Yesterday was the last day of my communication training. Unlike the first day, this time around I couldn’t be inside the class all the time. Urgent matters keep on popping up, making me left the class intermittently.

Although I was on and off with the class, I was lucky that my team helping me filling in the gaps. The topic was about conflict handling. We discussed on issues like what should we do if our team members involved in conflict? What should we do if we are actually involved in a conflict? How to handle conflict professionally?

First, when I said conflict, I mean unresolved disagreement between two person. Or, there is no disagreement, but one side hold a grudge against the other. Any conflict is advisably should be solved immediately. The longer the conflict remains unresolved, the more explosive it might become.

If we saw an open altercation between two members of our team, we need to do the following:

1. Separate the two person. Ask who want to talk first.
2. The other person shall wait in different room. Get another manager/supervisor within the same rank as us to talk to this other person
3. Find out the root cause of the conflict. Was there any previous disputes between these two?
4. Verify any facts/opinion stated by both sides
5. Must maintain our fairness and objectivity
6. Brainstorm together for the best win-win possible solution. If not, align the solution with Company’s goal
7. Make sure both sides can accept the solution, make them sign in black and white if necessary

We can based on Thomas-Kilmann model when searching for the solution of a conflict:

If possible, we should always start with Compromising. Then as we go along, we also brainstorm aiming to reach Collaborating.

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