Exploring conflict management technics has been a kind of pass time for me. Last year I led an educational session for managing conflict within organizations. Many of us run for cover at the first sign of an agrument, and I used to be one of those people. Others run into conflict headlong, looking to plant their flag on whatever they consider to be the moral highgound, refusing to budge.
Now, it should be obvious that the best method lies somewhere in the middle. During any conflict, it’s best to give any extreem a wide birth. But there’s more we should keep in mind when neavigatinge conflict.
Conflict it isn’t necessarily bad. That’s right, conflict within any relationship or organization is not necessarily an indication of sickness. Just the opisite, we experience conflict because that which was once in agreement between two or more people is now in dispute. These disputes arise because we differ in our understanding of the situation. We differ because we have either grown in our understading, or we are exploring a new a facet of the relationship we have yet to explore. In either situation, we are demonstrating that our relationship is experiencing growth. It means we are different that we were before.
Nevertheless, if we do not address conflict in a timely manner it will eat away at our organizations and relationships until they are unreparable.
There are lots of excellent guides for navigating conflict, but good conflict resolution skills are developed through practice. The success of our churches, careers, friendships and family relationships depend on our ability to do conflict well.
For more resources on conflict resolution check my Prezi which uses cartoon characters as teaching tools.
Kena Hawkins Newkirk 