Dealing With Conflict

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Conflict between people is something that happens in all communities. Although you may have a team of people who are all wanting the same approximate goal, different people have different views of how to achieve that goal, and some people just don't get on. When this happens, conflict can arise and it can make life unpleasant for the community when two or more people are in conflict and arguing with each other. In these situations you need to try and resolve the issue as quickly as possible and get the atmosphere of the team back to being a happy and pleasurable place to be.

There are a number of techniques that you can use to help resolve conflict, and this guide aims to cover many of them. Through all of this there is one golden rule when it comes to resolving community:

Calm it, understand it and put processes in place to resolve it.

Always keep this motto in your mind when trying to resolve conflict.

Being the right person to resolve conflict

Resolving conflict is not easy. It requires a patient listener - someone who is willing to listen to all sides of the story, understand all views and advise on a suitable solution to the problems. This is not about picking a sides, it is about identifying what the problem is and solving it.

Of course, when conflict occurs, people get angry, and their anger may be taken out on you, and they may seem difficult and unwilling to cooperate with you. This can test your patience, and you need to be careful to be honest and focused, but to not lose your temper or make rash decisions.

Another important factor here is that you should have the respect of the people involved in the conflict and be authorative enough that they will respect your advice and suggestions to resolve the problem. This does not mean you have to be a leader, but a well respected member of the community who all parties in the conflict have confidence and respect in. You should also not be clearly allied with any specific member of the conflict - you should be as bi-partisan and objective as possible, and everyone needs to have confidence in this.

First steps

The very first step is to calm the situation. You should make clear that you are working to resolve the situation, and that you are going to be objective and detailed in your work to resolving things. You need to give all parties confidence that you are here to improve the situation, and make it clear that arguing, bickering and fighting needs to stop to make progress. Getting people calm is essential.

The next thing you should do is speak to all parties involved in the conflict and ask them to fill you in on the details. You should try to understand all viewpoints and get a good feel for all sides of the story. Also, do remember that much of this opinion and information will contradict as people have different recollections, opinions and spins on the subject. Try to develop a picture and timeline of events and develop evidence for the most likely period of events.

Key things to remember

When working to resolve conflict, always bear the following things in mind:

• The aim is to not pick a side, but to understand the problem and to solve it