Unit 2: Communicating to Resolve Conflict
Now that you understand the basics of conflict management and negotiation, we will review how to use communications skills to address managing these skills. We will look at situations that might occur during the negotiation process and how those can be addressed through communication. The better we can communicate during the negotiation process without emotion or bias, the better the outcome will be for all involved.
Considering cultural differences is also important because how we respond in a specific situation may differ from how everyone responds. In addition, we will discuss international differences that are important to consider in the negotiation process. These issues and more will be addressed as we move through the second unit in this course.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 9 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- examine the communication skills needed to resolve a conflict;
- examine how to successfully conduct a difficult conversation;
- evaluate why cultural differences will be a factor to consider in a negotiation; and
- examine how emotions and bias affect the negotiation process.
2.1: Using Communications Skills in Conflict Management and Negotiation
Good communication skills allow open dialogue between coworkers, departments, and companies. Companies always want to hire managers and leaders with good communication skills, so learning how to develop those skills is key. A leader with good communication skills may resolve conflict more easily because they have built a sense of trust with the people needed to resolve a conflict. This section will review using communication skills and determining needs for a negotiation.
Read about communication and conflict resolution on this page. As you read through the examples of conflict, try to apply these to your personal and work life, and think about what you would do in these situations. Answer each question and complete the example scenario. How can you apply these concepts to your job or personal life?
Negotiations can be disconcerting for even the most experienced negotiator. Learning how to assert your needs is important. This section discusses how you can assert your needs and explains the different communication styles. It is important to recognize communication styles as you observe them during the negotiation process, and understanding what they are is an important step. Answer the questions and think about how you might respond in each circumstance.
In a negotiation, it is important to determine needs from the perspective of both sides of the conflict. This may be done in an initial meeting by simply asking what each side needs and, perhaps ideally, what they might want from the negotiation. Using good listening skills during this time will be key to resolving the conflict. Read this section for further information about determining needs in a negotiation.
2.2: Asking Questions
Asking questions is an important part of any negotiation. This process helps each side understand what the other side needs and might also want from the process.
You must ask questions during the negotiation process to be able to address and resolve the conflict properly. Questions allow for a greater understanding of the issue and will lead to a better negotiation process. Read this section about why you should ask questions to determine needs.
Depending on the conflict, the questions you ask will differ. It is important to listen to each side carefully to gather basic information so that you know what questions to ask to resolve the issue. Read this section and answer the concept check questions at the end.
After you understand the conflict well and what the other side needs, the next step is to see what information you can gather about the situation. Your additional research will depend on the conflict and how well you understand the issues. Read this section and answer the concept check questions at the end.
2.3: Handling Difficult Conversations
Sometimes as a leader, you must have difficult conversations with employees, other managers, your supervisor, or those outside your company. A difficult conversation can be one in which you must stop or correct behavior that negatively affects your team members. Another example is salary negotiation. Another might be that you need to terminate an employee after many difficult conversations that did not see any progress. These conversations require a delicate touch and some nerve to bring up a topic that might be difficult for all involved. This section addresses those conversations, confronting the conflict, and using or developing your conflict management style.
This page gives some background on why dealing with conflict is so important and covers the five conflict management styles and how they deal with conflict.
It is important to confront difficult conversations before these issues progress and the situation spins out of control. By confronting the issue before it develops, you can control it and resolve it before it becomes an issue that cannot be resolved. This video shares eight steps to having those difficult conversations.
It is important to confront difficult conversations before these issues progress and the situation spins out of control. By confronting the issue before it develops, you can control it and resolve it before it becomes an issue that cannot be resolved. These videos demonstrate how to have those difficult conversations.
2.4: Addressing Emotions
Emotions play a pivotal role in addressing conflict during a negotiation. People get angry and may raise their voices, threaten, or cry. Depending on the conflict issue, employees may feel they have something to lose in the negotiation. And sometimes, what they feel they will lose may not be what the conflict is about. For example, an employee may feel they will lose the respect of their coworkers, and even though they may not care about the actual conflict, they will fight it to earn or keep that respect. This section is about addressing emotions during conflict resolution.
During negotiations, many emotions may arise while attempting to resolve conflict. Emotions must be considered when in the middle of a conflict because they can influence the outcomes considerably. In many cases, emotions can overcome reason, and as a leader, you must consider this to keep an effective balance. In this interesting first video in a series by Dr. Lana Staheil, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust are emotions to consider during a negotiation.
It is important to maintain positive emotions during a conflict. As a leader, you can help manage the emotions involved in the negotiation process. This short video about conflict explains how you can maintain a positive attitude, and in turn, others involved in the conflict may follow your example.
