Why Cant We All Just Get

Along?
Working Effectively with Conflict

Judith Albino, PhD

President Emerita and Professor
Goals for the Session
Understand conflict in organizations
Understand the variety of individual conflict styles
Identify our individual conflict styles
Practice analyzing conflict styles in academic
settings
Practice using information about conflict styles
to achieve optimal resolution of problems and
preserve relationships
Understand basic negotiation skills
What do we know about CONFLICT?

Its a part of life, a part of work.

It occurs when
interdependent parties
perceive interference from
each other in achieving their
respective goals.
Two Types of Conflict:
People want the same thing, but have to settle
for different things.

or

People want different things, but have to settle

for the same things.
Four Possible Outcomes:
Problem resolved; relationship maintained or improved
Problem resolved; relationship deteriorates
Problem not resolved; relationship deteriorates
Problem not resolved; relationship maintained or
improved
 Conflict in Universities is
Complicated by:

Organizational Dynamics

Culture and Traditions

Policies and Procedures

Institutional Structure and History

Individual Responses to Conflict

Remember that:

Conflict is natural and to be expected.

Conflict is about people and personality, as well

as situations, facts, ideas, and tasks.

People tend to respond to conflict in different

but individually consistent ways.
Determining Your Conflict
Style
with the Thomas Kilmann Inventory (TKI)
Completing the TKI

Respond to the 30 items on pp 2-4 by:

- choosing the statement from each pair that
most often describes you, or is most likely
to characterize your behavior
- on page 6, record your choices, and count
the number of responses in each column
- on page 10, use the sums on page 6 to
chart your relative style preferences
Thomas-Kilmann
Conflict Mode Instrument
Assesses individual preferences or
inclinations in handling conflict
Compares individual styles to those of other
managers who have taken the assessment
Suggests ways to most effectively use and
expand your repertoire of conflict
management skills
Conflict Styles:
Assertiveness and
Cooperativeness
Five Conflict Styles (TKI)
1.Competing Might makes right. (Hi A, Lo C)

2. Accommodating Kill your enemies w/kindness

(Lo A, Hi C)

3. Avoiding Leave well enough alone. (Lo A, Lo C)

4. Collaborating Two heads are better than one.

(Hi A, Hi Co)

5. Compromising Split the difference. (Mod A,

Mod C)
Example:
Chronic Committee Chairperson
Which Style is Best?

Most people use all at various times.

Most people naturally prefer one style.
Situation, culture, personality can influence the
best style at a given time.
All styles can be useful!
Different Styles have Different Goals

Competing: the goal is to win.

Accommodating: the goal is to yield.
Avoiding: the goal is to delay.
Collaborating: the goal is multiple participation.
Compromising: the goal is
to find a middle ground.
Competing is Effective:
When quick decisive action is needed

On important issues when unpopular action

must be taken

When the issue is vital, and the right course is

clear

To protect against people who take advantage of

noncompetitive behavior
Accommodating is Effective:

When you are wrong, when learning is important, or

when demonstrating reasonableness is critical

When creating goodwill is paramount

To build social credits for later use

To stop unproductive or damaging competition

When harmony is important

When its important for others to learn from experience

Avoiding Is Effective:
When the issue is relatively trivial

When you know you cant be satisfied

When the costs of conflict outweigh the benefits of

resolution
To allow cooling off

When its important to have more information

When others can resolve the issue more effectively

When the conflict is tangential to something more

important
Collaborating Is Effective:

When it is important that both sides be integrated

When you want to learn and fully understand others

views

To merge different perspectives and insights

To gain commitment through consensual decisions

To work through hard feelings that have interfered with

interpersonal relationships
Compromising Is Effective:

When goals are less important than avoiding the

disruption caused by more assertive conflict resolution
styles

When opponents have equal power and commitment to

mutually exclusive goals

To temporarily settle complex issues

To quickly achieve an expedient solution

As a backup style when collaboration or competition fails

Whatever style you use, there are some
Basic Skills for Conflict Resolution:
1. Manage anger
2. Listen actively
3. Avoid assumptions
4. Find something on which to agree
5. Be cautious with criticism
6. Negotiate (more later!)
7. Get help
Analyzing Conflict Situations

