This article has been written by Vivek Tewari pursuing a Remote freelancing and profile building program from Skill Arbitrage.

This article has been edited and published by Shashwat Kaushik.

Introduction

Think of the word ‘conflict’ and immediately the mind comes up with violent images of war—of exploding bombs, ruined towns, and columns of refugees trudging across smoke-filled landscapes. If you are (and we sincerely hope that you are) of a less violent bent of mind, maybe you think of violence as it happens at a more mundane level—fights among friends, workplace conflict, or disputes among neighbours. In no context, however, does conflict present a pretty picture. Hence the natural desire to not want to be in a situation that would lead to conflict. This, thus, brings us to the important concept of conflict management and the strategies we can use towards that end.

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Definition and scope

Let us begin by quickly defining what we mean by conflict management. We will follow this up by looking at what falls within the purview of conflict management.

In simple terms, ‘conflict management’ is how we can address, resolve, and hopefully prevent the recurrence of conflict. Additionally, for some practitioners, identifying potential sources of conflict even before they occur is also a crucial part of the conflict management process. Put this way, conflict management is both a science and an art.

The scope of conflict management is extensive, including (but not limited to) conflicts between nations, organisations, groups, or individuals—conflicts that can be either personal or professional. While discussing scope, it is important to remember that conflict management does not imply conflict avoidance. Nor does it mean sweeping conflicting issues under the carpet to avoid unpleasantness. The objective is to proactively deal with and resolve conflicts in a fair, objective, and collaborative manner, leading to mutually acceptable outcomes.

Keeping this basic point in mind, let us now move on to discussing the basic strategies for conflict management.

Strategies for conflict management

There are basically two broad kinds of strategies for managing conflict:

  • Reactive strategies: This group includes strategies for managing conflict once it has occurred. For instance, identifying causes of a conflict, calling together all parties to a conflict, and brainstorming to find common ground among the conflicting interests, to name but a few.
  • Proactive strategies: These are strategies that are in place to try to prevent conflict from flaring up in the first place. Often, these involve what may be termed ‘institutional measures’ such as having a dedicated forum or channel where aggrieved parties meet to discuss grievances.

We will now discuss each of these groupings in detail.

Reactive strategies for managing conflict

As mentioned above, reactive strategies are what may be termed ‘after the fact’ methods to manage conflict. These include:

Identifying the causes of conflict: This is often the place to begin if you want to effectively deal with discord and conflict. Since conflicts invariably happen among people—whether individuals or groups—it is important to understand the reasons that led to conflict in the first place.

Let us take a brief look at common causes of conflict. These include:

  • Differences of opinion on the matter under discussion.
  • Differences in understanding about the issue(s) at hand.
  • Different expectations with respect to results or outcomes form a certain scenario.
  • Differences of personality or temperament among different parties involved.
  • Feelings of being cheated or shortchanged in a deal or agreement.

Understanding the different causes of conflicts is important, as this makes it easier to design appropriate and effective strategies aimed at managing any resultant dissent.

For instance, it should be easy for us to see that not all of the causes listed above would require the same strategy for resolution. Managing a conflict arising from differing expectations would require a different strategy than managing one due to a personality clash between key stakeholders. Accordingly, the resulting strategies would also have to be tailored differently.

Bringing the conflicting parties together for a discussion: This step is extremely crucial in a situation where conflict has already occurred. As we have seen in the common causes of conflict listed above, a lot of conflicts can be traced to misunderstandings and miscommunication. Thus, bringing together people in a setting that allows for open and respectful communication is a necessary step in conflict management. Moreover, giving people a chance to have their say and air their views often helps to lower the tension and feelings of antipathy that often accompany conflict.

Encouraging a spirit of cooperation and compromise: A necessary follow-up to getting people together for a discussion is to then encourage a spirit of cooperation rather than confrontation. Effective communication plays an important role here as well.

Invoking the bigger picture: It often happens that during a disagreement or conflict, people get hemmed in by their individual concerns and challenges. Reminding them to see the bigger picture makes it easier for people to come to a compromise.

