Minnaar & Associates cc: Conflict Management

MODULE 8 : CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

The importance of conflict management: The American Management Association reported the following after completing a survey: Managers spend 24% of their time dealing with conflict Managers regard conflict management of equal or slightly higher importance than planning, communication, motivation and decision-making People differ with regard to their personalities, background, training, leadership styles, convictions and beliefs. In an organisation employees have to meet common goals, therefore it is inevitable that they will experience conflict when they start to communicate. Conflict in a department or organisation is not necessarily a negative symptom or an indication that there is something wrong. A certain degree of conflict is healthy and increases both the motivation and the productivity of employees. Excessive conflict and the inability of managers and subordinates to handle conflict effectively, leads to poor relationships; and a decrease in productivity. Conflicts can be time-consuming, emotionally draining, it affects the quality of your life and it creates unnecessary stress if you do not know how to handle it constructively. Advantages of constructive conflict resolution skills: Effective conflict management unleashes creativity, increases innovativeness and motivation and due to the fact that the opposing parties get to know each other better, relationships improve.

COURSE CONTENTS

Identify your preferred/dominant conflict resolution style(s) Overcome negative feelings, expectations and attitudes with regard to conflict Learn how to anticipate and prevent unnecessary conflict Develop a sensitivity to the feelings and opinions of the other party Prevent a conflict from becoming destructive Coping more effectively with your own emotions Handling the emotions and manipulative or aggressive tactics of the other party Manage conflict with greater self-confidence and skill Develop greater flexibility to switch to other, more appropriate conflict resolution styles Master the ultimate win-win approach to conflict resolution The objective is not to eliminate conflict, but to apply conflict management to the advantage of the parties involved. The course is based on behaviour modulation principles and includes case studies, practical exercises and role-plays. In order to maintain the attention of participants, there is variation and more practical exercises than theoretical lectures. Duration of course One-day Number of Delegates A minimum of six and maximum of ten delegates per training session is recommended.