How do you manage conflicts?

What do you do when you are faced with a conflict?

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of participating at a Kalaidos University Forum seminar about conflict management. In the seminar description, I read that Mr. Hans Peter Baud, who managed the seminar, took courses with Mr. Marshall Rosenberg. Searching for information about Mr. Rosenberg, I came across this interesting 10 minute video through which I learned, for example, these things:
1. Ask a person what he/she feels.
2. Ask a person what he/she needs.

What I found interesting participating at the seminar was not least the involvement of participants. For example, Mr. Baud asked participants during the seminar, what they need from other people. As you will notice on the photo below, some of the words that were mentioned by the people, who participated, were “trust”, “understanding”, “humor”, “appreciation”, “openness”, “time”, “warmth”, and “harmony”.


By bringing music into the seminar, Mr. Baud gave the event another dynamic twist. When you look at the photo below, notice also the note on the wall in the back: “Man hört nur mit dem Herzen gut”.


Searching for more information about conflict management, I came across this 6½ minute video with Susan Leahy. Watching the video I learned, for example, that it is a good idea to stay with a person through a conflict, i.e. not leave before the conflict is resolved. During my research, I also came across an audio recording on a related topic - a 7 minute podcast from December 2008 during which Timothy Coombs shares his thoughts on how social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs impact crisis management. I learned, for example, that there are 3 basic concepts for addressing a crisis online:
1. Be visible. Discuss the crisis.
2. Communicate where the action is.
3. Engage people. Ask people what the problem is and how you can help find a solution to the problem.

I have been working on a conflict management presentation which I uploaded to slideshare. You can have a look at the presentation by clicking here.

How do you manage conflicts?

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