Effective Conflict Management

Effective Conflict Management
Misty Filippelli
Communication and Conflict
Dr. Pedersen
August 3, 2009

This paper explores in detail the elements that make up the effective management of conflicts. It includes a discussion of the role that communication plays within conflict process views, and the kinds of devices of communication that are effective in bringing about, in a harmonious fashion, the resolution of conflicts.
The reality of the world is that, as individuals that have unique preferences, physiologies, psychologies, and ways of approaching and dealing with the world, conflicts are a natural consequence of and occurrence in human interaction. There is therefore a need for people to employ different forms of conflict management in order to live sanely, and in order to be able to coexist and thrive together with other people in a community. In the text Managing Conflict Through Communication, conflict management is described as “the behavior a person employs based on his or her analysis of a conflict situation,” with emphasis on the words “behavior” and “situation,” which have special connotations in the theory relating to conflict management. The two concepts are said to be intrinsic in events that follow one after another in series, and which, when viewed together, can be taken as the progression of a larger phenomenon that is occurring in stages or phases. Conflict then can be viewed likewise as a reality that occurs in phases or stages, and as such the whole of conflict and conflict management can be thought of as a process. (This is a very nicely written, concise and accurate description of the idea of conflict as a process.) For example, where the series of steps in the conflict process repeats over and over, one begins to discern the pattern that is thought of in the literature as cyclical, or comprising a cycle. The view of conflict as a process then begets the notion that conflict occurs in phases or stages, as discussed above, and one that can repeat itself as a cycle. There are special considerations for when conflicts become cyclical, and such occurrences are rich mines for insights with regard to the nature of conflict and what it can take to manage conflicts properly. Process and phase views of conflict, on the other hand, can also be regarded as discrete and mutually exclusive views, with one yielding insights and conclusions that may differ markedly from the insights and conclusions that can be derived from the other view of what conflict is (Cahn & Abigail, 2007, pp. 152-154).

The elements of effective conflict management can be derived from the process and phase views of conflict. Apart from a determination of what the components of effective conflict management are, it is important to be able to understand the dynamics of conflict and a phase and process view of conflict aids in providing a framework with which to understand what conflict is. With a profound understanding of conflict, and an understanding that is functional and lends itself to thorough and useful analyses of conflict, one becomes better able to handle conflict, and to manage conflict successfully and well. The text stresses this point thus (Cahn & Abigail, 2007, p. 153):
But managing conflict effectively also requires that we pay attention to the process of the conflict itself. While some conflicts may escalate and get out of hand, other conflicts may de-escalate and leave partners feeling better about their relationship. Our ability to contain conflict escalation depends not only on our knowledge of particular communication behaviors, but also on our understanding of the various processes in the way a conflict unfolds (Cahn & Abigail, 2007, p. 153).

In the passage above the reference to communication is made in the same breath as the reference to conflict as a process, and this is owing to the fact that the texts links the two as intrinsically tied and having a deep relationship with one another. One way the two are related is that each focus area, communication and the view of conflict as process, add depth to the understanding of the nature of conflict and the proper way to manage conflict towards it s successful resolution. This is one take on the passage above (Cahn & Abigail, 2007, p. 153).
The take from the above line of thought is that effective conflict management entails properly understanding conflict and having the right perspective on what conflict is. In this regard understanding conflict means understanding the process nature of conflict in its two forms, one destructive and one constructive. Constructive conflict processes follow distinct phases or stages, and the same can be said of destructive conflict processes. Being able to understand and differentiate one from the other is essential to effective conflict management. In constructive conflicts, for instance, the literature defines several distinct conflict stages or phases, which lead to the successful resolution of the conflict. Those five stages are conflict prelude; triggering event; phase of initiation; phase of differentiation; and the phase of resolution. Of interest in this process approach to viewing conflict are the components of the conflict prelude, and the thought that external conditions and other situational realities tied to the conflicting parties and the situation itself can have large impacts on how a conflict evolves. In the conflict prelude phase, such factors as the particular personalities, attitudes, individual quirks, beliefs, and other such factors of the participants to the conflict can have large impacts on the course that conflicts take, and the ease or difficulty with which the conflict process resolves itself. Other relevant factors at this stage also include the nature of the relationship of the parties in conflict; the social and physical environment where the conflict transpires; and the third parties that are included in the sphere of activities. Effective conflict management entails an awareness of the different phases of the conflict process, as discussed above, as well as an awareness of how the different components and factors that are relevant in the conflict prelude phase can shape the course of the conflict, and therefore can influence the nature of the conflict management strategies employed to resolve the conflict and guide it through the process well (Cahn & Abigail, 2007, p. 153-158).
In the same manner, effective knowledge of what makes up the different stages or phases of the conflict process, as discussed above, makes it possible for a person or a party to be able to manage the entire conflict well, by being able to come up with informed interventions at different stages of the conflict process. For example, in the differentiation phase, knowledge of the way the different parties in a conflict employ differing strategies to sway the conflict process in their favor enables one to be able to identify those strategies in action, and therefore be in a position to offer interventions to either enhance or blunt the effectiveness of the strategies, depending on what the aims of the conflict management is. Presumably the aim is to defuse the tension and the conflict, and move it towards a speedy and desirable resolution, where all the conflicting parties end up in the best shape possible. At any rate, knowledge of the strategies in this phase, as well as general knowledge of the nature of the differentiation and resolution phases of the conflict process, gives one enormous leverage when trying to successfully get a handle on conflict, and being able to manage the conflict process well (Cahn & Abigail, 2007, p. 153-160).

References
Cahn, D.D., & Abigail, R.A. (2007). Managing Conflict Through Communication (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.