Assessing Your Conflict Style
In any particular conflict, the actions and reactions of the parties involved contribute to the likelihood that a resolution will quickly occur. Some individuals prefer to ignore a situation as long as possible in the hopes that it will simply resolve itself. Others might have short fuses and explode at the slightest problem. Each individual is unique in his or her method for handling conflict and by understanding the different approaches; it facilitates the process of defusing the situation. For this Application you will have the opportunity to determine your dominant conflict style. Complete the "Conflict Styles Assessment" found in the Conerly article in this week's Resources. Once you have completed and scored the assessment and established your conflict approach, review the information concerning your type of approach.
Discuss your conflict style and what you learned about it.
COLLABORATING - BOTH ASSERTIVE AND COOPERATIVE
Do you think it accurately describes you? YES
If so-in what ways? If not-why not?
What conflict style(s) exhibited by others do you believe are most difficult for you to work with, and why? How can you plan ahead for potential encounters that you anticipate may be more difficult based on these differences?
How does what you have learned influence your perception of yourself as a manager?
Add at least one additional attribute important to successful conflict resolution to the following list, and justify why it should be included, based on your experience and research. Then rank the list of attributes in order of most to least useful in resolving conflict. Substantiate your reasoning for your rankings based on your research and experience.
- Ability to take charge
- Ability to work with others
- Empathy
- Intuition
- Knowledge of the situation
- Trust
- Others?
How might your answer depend on the situation or type of conflict? How does your assessment of the important attributes for a manager compare or contrast with your conflict style preferences and what implications does that have for you in the role of manager?
Present your conclusions in a 2-3 page paper.