Conflict Resolution Articles

Mary Carol read the email from Tisha and was really annoyed. She had just met with Tisha yesterday and everything seemed fine. Now here was this really harsh email. It made no sense.

You have worked side-by-side with your team for quite some time and the good news is that it has been truly enjoyable. You get along, you work hard together and you laugh hard together. Lucky you, this might even be an example of a high performing team. You assumed it was because you had so much in common. Then one day the inevitable occurred. The conversation turned toward religion or politics or some other high stakes topic. You were not too conce ed. After all, you get along so well and this must be because you are all so alike.

The ancient Egyptians had a fairly complicated process by which they were allowed - or not – to access what we might now call “Heaven” after their death. Among other things, they were to approach the gods of the Underworld with a series of negative affirmations: a recitation of all those things they had not done during their lifetimes. Sort of a reverse Ten Commandments as in “I have not killed,” “I have not disrespected my parents,” “I have not stolen.” And one of the negati

If you're active in real estate investing, you may already realize one of the biggest issues real estate investors face: Finding Great Deals. nnForeclosures at a 52-year High nnWith foreclosures at a 52-year high, there are thousands of deals available on the market, if you know where to find them and how to secure them. The first challenge you'll face once you locate the property is that most of these homeowners are mortgaged to the hilt. They have no equity, and big loan pa

So there you are in line at the grocery store or the hardware store or the bank. It could be anyplace really. You could be on hold waiting for a customer service representative or waiting for a meeting to begin. You have time on your hands, what do you do with that time? What time, you ask? You really do not plan on being in line or on hold or waiting for more than five minutes. It's not a large block of time. What difference can it make? The difference it makes depends on how you spend that time. Do you: - Spend it being annoyed that you have to wait?

My Husband Wants Me Out Of His Life: My Husband Is Telling Me He No Longer Wants To Be Married There are two ways you can look at an unhappy marriage. The pessimistic way to look at it is to believe that the situation is beyond redemption and irretrievable. Any attempt to save your marriage would only be a self-defeating exercise. This is not only a fatalistic point of view but also demeaning to your own morale while continuing with the pain till the bubble bursts. However, t

“Oh no, here we go again” thought Joe as his Quality Assurance Analyst Heidi approached him with his memo, complete with typos circled in red ink. He was not really annoyed by Heidi, she was just doing what she does; he mainly felt embarrassed. After all as the leader shouldn’t all of his work be perfect? He tried, he really did, but editing his own writing was just boring to him and not one of his strengths.

Conflict Resolution in the Bird World n(or how to find a win/win solution with someone who seems to be a bully.) I usually spend some of the Christmas period at my parental home in Surrey, South East England. Outside the kitchen window there is a bird feeder suspended from an apple tree. One ...

I remember it like it was yesterday. I still remember this supervisor looking at me and yelling, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WOULD NOT CHOOSE THE MINISTER?” Ok, Ok – this is a pretty old memory (from the late 1980’s), so it could be that I don’t have the details quite right. Maybe she did not really yell and maybe everyone in the room did not turn and stare at me and maybe I did not turn beet red. Or maybe some of this is how it really happened. In any case it was definitely one of my first lessons in how ALL of our various belief systems come to work with us.

In You Decide to Resolve a Conflict, Now What? (http://blog.melonicoaching.com/?p=818) we discussed some steps to take when you decide to step in and help resolve a conflict. These steps were designed to help you when you know in advance that you will be facilitating resolution.

“The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.” – Tony Blair No is not always negative. It is not a bad or incorrect response. Saying no does not make you a difficult or uncooperative person. Read that again, out loud. Saying no is more honest than a false yes, it will help you develop clarity about your intentions and it really sets you free.

Sometimes your behaviors support you and sometimes they do not. The key is to identify the supporting behaviors or opportunities so that you can use them more and to identify the behaviors that are damaging or the threats so that you can learn to prevent them. When you pay close attention to your behaviors you can learn what causes certain behaviors and what is caused by those behaviors. In terms of emotional intelligence I would say that being self-aware is what leads you to exhibiting self-control.

