Timing and Other Hints
Employee Alignment and Education (Communicating with Internal Stakeholders)
In a conflict
situation, timing is very important:
Make sure that
the other person has ample time to listen to you and ask the other person if it is a good
time to talk. If you don’t have the
luxury of time because you are trying to meet an important deadline, resolve the conflict
to the best of your ability in the moment and then take time later to process more fully.
Choose a quiet
place and time to talk where you have privacy. Don’t
try and chat in front of others unless the conflict is a group issue.
Remember these
additional hints:
Try and cool off and allow
others to do the same. Take this break even if
you only have five minutes to spare.
Try and empathize with your
counterpart. Try and distance yourself enough
from your own emotions to understand where the other person is coming from.
Seek compromise whenever
possible. Again, win-win solutions are the
best option when possible.
Try to find a number of
alternative solutions to the conflict situation. People
can expend a great deal of energy trying to defend a position if they think it is the only
solution to the problem.
Be sure to listen carefully. On the next slide, you will find specific
guidelines for listening during conflict situations.