Two hours of the seminar are concentrated on the model of five approaches to conflict management from the perspective of their relative emphasis on cooperativeness and assertiveness (similar to figure 2-18 on page 344 in Organizational Behavior course e-text). .
The approaches include the following: Avoid, Accommodate, Compete, Compromise, and Collaborate.
Avoid-Withdrawal from the conflict or failure to take a position.
Many people avoid conflict because they are afraid of the outcome. They think that if they just ignore the situation it will get better. Avoidance may also occur if someone is unaware that others experience the conflict and have opposing needs, interests, and ideas.
Accommodate-Overlook your own concerns and allow others to obtain what they want.
Accommodation, or lack of assertiveness, may be confused with politeness. It may take the form of selfless generosity, obeying another person's order when you would prefer not to, or yielding to another person's point of view.
Compete- A person defends his or her position vigorously and strives to obtain objectives at the expense of others.
Competing, in this context, is used to find weakness in other people's arguments, to counterattack, to undercut, and to make one's own views and interests to dominate.
Compromise- Each side gives up part of his or her objectives.
Compromise means splitting the differences, exchanging concessions, or seeking a middle ground position. Settlement may not fully satisfy either sides, but both agree that it is best resolution.
Collaborate- People accept each other's objectives and then work together to achieve the best outcome for all.
Each party takes responsibility for the conflict. The people concerned have a desire for everyone to be satisfied. They work together to find a creative solution to a problem.
My professional experience at TEA has shown that many conflicts had to be solved "vertically-, where the involvement of a supervisor or a manager was required.