When you are facing a difficult decision sometimes the best thing to do is to sit back and analyze the potential outcomes from your decision. What path will each outcome create for you? Trace that path to its natural termination. Are you OK with this path? In other words: If you do X, what is the worst thing that could happen? Now, what is the best thing that could happen? Are you prepared for both scenarios?

Question: What happens when you take someone with empathy and place them in a meeting with someone who is pitching a fit? Answer: The person who is pitching the fit gets lucky because they have someone in the room who understands that sometimes others get upset in the workplace AND someone who can probably help them gracefully stop pitching that fit. Let's try another one. Question: What happens when you take someone who knows they are tired and crabby and then you invite them to a meeting to tell them bad news? Answer: If they are self-aware and they can self-regulate then you sho

I need to tell you something. I hope you don’t mind. You see, what I have to tell you might not be something you want to know. But here goes, “You are not always right.” This is my polite way of telling you that sometimes you are wrong.

So much of your life is a negotiation. At home you negotiate your children's bed times, what time dinner will be ready, whose family you visit for the holidays and many other items. At work you negotiate difficult deadlines, impossible budgets and over-allocated resources (including your own over-allocation).

You know that interrupting someone when they are speaking is really rude. If you have children you have probably worked very hard to teach them to say “Excuse me”, before they break into conversations. What about interrupting you? I wish you would.

“The thing I have learned at IBM is that culture is everything.” Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. former CEO IBM Too often I have worked with people who have joined a new organization only to crash and burn. Too often a complete and total disregard for organizational culture has played a part in this unfortunate scenario. Here is what NOT to do: - Assume that because you were hired, you have something much more special than the people already employed at your new place of business - Complain about the way they do things, call them outdated or wrong

How To Say Sorry To Husband After A Fight: How To Apologize To Your Husband After A Fight Conflicts are an unavoidable part of relationships. You can decide how to manage them and you can learn to pick your battles. But what happens when they are over? Do you apologize? Do you simmer in anger for a few days and then pretend nothing happened? What if you were not at fault for the argument? Are you sure? Before you decide that you were the injured party and your spouse is the v

Everyone experiences conflict in his or her life. It may come in the form of a disagreement with a spouse, co-worker, or a complete stranger. Whatever the case, as conflicts arise we must learn to resolve them effectively. This can be difficult because everyone has different ways of managing conflict. Some have a tendency to be very confrontational and want to resolve problems head on. Others may want to avoid conflict altogether or may beat around the bush. However, neither

Here is a New Year’s resolution you almost never hear: “This year I vow to keep everything the same, I am going to weigh the same, exercise the same, talk to all of the same people and be exactly the same.” New Year’s resolutions are about change and sometimes change is difficult. Let’s explore some of the reason you make and then avoid (or don’t keep) those resolutions. One reason for making resolutions is peer pressure. The people around us expect us to make resolutions for the New Year.

California construction contractors are in a profession that constantly remains in high demand. Because of the variety of projects that come their way and the often large scale makeup of many of them, it’s important that contractors have the proper contractor legal representation and are fully apprised of their rights. Here are some legal tips for California construction contractors.nn1. Hire the best contractor legal representation you can afford: This is not an area t

The dysfunctional workplace is a killer. Untreated it will kill off your customer base, your profits, and your joy for living as surely as anything.n nAs managers, leaders and top executives within your organization you've got to kill the conflicts in your workplace first before dysfunction takes hold.n n The Top Ten Workplace Conflicts That Disrupt Organizations - and the Cure for Each n n No. 1: No teamwork n nThe best managers lead a team – not just a group of individual

Study Spanish language to win all the competitions today. There isn't any getting away with that. Of course there are plenty of some other excellent good reasons to learn to talk Spanish language furthermore. Before committing to and time-consuming school classes, you have countless ways to discover Spanish on the web. Why do you want to find out to communicate Spanish language? Together with each day the world gets smaller and the population regarding Spanish talking people

God wants to help you keep your word. Bible Numbers 30:2 Around 1300 years before the birth of Jesus the leaders of the Israelite tribes were gathered before Moses prior to entering the promised land. Moses reminded the tribe leaders that God had kept his word and they were about to enter the land that had been promised. Their lesson that day was to teach their tribal family the importance of keeping their word, like God does; to not make promises lightly and without intentio