Sometimes negative emotions can be useful in a negotiation. This can be seen when the issue that is in conflict has a negative connotation, and people may get more involved if the issue is negative and help to resolve the issue. For example, an animal shelter may have a kill policy after a specific amount of time has passed with no adoption. Advertisers may use a negative-based commercial to appeal to consumers to help donate money to help animals avoid being killed. In this interesting case study about negative emotions on Facebook, positive posts generate a positive response, while negative posts equal a negative response. Answer the critical thinking questions at the end of the case study.
2.5: Understanding Bias
Bias plays a role in any conflict as you try to come to a resolution. For example, if you supervise several people involved in a conflict, you may like one of the employees involved in the conflict and make a decision based on those feelings. You may be unaware of these feelings and your personal bias, or you may be fully aware of that bias and may not care.
Personal bias can change the outcome of a conflict, and, as a manager, you must be aware of this bias and what you do about it. If your employees feel that you may favor one employee over another, they may be less likely to speak up when any situation involves that employee, and you will lose the trust of your employees. For example, a manager takes over a new job and hires friends she has worked with before. The manager does not hold these people accountable for the same issues that other employees may get into trouble for, or she may promote these people more easily. In contrast, more qualified individuals are not promoted. This builds a lack of trust within the team, and people may leave if they don't believe they have an equal chance of getting a promotion. Read this section about the different types of bias and how personal bias might change based on circumstances.
There are different types of bias in the workplace to be aware of, and some may be made unconsciously. These biases might include age, beauty, culture, gender, weight, attribution, confirmation, or affinity. As a manager, you must be aware that these biases may unconsciously affect your decision-making or in the middle of a conflict. They must be acknowledged as you try to remain unbiased in the negotiation process. It is also important to note that some biases may be a conflict of interest. This page explains a few of these biases and how they may be seen as a conflict of interest.
As a manager, you must recognize bias and understand that when managing your team, managing conflict, or during any negotiation. Read this section (and watch the video) about understanding and overcoming personal bias. How has bias affected the negotiation process in your experiences? What did you learn?
2.6: Considering Cultural Differences
Another factor to consider in conflict management and negotiation is cultural differences. People from different cultures will interact in varying ways, and at times, some people may take offense at how a person from another culture reacts or communicates. Understanding the culture of the people involved in your negotiation is vital to successfully resolving the situation.
Understanding how cultural differences play into a conflict or negotiation is important to ensure success and resolve any issues. If one person on your team is originally from another country, they may not react to issues in the department like those from the United States (US). Understanding their background may help you to communicate better and move the negotiation forward. If you are in a negotiation with someone from another country, it will be important to do your research about mannerisms, habits, and cultural differences between the people in the negotiation.
Keeping a diverse workforce allows for different opinions and ways of conducting business. Employees from different cultural backgrounds add depth to any business in any organization. This video discusses why diversity, equity, and inclusion are important to consider at work.Addressing cultural values, beliefs, and norms is important in any negotiation and when managing conflict on your team. If you have someone on your team with a different culture than everyone else, it will be your responsibility to help that employee feel welcome in your department. Any issues between employees will need to be resolved quickly. This page about social norms explains the differences expected when communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds.
Addressing cultural differences is important to keep conflict to a minimum or navigate through a negotiation. Sometimes this might mean understanding who you will be negotiating with and what background those people may have and then conducting your research about that culture or social norms. For example, in Japan, it is common for businesspeople to position their heads very close to one another while speaking. The US has an arm-length space barrier, and they do not invade someone else's personal space. If a negotiation occurs between people from these two countries, and a person from Japan moves in too closely, the other may naturally react by moving backward or away, which may be offensive to someone from Japan. Understanding these differences and making accommodations will help to move the negotiation forward without incident. Read this section and answer the concept check questions at the end.
International negotiations can be complicated, and it is important to understand who will attend the negotiation and how it will be organized. A good understanding of what will occur needs to be known upfront. Having a good understanding of the people and what country they are from will help to understand how to approach the negotiations. Read this section. The second chart is interesting because you can see the vast differences in how people from North America, Japan, Taiwan, and Brazil might respond to preparing for a meeting and their focus. Understanding and considering these differences is important when planning an international negotiation. This section addressed international considerations and how they may affect the negotiation process. What information should be considered when a negotiation occurs between a Japanese and an American company? What about other countries or cultures?
Unit 2 Summary
This unit covered how important it is to retain open communication during a conflict resolution, understand bias, and address emotions that may arise during a negotiation. The next unit will cover creating a plan for negotiation and using positive outcomes.
Unit 2 Study Resources
This review video is an excellent way to review what you've learned so far and is presented by one of the professors who created the course.
Watch this as you work through the unit and prepare to take the final exam.
- Unit 2 Review Slides File PDF document
You can also download the presentation slides so you can make notes.
We also recommend that you review this Study Guide before taking the Unit 2 Assessment.
Unit 2 Assessment
- Receive a grade
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.