Conflict Management Training Course - One Day

Conflict Management Course

On this conflict management course, we use a mixture of theory and practical exercises designed to help you resolve conflict.

It will help you create more effective outcomes in conflict situations.

You will learn to change what you do, what you say and how you say it, in order to create change in the other person.

The course will be closely tailored to the needs of those attending.

Even if you don't always get the results you want, you will be driving what happens not them.

Conflict Management Course Content:

We tailor all our courses to reflect the needs of each delegate.

We will include many of the exercises listed below, and any additional material that the trainers feel is relevant.

Delegate Wants

You will get to say why you came and what you want from the day.

This will enable your trainers to tailor the course to your needs.

Context

We start with an open discussion about difficult behaviour.

Any form of conflict creates difficult feelings in all those involved.

Difficult Situations

We will discuss the variety of difficult conversations you've had and situations you have found yourselves in, such as:

• Giving clients bad news
• Informing clients they haven't made the right choices
• Telling someone they're not getting a promotion or raise

What is Conflict For?

There are many reasons to engage in conflict, but the purpose of conflict is to arrive at a resolution.

In this section, we explore different types of conflict and possible resolutions.

There are many types of resolution and not all are win-win.

Resolution

Conflict can actually be exciting and rewarding.

It can be a chance to get to the heart of a problem, rather than only focusing on the surface or obvious issues.

Most conflicts have core causes and once those are addressed, resolution becomes an option to choose rather than run away from.

Maintaining Relationship

Using the Thomas-Killman conflict model we'll look at:

• Competing
• Accommodating
• Avoiding
• Collaborating
• Compromising

Dealing with Conflict

Here we look at what happens to you in conflict situations, including how you deal with any fallout.

We'll recreate a conflict situation to demonstrate the feelings that result and how they affect what we do and what we say.

We also look at why many people avoid dealing with conflict at all.

Delegates will look at a recent situation where they either avoided conflict or handled it badly.

Moment of Choice

Using insight from Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning.

“Between stimulus and response there is a gap, and in this gap lies all our freedom”.

We will look at provocation and response and the ‘moment of choice’.

In that split second, we can choose how we react.

Difficult People?

We will outline the styles of behaviour that delegates find difficult to deal with.

You will define your own difficult person or people and what happens when you engage in (or avoid) conflict with them.

What Might Happen?

We touched on the 'fallout' earlier, but here we'll look at your biggest fears around having difficult conversations or dealing with a difficult person.

Why is the conversation difficult?

Is it because you really have to deliver bad news, or is it because you're frightened of the other person's reaction?

How has this stopped you from engaging in effective conflict management?

When Are You Difficult

Delegates are asked to identify a situation where they may have been someone else's difficult person.

• What did it feel like?
• How did they approach you?
• How did you respond?
• Was it resolved, and if so, how?

Avoidance

Here we look at a range of things including:

• Avoiding conflict as much as possible
• Evidence collecting to prove your opinion
• Talking to the wrong people
• Being right while the other person is wrong
• Letting them have it between the eyes

Moving Forward

Here we start to look at a range of options, these include:

• Figuring out what's really going on
• Deal with things as they arise
• Avoid blaming
• Build bridges
• Set clear boundaries
• You don’t have to go it alone
• Stop colluding
• Or... if the conversation defies resolution - is walking away an option?

Their Point of View

"I Understand Where You're Coming From"

This exercise demonstrates the effect of seeing the conflict from the other person's point of view.

Emotion vs. Objectivity

This exercise shows you how to calm down an over-emotional person without getting drawn into their emotion.

Empathy

This technique allows the other person to be heard and get their point of view across.

It will also allow you to set clear boundaries and deliver a difficult or uncomfortable message.

Avoiding Blame

Here we look at two different approaches to managing conflict at work.

How can we avoid the knee-jerk reactions a person can display when they feel blamed or attacked?

Hidden Agendas

Conflict can be even worse when there are additional hidden agendas.

One of our methods of conflict management is a simple technique of how to 'call the behaviour' without making the other person wrong.

This sounds trickier than it is!

Difficult Messages

A technique to help people distinguish between what someone does as opposed to who they are.

This can be extremely helpful when you have to deliver news the recipient doesn’t want to hear.

Maintaining Relationships

Here we look at how you say what needs to be said while avoiding conflict.

Here we'll talk about how you can ask someone to do something for you or refuse to do something for them and still maintain a positive relationship.

And we'll talk about how you can deal with the person you find most difficult on a regular basis and have things move smoothly along.

Defusing Phrases

Here we will introduce some of the phrases we have collected over the years during conflict resolution courses and real-life incidents that help defuse tricky situations.

Difficult Styles and Reactions

You will get to discuss and practise how you can deal with conflict situations using the awareness gained and material used during the day.

We will look at:

• Defusing conflict before it escalates
• Getting clear about what outcome you want
• How to feed the solution, not the problem
• Knowing when to leave things well alone
• Making offers
• Three Wins to them and they owe you one
• Changing or letting go of your want
• Adjudicating between other people's arguments

How Do I Let Go?

Having had one difficult encounter, it can be really hard to let go of all the feelings, frustrations and residue that result before moving on to the next.

We know that it's very easy to metaphorically 'kick the cat'.

We will carry out a brief 'in your head' exercise that demonstrates how powerful feelings can be, even when they aren’t verbally expressed.

We also look at how our feelings influence our assumptions, where we make things up and then act as though what we made up is true.

Here is an opportunity for the whole group to brainstorm conflict management techniques and tools they know help them deal with their own angry, upset or frustrated feelings.

Personal Take Out

Each person will identify:

• What they are taking away from the course
• What they know they will use
• Where they will practise

We will give out Impact Factory documents to support the course.

You'll get copies of relevant handouts to remind you of the coursework.

Ongoing Support

Two weeks after attending one of our conflict management courses, one of your trainers will call to see how you are getting on.

You will have email and telephone access to both of your trainers.

You'll also have access to a course web page containing:

• Handouts used during the course
• New supportive material
• Impact Factory PDF documents
• Recommended reading
• Links to our favourite videos

Conflict Management Courses in London