The Social Butterfly It seemed to John that Jane spent at least as much time away from her desk as she did at her desk. It seemed like every time he walked down the hallway he would see her speaking with someone. And she never made it through the company cafeteria without stopping to exchange greetings with several people. John had never seen most of these people before; they clearly did not work in Information Technology or represent their major user groups. John was never s

EQ is the acronym for Emotional Intelligence. So not only do you and I have an IQ (Intelligence Quotient), we also have emotional intelligence. Emotional Intelligence is not about traditional intelligence. It is about our ability to handle ourselves and others. It is all about our ability to get along with others and build relationships. The concept of EQ became popularized by Daniel Goleman in 1995. His book (also called Emotional Intelligence), helped us to understand that it is not just technical and analytical abilities that make a successful leader.

When I first saw The Secret, I had some conce s. The Law of Attraction was presented, and much of the message was what I refer to as a sunny-side-up version of it.

“Jason, did you know we were waiting for you in the conference room down the hall?” Jason looked up from his desk and then at the clock and realized that yes he did know. Somehow he just forgot. He spent most of yesterday afte oon preparing for this budget meeting. He felt really odd about being late, there was no specific reason for it, he just kind of spaced out.

With the holidays fast approaching, our emotions seem to jump all over the place. We’re excited, anxious, stressed, because there’s so much to plan, and we want the holidays to be perfect. Yet, the thought of the holiday dinner quickly reminds us of past events that have been anything but loving and peaceful. Most families have some kind of history of arguments that seem to erupt at the yearly holiday dinner table.

“Years ago, I tried to top everybody, but I don't anymore, I realized it was killing conversation. When you're always trying for a topper you aren't really listening. It ruins communication. “ Groucho Marx “I already know that.” Now there is a phrase that does not encourage conversation. In fact if someone approaches you to speak with you and you hit them with an “I already know that”; you might as well say “Go away” or “I don’t care what you think”. You just killed the conversation.

Communication is a skill that you can learn. It's like riding a bicycle or typing. If you're willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life. - Brian Tracy

It’s that time again, peace on earth and good will to all. Or at least it would be if you were not worried about those darned office parties. What are they anyway? Are they work or are they parties? Here are some tips to help you navigate the maze of professional pitfalls that lurk behind that innocent invitation to celebrate with your co-workers. Keep these tips in mind and emerge with your reputation clearer and stronger than ever before.

Each day you bring strengths and weaknesses to work. You walk into the room (virtual or otherwise) with what makes you unique. Or as the saying goes, wherever you go, there you are. That is a good thing. It is all of the elements that make you, well you; that differentiate you from others. You cannot escape yourself, but you can GROW yourself. Remember that the definition of a risk includes both positive and negative events that impact the success of your project. Let’s update that in terms of what it means to you:

“Tom I really think that when there is a technical decision to be made, it makes perfects sense for you to delegate the decision to Simon. After all he is our technical lead.” Marilyn chimed in, “I agree with Jacob. I think the trick is that you need to make it clear that you trust Simon to make the call.”

"The hardest conversations are the most important ones." India Arie wrote those words in the liner notes of her album, Testimony: Volume 2 Love and Politics. India's words often connect with me at a perfect intersection of time/space. nnI read those words a short time after having a very difficult conversation with the someone I love. India's words may be take a hard look at myself and how I show up in my life especially how I choose to show up in relationships during difficu

Have you ever looked at someone and thought, “I have no clue what this person is talking about.” Maybe you even have specifically thought, “Where is this person coming from?” You were not questioning their place of origin. What you were questioning was their perspective.

Tom was not surprised when Jacob and Marilyn asked for a private meeting with him. He had a hunch that some of the team was displeased with him. He thought of Jacob and Marilyn as ‘unofficial’ team leaders. They seemed to be the two people who his team members looked to for professional guidance. Tom had mixed feeling about his upcoming meeting with the two of them. On the one hand it would be a relief to find out what was wrong and on the other hand, well he was going to find out what was wrong.