Keeping the focus on finding solutions: This is another important step in conflict resolution as it gives a common goal for conflicting parties to work towards. It helps keep the discussions on point and encourages people to try to step beyond their own narrow concerns in the interest of finding a solution.

Proactive strategies for managing conflict

As mentioned earlier, proactive strategies for managing conflict are geared towards trying to minimise the chances of conflicts arising in the first place. Often, this requires a very structured approach. There need to be clear rules and guidelines set down regarding open channels of communication. Similarly, details of the points of contact, a well-defined chain of command, available methods of escalation, and joint forums where all difficult issues can be brought up and discussed are all crucial parts of a package for dealing proactively with conflicts. We will now look at these in detail.

A well-defined channel of communication: One of the most effective ways of preventing conflict is to have clear and open communication among people. A well-defined chain of communication with clear rules and guidelines can go a long way in promoting this. If expectations and goals can be communicated clearly, the chances of confusion and misunderstandings can be drastically reduced.

A well-structured mechanism of escalation: In case there does arise an issue that could lead to conflict, having a well-defined method of escalation also helps to prevent differences of opinion from going out of hand. If an individual knows ‘who to take up’ a certain issue with, then they can do so—whether it is to ask for more clarity or to more emphatically raise their own concerns.

A common forum for open discussions: Transparency and openness are important factors that can be used to nip conflict in the bud. Such values promote an environment of trust, which in turn promotes a culture wherein people are more open to listening to others.

A culture focused on collaboration and problem solving: Building a culture that emphasises collaboration rather than conflict and one-upmanship also helps to minimise people. This is, by default, a longer-term initiative. Yet, it is one that can be among the most effective ways to manage conflict if it does break out.

Building an esprit de corps: Consistent and constant emphasis on reminding people that the group is actually a team can foster an esprit de corps. This is defined as the “enthusiastic devotion of members to a group and strong regard for the honour of the group” .

Conflict resolution

Having discussed the finer details of conflict management, we will now look at two broad strategies that involve some degree of combining the more specific strategies discussed above. These can be thought of as comprising a broader, more formal framework that can be used for conflict resolution. The use of the term resolution’ here ought to make it clear that these frameworks, discussed below, invariably operate in a post-conflict scenario.

Mediation

Mediation is a process or framework wherein the parties involved in conflict bring in a third party to help resolve the situation. It is imperative that the third party being brought in to act as a mediator be neutral in its stance. The mediator cannot in any way have a vested interest in helping resolve the conflict one way or another.

It is important to remember that the mediator does not function as a decision-making authority. The role of the mediator is basically that of a facilitator. In this capacity, the mediator should be the one to ensure that the basic strategies for conflict management discussed above are followed properly. Thus, it falls to the mediator to see that the parties communicate openly and freely, that the participants focus on the bigger picture, etc.

If done skilfully, mediation can help different parties to a conflict better understand each other’s concerns and viewpoints. This in itself would be half the battle won since then everyone involved can work towards finding mutually acceptable solutions.

Arbitration

The second framework we are going to look at is arbitration. While the process of arbitration shares some features in common with mediation, there are also fundamental differences between the two processes.

The common factor is that, just as in mediation, arbitration also involves the participation of a third party in the conflict resolution process.

The big difference here, however, is that in mediation, the party brought in as the mediator does not make any decision regarding how the conflict is to be resolved. In cases of arbitration, the third-party arbitrator is authorised to make a decision. Not only that, the decision is also binding upon the parties to the conflict. Moreover, decisions taken in this manner are legally enforceable.

Conclusion

Thus, we can see that there are several methods that one can use to manage conflict. Whether the approach that one goes for is reactive or proactive—listening, keeping an open mind, being willing to collaborate, and compromising in the interests of the bigger picture are some of the common traits that are essential in conflict management and resolution. This applies at all levels and across a whole spectrum of human activity. The parties involved can be individuals, families, organisations, or even entire countries and groups of nations. Whichever strategy one opts for to resolve conflict, the objective remains the same: the maintenance of cordial relations and harmony.

References

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