them. I could see that one individual was using the “Escapist strategy” and was simply avoiding the issue. This may help to resolve the conflict eventually as time passes and they go about their activities the workloads may be forgotten. This may not be long lasting, however, as when they have to work together again this same old may again be an issue.

One conflict resolution strategy that I feel could be effective in this situation would be for them to consider the importance of the outcome (O’Hair & Weimann, 2015). They could look at the long-range goal of getting the job done, and divide the workload fairly between the two individuals confirming that everyone is aware of their responsibilities. With this agreement, everyone would know what is expected of them.  A second strategy could be to debate and argue (O’Hair & Weimann, 2015). In the situation, neither of the two parties knew how the other was feeling. If they had argued openly about it hurt feelings would have been aired. As questions were asked they would have to be answered and again information would be passed on so both persons would know how much the other had to do and the scale could be balanced.

Reference

O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J.  (2015). Real communication (3rd. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.