Four Cases

Work Individually and in Groups

Report Back
Whats Your Style?
Conflict Case 1: Ambiguous Power
You are an assistant professor sitting in your office in a clinical department,
pouring over some data from a recent study. You hope these data are
sound enough to produce a paper for an upcoming conference and perhaps
a manuscript for publication as well. There is a knock at the door, and you
turn to see Von Kraft, the departments most distinguished, albeit somewhat
imperious, professor. He also chairs the departments promotion and
tenure committee. He announces that he has an idea for a new research
project, and he wants you to work with him. The project sounds interesting,
but it is not in an area in which you have been working. He has minimal
funding from a foundation, but assures you it will allow for completion of a
pilot. Your mind is racing. Taking this on would throw off your research
agenda and publishing schedule. You also know Von Krafts reputation
youll do the work, and hell be PI and get first authorship. When you
tentatively suggest that you just dont think you have the time, he gives you
a stern look and says, That would be a big mistake; this is a major
opportunity. You know that he needs pilot data to prepare an NIH
application, but youre hoping to pull together your own R01 with the data in
front of you now.
Conflict Case 2: Role of Research
You are an assistant professor of pediatric medicine and were hired with the
expectation that your primary focus would be on research. Moreover, the
Universitys new promotion and tenure policy reflects even greater emphasis
on research than in the past. Nonetheless, you understand that you must
also demonstrate proficiency in teaching and service. You have been doing
your share of clinical teaching, and you are on the curriculum committee,
which is especially time-consuming this year, since re-accreditation is only a
year away. Yesterday, your department chairman, Dr. Mort, called to say he
wants you to represent the department on the School Admissions Committee.
He explained that it is an unusual role for a junior faculty member, but he
thinks your work on the curriculum committee demonstrates your talent for
this sort of demanding assignment. You know that this will involve many
hours pouring over applications and interviewing potential students. It would
be interesting, but you see no way to leverage scholarly efforts from this
effort, and you are feeling a great deal of pressure to demonstrate your ability
to develop a funded research program. When you explain, Dr. Mort assures
you that committee work also is valued. Dont let me down. I need your
support on this, he says in concluding the call.
Conflict Case 3: Profiting from Research
You are an assistant professor and have been working with Dr. Avarizo for
several years. A senior scientist, he has been successful not only in
obtaining grant funding for his work, but also in obtaining patents; he runs a
company which produces and sells the medical devices developed with
those patents. Although you have heard rumors that he developed some
devices at the University and that graduate students were involved in the
work, you have never seriously questioned his behavior. This is the first
time that you have been asked to oversee the budget on one of his grants,
and you are disturbed by one of the items on your desk. Dr. Avarizo has
asked you to order one of his instruments for measurement of blood oxygen
capacity in study participants and to certify that his company is a sole
source provider. You wrote much of the grant, and you know that a simpler
(and less expensive) instrument would do the job. When you asked
whether he really thought the extra features were needed, he just said
breezily, We should get the best; I assure you it will be worth it. Now
youre worried. You think this constitutes self-dealing and is against
University policy, but you dont want to offend someone who clearly could
make or break your scientific career. You wish he would reconsider.
Conflict Case 4: Research Collaboration
You are an assistant professor at Best University School of Medicine and
are working on a project with a colleague, for which you have a small grant
to study a new way of screening for otitis that uses health educators who
will teach parents basic identification and early management skills. You
worked well together in planning, but now find that you are clashing during
the implementation phase of the project. Your colleague, Dr. No Wei, has a
tendency to micro-manage the three health educators who, in turn,
complain to you. Now, one of them has quit three months into the project,
and your colleague insists that the trial cannot continue, since the original
design called for 3 interventionists. He wants to hire another health
educator, re-standardize, and start over. You want to calibrate a third
educator -- or just continue with two. When you suggested this, your
colleague insisted that your approach would violate the scientific integrity of
the study. You are willing to report all issues and changes in your write-up
of the data, but since this is a pilot, you believe it is important to move
ahead. Your colleague is adamant, however, and says that he will instruct
the remaining health educators not to report again to their assigned
practice locations. You know the funding will not support his approach, and
you are somewhat offended as well by his attitude..
Your Style and Negotiation

What is negotiation?

a discussion between two or more disputants who are

trying to work out a solution to their problem.

Win-Lose or Win-Win
"In a successful negotiation, everyone wins. The objective
should be agreement, not victory."
Getting to Yes
A Basic Negotiation Framework*
1. Separate the people from the problem.
2. Focus on interests, not positions.
3. Generate a variety of options before deciding what to
do.
4. Work for a result based on objective standards, or
criteria.

*Roger Fisher & William Ury, Getting to Yes, 1981.

Separate the People from the Problem
Perceptions -- put yourself in their shoes
Separate your fears from their intentions
Dont blame them for your problem
Share the process (and give others a stake)
Save face proposals consistent with their values
Recognize and understand emotions
Listen actively
Speak purposely to be understood (dont debate)
Build relationship to face the problem
Focus on Interests not Positions

Try to understand the interests behind positions

Ask why? and why not? about choices
Make lists of multiple interests
Try to understand the impact on interests
Be specific; make interests come alive
Make their interests part of the problem
Look forward, not back
Be flexible, but specific
Be hard on the problem, soft on people
 Generate Multiple Options
Avoid: 1) premature judgment, 2) single answers, 3)
assuming a fixed pie, 4) assigning responsibility
Brainstorm be expansive, flexible, and creative
Toggle between general and specific
Consider the perspectives of various experts
Change the strength of options scope, duration, etc.
Identify shared interests; dovetail differing ones
Make the decision easy
A first draft should be yesable
Use Objective Criteria
Objective Criteria provide a principled foundation

Criteria involve both outcomes and procedures

Frame issues as a joint search for criteria
Reason and be open to reason
Dont just yield to pressure
Preparation for Negotiation
1. What do the parties want?
2. What can be traded?
3. What are the alternatives to agreement?
4. How does the relationship affect negotiations?
5. What can be expected, based on the past?
6. Whats at stake? Consequences on both sides?
7. What are the power issues?
8. What are the possible compromises? Creative options?
9. What are the conflict styles of negotiating parties?
Summary:
What is a Successful Negotiation?
Parties willingly work together to resolve an issue by:
Understanding respective interests
Identifying objective criteria
Generating options

The result is satisfactory to both parties.

Win-Win!!
 Thank You!

Judith Albino, PhD

President Emerita and Professor