Are you looking for a roadmap for resolving workplace conflict? Are you interested in knowing how other managers handle challenging conflicts? Would you benefit from hearing conflict resolution success stories? In this webinar, we will review 2-3 conflict resolution case studies (any identifying information will be disguised), including the nature of the conflict, the steps taken to resolve it, and the final outcome of the resolution. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions throughout the presentation.

1. Conflict Resolution Success Stories
Claudette Rowley
March 7, 2012
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4. Today’s Speaker
Claudette Rowley
Coach, Consultant, Author
Metavoice Coaching & Consulting
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5. Conflict Resolution Success
Stories
NONPROFIT WEBINARS
PRESENTED BY CLAUDETTE ROWLEY
MARCH 7, 2012

6. Webinar Takeaways
Participants will learn:
 How three workplace conflicts were resolved.
 Best practices for resolving specific conflicts.
 Options for ongoing conflict management and
prevention.

7. Case Study #1
RELATIONSHIP REPAIR
BETWEEN MANAGER AND DIRECT REPORT

8. Context of Conflict
 Judy and Sharon are both leaders in a large health
care institution.
 Judy is Sharon’s manager.
 They have experienced tension and conflict for
several months.
 The level of conflict is affecting their respective
teams.

9. Key Stakeholders in the Conflict
 Judy and Sharon
 Judy’s manager (who has tried to resolve the
conflict)
 The employees who are affected by Judy and
Sharon’s inability to communicate.

10. Conflict Analysis
1. Trust was heavily eroded between them.
2.Parties were unable to hear each other.
3. Assumption of negative intent was a driving force.

11. Conflict Resolution Process
 Initial four-way call to establish confidentiality, goals
and guidelines for work.
 Judy, Sharon and I met for 4 one-hour sessions.
 Goals for the work: reestablish productive
communication, clarify expectations of each other,
and put plan in place for managing future conflict.

12. How Conflict Was Resolved
Pivotal points in the resolution process:
 We identified four areas of agreement.
 Sharon and Judy identified assumptions each was
making about the other.
 Recognized they had different definitions of
“micro-management”.
 Sharon felt micro-managed by Judy, while Judy
was trying to avoid micro-managing.

13. How Conflict Was Resolved
 Each defined “support” and “micro-management”.
 They each reported that once they understood the
other’s definition of support, they were more willing
to give it.
 Judy understood how Sharon wanted to be
supported.
 Sharon understood she needed to be clearer about
her needs and ask for help.

14. How Conflict Was Resolved
 We discussed new experience of support – more
open conversations and better exchange of
information.
 Both reported relationship changes: understood each
other’s intentions, needs and styles, and had fewer
misunderstandings.

15. Plan for Prevention
1. To check in with each other if tension builds.
2. Stay away from assumptions – check them out.
3. Ask to take breaks when needed, and reconvene
later.
4. Make time to process and plan individually.
5. Schedule time to meet rather than responding in an
emotionally triggered way.

16. Case Study #2
UNADDRESSED TEAM CONFLICT:
REBUILDING TRUST AND IMPROVING
COMMUNICATION

17. Context of Conflict
 Management team in mid-sized company in the
service industry.
 Team members are in state of unaddressed conflict.
 Symptoms include: office gossip and drama,
stonewalling, defensiveness, acting on assumptions.
 Productivity, communication and results are
hindered.

18. Key Stakeholders in the Conflict
 The seven team members
 Their manager
 Senior leaders in the company
 Customers served by company

19. Conflict Analysis
 Trust on team was heavily eroded.
 Power dynamics tended toward distributive
(either/or) versus integrative (both/and).
 Office drama, gossip and criticism had replaced
communication.

20. Conflict Management Process
 Worked with this team for about one year.
 Facilitated several team building sessions.
 Shared a general summary with company leaders
after each team building session. (This was
contracted with the team.)

21. How Conflict Was Managed
This team decided to read The Five Dysfunctions of a
Team by Patrick Lencioni.
The Five Dysfunctions Model:
1. Absence of Trust ->Building Trust
2. Fear of Conflict -> Mastering Conflict
3. Lack of Commitment -> Achieving Commitment
4. Avoidance of Accountability -> Embracing Accountability
5. Inattention to Results -> Focusing on Results

22. How Conflict Was Managed
Pivotal points throughout the resolution process:
 After taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, people
began to view differences as differences, rather than
threats.
 Team members created guidelines for handling
conflict on the team.
 Discussed their vision for the team.
 Embraced conflict as a gateway for positive change.

23. How Conflict Was Managed
 Identified tendency toward negative assumptions of
intent and lack of transparency in communication.
 Learned how each person wanted to be approached
in communication and conflict.
 Team had habit of putting off important discussions;
defined term “hot topics” and began to include on
meeting agendas.
 Solved “hot topics” through discussion; learned how
to plan and implement.

24. How Conflict Was Managed
 Focused on accountability – holding themselves and
others accountable.
 Uncovered tendency to not ask for help “because
everyone is so busy” – this caused conflict over time.
 Frustration on team decreased, team members
reported their perceptions of each other began to
shift to the positive, decreasing overall conflict.
 Team learned to have more positive regard for each
other, to solve problems more creatively, and to
diffuse tensions more directly.

25. Plan for Prevention
1. Keep using lessons learned.
2. Focus on transparent communication.
3. “No gossip” zone.
4. Handle conflicts as they surface; don’t allow them
to fester.
5. Recognize they can solve problems with positive,
innovative solutions.

26. Case Study #3
RESOLVING INDIVIDUAL CONFLICT:
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT COACHING

27. Context of Conflict
 Bryant is the office manager of a 50 person start up.
 Company has grown rapidly over the past year.
 With recent expansion, he is frustrated and stressed.
 This stress has affected his communication skills,
conflict management skills, and how he is perceived.

28. Key Stakeholders in the Conflict
 Bryant the office manager
 Bryant’s manager
 Bryant’s internal customers (employees who work
for company)

29. Conflict Analysis
 As Bryant’s stress level increased (due to higher
volume of work, more people to serve and rapid
change), he struggled with communication, conflict
management and stress management.
 The environmental changes required Bryant to make
behavioral changes and he needed assistance with
that.
 What once worked for him was no longer working
well.

30. Conflict Resolution Process
 Bryant, his manager and I spoke to establish
confidentiality, communication guidelines and goals
for the work.
 We agreed I would meet with Bryant for 4 one-hour
sessions, and then assess progress.
 Goals for the work: increase awareness of
communication, to improve customer service skills,
to manage stress more effectively.

31. How Conflict Was Resolved
Pivotal points throughout the coaching process:
 Bryant wanted to be perceived as receptive and
dependable to others.
 Bryant was motivated to learn and make changes.
 Discussed how to repair relationships with
employees – ways to boost his positive “PR”.
 He put new boundaries in place with employees.
These boundaries decreased his sense of overwhelm
and allowed him to better serve employees.

32. How Conflict Was Resolved
 Identified his emotional triggers. Implemented the
tool “Stop,Think, React”.
 Discussed the art of discernment: When to let
something go and when to address it?
 Bryant reported feeling better about himself, and his
interactions with others were more positive and
productive.
 When a conflict occurred, he was better able to
respond from a calm place.
 He reported better self-observation.

33. Plan for Prevention
1. To continue to use the tools, skills and self-
awareness he had been practicing.
2.To talk to his manager when feeling overwhelmed
with his workload.

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