This just in, you report to a human being! Whether or not she lets you see her human side or not, she has pressures, stresses, fears, and insecurities just like you do. So don’t think for a minute that just because someone has a director or a vice-president in their title that they have no worries. Take the time the time to understand the likes and dislikes of your management and do what you can to cater to them. There are some easy things you can do that some of the people around you are not doing.

A monk asked Shigui, "What is the first principle?" Shigui said, "What you just asked is the second principle." -- from Zen’s Chinese Heritage A few weeks ago, I was trying to pass along some information to a friend that I hoped would help resolve a conflict with which she was struggling. She was angry and, no matter what data I provided, I could tell it wasn’t getting through. Every point I tried to make, my friend got more defensive. She wanted out of the conversation a

People develop ways to cope with stress over their lifetime from past experiences, expectations and environment. Coping mechanisms are triggered once we assess a situation to be stressful. However, not everyone copes with stress in an effective way. Therefore stress management can help to develop health, productive ways to handle stress. Most people wouldn’t admit they can’t handle stress and deny they needed stress management. Even though more than likely we could all le

“But communication is two-sided - vital and profound communication makes demands also on those who are to receive it... demands in the sense of concentration, of genuine effort to receive what is being communicated.” Roger Sessions

Although I realized in a vivid, technicolor dream some years ago that everyone is part of my spiritual journey, the impulse to write, study and research is nevertheless so strong in me that I tend to be impatient with whatever gets in my way. So I am constantly seeking to balance my work, family, relationships and personal time. If you struggle with this challenge, too – and who doesn't? – you may find inspiration in this meditative writing, which I stumbled on while writing

“Never look who is right and wrong. Always look what is right and wrong.” – Prof.M.S.Rao nnWhen you look at individuals there will be involvement of egos and emotions. On the contrary, when you look at the issues there will be no individual preferences and prejudices. Better judgment prevails. nnSusan was working in a multinational company in India as an Human Resource (HR) Manager. Her role was to recruit the candidates for the company and to ensure smooth functioning

Lately, the public has become more conscious of surgery mesh complications suffered by women after taking down pelvic organ Prolapse and stress urinary incontinence surgeries by making use of man-made mesh. This mesh is called upon by various names including transvaginal mesh, pelvic mesh, surgical mesh and bladder slings. Depicting women affected by transvaginal mesh malfunction complications following pelvic organ Prolapse (POP) or stress urinary incontinence (SUI) surgery.

All homebuyers want as much house for their money as they can get. Many buyers are looking for a larger home because they've outgrown their current one, and especially desire more closet and cupboard space as well as larger rooms. nnVisual space makes your home appear larger by allowing the buyer's eye to move from one side of the room to the other without interruption, giving the illusion of more space and openness. In contrast, a cluttered room stops the eye repeatedly and

So you've suffered an injury. Chances are, if you were on someone else's property or someone else was at fault, your friends and family have told you to sue. Should you? Assessing the Probability of Successful Litigation It can be difficult to assess who is to blame when an accident occurs. Before you jump into litigation, you need to honestly assess the situation. Just being on someone else's property does not automatically make them liable. Was the incident caused by someon

"As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might." Marian Anderson This is so obvious when you think about it from a physical perspective. If you were physically holding someone down, unless you have really long arms or really strong legs or some other technique; you have to adopt a posture which keeps you lower to the ground. I think this is only a good thing in wrestling or mixed martial arts fighting.

How To Deal With Disrespectful In Laws: How To Deal With Toxic In Laws It's very important to have a plan for dealing with in laws because the annoying ones can be a real pain in your side.While it may be fun to daydream about some creative ways to get rid of your in laws forever, this type of thinking can only make things worse. Daydreaming does not make a situation better and will only result in you being more irritated with the present situation with your in laws. In this

Does the young Somali pirate brought to trial in the U.S. create the perfect moment for the world community to take a deeper look at its own conscious? nnIf reports from Somalia are true that its coastal waters have been used as a dumping ground for toxic and nuclear wastes, and its fisheries have been overfished illegally by fishing trawlers from other countries who also practice illegal method to catch them, then its time for the world community to address these underlying