Don't Let Morale Suffer:
Schedule a Conflict Management Workshop

Conflict is present in every organization, and if people are resolving their conflicts with win-win outcomes, the result is effective teamwork. But if conflicts aren't resolved, working relationships erode and the result is a growing morale problem that needs attention. The best way to get the right kind of attention is to schedule a conflict management workshop.

Applying Positive Energy to the Problem

An organization is an ecosystem where behaviors and attitudes have an affect on the whole group. The best way to make positive changes is through focused education and positive interaction. Our conflict management workshops involve everyone in the process of behavioral change and personal growth.

Have You Noticed These Conflict Styles in Your Organization? When people find themselves reacting rather than responding to conflict, they develop and reinforce ineffective conflict styles. YOU may even exhibit these styles from time to time: The Passive Conflict Style When these people encounter people and situations they don't like, they keep quiet. They don't want to "make waves," so they hold it in. They feel victimized and powerless, used and abused. They tend to run and re-run internal dialogues about how awful the situation is and what they should do about it. All the while, resentment is building up steam. Finally they may blow up, and to others, it came out of nowhere... but it was there all along, passively growing day by day. The Aggressive Conflict Style You know when these people are upset. Usually you can hear it down the hall. Short-tempered and volatile, they simply fly off the handle when they engage in interpersonal conflict. Afterwards, they may wish they hadn't said what they said, but they are quick to rationalize and justify their actions through "smokescreen" blaming. The Passive-Aggressive Conflict Style These people use elements of the passive style, in that they hold in their reactions. When you look at their face, you can tell there's a problem; but if you confront them, they'll tell you there's no problem. However, this is where the similarity to the passive style ends. Passive-aggressive people don't get mad... they get even! And there are so many ways of getting even. They may start some malicious gossip about the person they are angry with. They may use subtle sabotage to get even with their boss. Or they might set the score straight by stealing supplies from their company. If you ask them whether their actions were purposefully aimed at getting even, they will deny it every time. Often they even deny it to themselves. Conflict Management & the Moment of Truth We all exhibit reactive conflict styles from time to time - usually unconsciously. Real change happens when you catch yourself in a "moment of truth." The moment of truth occurs when you actually see yourself in the moment, playing out one of these old roles based on your past conditioning. In the moment of truth, you have the power to make a choice to get out of your reactive role and respond to the situation. Our workshops help people to see themselves, and to recognize the many ways they actually sabotage their own success, happiness, relationships and careers through unconscious role-playing. DISC Assessments & Behavioral Style Training Many of our conflict management workshops include behavioral style training based on the DISC model. If you are interested in more information, please visit our DISC Training Workshops website.

Your team's involvement in our full-day workshops actually begins one week prior to the training session, with behavioral and communication style assessments. Each participant completes a 15-minute online survey and receives a 20-page personal profile based on the DISC model. Since everyone will be taking the assessment, co-workers naturally begin sharing the content of their profiles. The profiles accurately outline each individual's behavioral traits, communication habits and preferences, as well as their own particular conflict style. By the day of the workshop, most participants have already been considering their own conflict management behavior patterns.

In the workshop, Roger Reece addresses the negative and the positive sides of conflict. He addresses specific issues and situations, and offers alternative methods for dealing with conflict. Through stand-up training, facilitated discussions, role play, group activities and exercises, Roger brings a consistent message home: "Everyone needs to change."

Our workshops are fun, entertaining, challenging and highly effective. They cause every participant to begin thinking and talking about effective conflict management, and they serve as a catalyst for bringing positive energy and lasting change to your organization.

A Conflict Management Workshop for Your Group

Regardless of the size of your group, we can tailor a workshop to fit your needs - there is no limit to the number of participants. If your group is small (2-6 people), or if you are interested in one-on-one training, we also offer conflict management coaching workshops. Although we recommend a full-day workshop, we do offer condensed two-hour and half-day programs as well. If you are interested in a more in-depth program, we also offer conflict management workshops in a two-day format.

Although we tailor the content of every workshop to meet the needs of your group, each workshop includes our core conflict management content.

Workshop participants will learn how to:

• Uncover hidden resentments in themselves and in others
• Recognize and avoid self-destructive behavior patterns
• Become more assertive in effectively dealing with conflicts when they arise
• Resolve minor conflicts before they grow into major crises
• Break the habits of blaming, accusation, defensiveness and rationalization
• Repair damaged relationships
• Negotiate win-win solutions to difficult problems with difficult people

The key learning points in our conflict management workshops include:

• The value of relationships and the role of healthy conflict
• Coping strategies and your coping style
• Differentiating between conflict, disagreement and confrontation
• Alternatives to fight, flight or submit
• Setting and communicating personal boundaries
• Identifying and owning your emotions
• Recognizing your reactive behaviors and how they are triggered
• Dealing with positive and negative criticism
• Understanding anger, timing and the dynamics of emotional conflict
• Transforming the negative energy of anger into a positive, productive force
• Truth vs. fiction: the destructive power of imagination
• Self-defense: what you meant vs. the net result
• When agreement disguises itself as disagreement
• When and how to confront someone about a problem
• Winning the battle, losing the war and being dead right
• The way of Aikido in conflict resolution
• Turning conflict into collaboration
• A win-win framework for negotiating
• Resolution, compromise and agreeing to disagree
• Focusing on goals, roles and procedures rather than personal/emotional issues
• When and how to escalate interpersonal conflicts
• Conflicts between you and your boss
• Conflicts between you and your employees
• When to get involved: mediation and third-party interventions
• Revisiting and healing unresolved conflicts
• The nature and value of teamwork

If you are interested in learning more about our conflict management workshops, contact us by email or phone. We will send you information about our fees and options in terms of content and format.

Making Conflict Management Fun

Conflict management is a serious topic, and needs to be taken seriously. Our workshops are clear, direct, practical and very serious. They are also fun. People learn more readily when they are enjoying themselves, and Roger Reece knows how to keep the keep the atmosphere from becoming heavy or tedious. He uses humor and colorful stories from his corporate management career, as well as his personal life, to lighten the mood. He also includes group activities to involve each person and to make the workshop fun. If you're interested in combining team-building activities with your workshop, please visit our Team Building Workshops website for more ideas about making this a really fun event.

An Ongoing Conflict Management Program

Is a conflict management workshop the magic button that will make your problems go away? No. But it's a great start. We close each workshop with a final exercise: each participant completes an action plan for personal change. We have designed the program so your managers and supervisors can work with their team members individually and in groups to reinforce the training and see that the action plans are taken seriously. We are also available for consulting, coaching and followup workshops. Let us work with you to lay out an effective program for ongoing conflict management training and support.

Don't Allow Conflict to Reduce Productivity

Conflict should be a normal, healthy part of daily interaction in your organization. If it is creating a problem in terms of morale and productivity, do something about it. Contact us today to schedule a conflict management workshop for your organization.