Discussion Post: How Do You Experience Conflict?
Conflict comes in many forms and guises. It may be expected or a surprise. How we have experienced previous conflicts colors how we prepare for new conflicts as they surface. Consequences affect how we approach conflict. If we often "win" conflicts, we may be more open to engaging in conflict again. Or we may win at the expense of others and find that conflicts destroy relationships, which may discourage entering into new conflict situations. Sometimes being in a conflict is so messy and uncomfortable that our primary objective is to get out of it-win or lose.
The tools that we have developed to handle conflict also influence how we engage in conflict. Are you mindful? How good are your listening skills? What emotions are triggered when you feel attacked, and how do you manage those emotions? Are you able to channel them into curious exploration of the issues at hand? To what extent are you open to being adaptable and flexible to change? Do you think about how to use conflict to your strategic advantage? How often are your responses to conflict more proactive or more reactive? As you consider past conflicts, which of these tools and strategies have worked best for you? Which would you like to develop more fully?
The inevitability of conflict assures us that we will have ample opportunity to become more adept at dealing with conflict. This Discussion is intended to help us step back, depersonalize conflict, and take an objective look at the way we deal with conflict. The theories to analyze conflict provide different lenses or views of conflict that might help to change our perspective toward it. As we begin to more fully understand what the conflicts are about and our learned ways of engaging, we open up the possibility of learning different ways of engaging that might be more effective for us and those with whom we have conflict.
Choose a conflict you have experienced within your life. This experience can be either a group-on-group conflict or an interpersonal conflict.
To prepare for this Discussion, pay particular attention to the following Learning Resources:
YouTube Videos:
"Elements of conflict resolution"
"Communication in Conflict"
"Managing Conflict through Communication"
Task: Post a cohesive response based on your analysis of the Learning Resources and your professional experience. Be sure to discuss the following:
a) Describe a conflict that you have had with someone, using Process View of Conflict as shown in figure 1.1 in the Managing Conflict through Communication text.
b) The way that we think about conflict influences how we behave. One way to figure out our attitude toward conflict is with a metaphor. For example, conflict is the foundation of relationships, we only get closer when we care enough to fight fairly, or conflict is like a tug of war, one person wins and the other loses. What is your metaphor for conflict? Examine how your metaphor would apply to the conflict that you described.
c) There are five theories that describe conflict in Chapter 3 of the Managing Conflict through Communication text. Summarize one of the theories and apply it to the situation you described.
The response must include a reference list. One-inch margins, double-space, Using Times New Roman 12 pnt font and APA style of writing and citations.