Five Conflict Management Styles for Leaders to Know
One of the toughest things I dealt with in my career was managing conflict. There is no single way to solve a conflict or a universal solution that will work for every situation. A leader must consider many factors before deciding how to move forward, such as the risks, the personalities of those involved, size of the conflict, etc.
Experts have identified five main styles of conflict management, and knowing these is useful as a leader because you can assess the situation and apply the management style best fit for that particular scenario.
Considering the importance of achieving a goal or the state of the relationship at stake are both crucial when determining how the conflict will be managed. As a leader, there is an expectation to lead by example, and you can set the tone of what finding a resolution looks like in your organization.
Accommodating
Accommodating is best known as putting the other party’s needs before your own. Typically, this style is used when you do not hold a strong opinion and the conflict at hand is not of high stake to you or your organization. By allowing the other party to have their way, you are deciding the conflict is not worth the argument or time. Accommodating can build your reputation of understanding and trust as a team player, and someone others want to work with. However, if one accommodates too often, there is risk of being seen as a pushover or as indecisive.
Avoiding
Avoiding is when a person tries to deal with a conflict by delaying. Oftentimes this approach removes the individual personalities from the issue temporarily. Avoiding is useful when more time is needed to think about potential solutions to the problem or to calm down. Ignoring or delaying has the potential of escalating the disagreement or even causing others to believe that you are incapable of dealing with and resolving conflict (and to avoid that, you should at least communicate that you need more time to think about it.) However, in some situations, treating a conflict with benign neglect is beneficial, such as ignoring certain negative comments on social media.
Compromising
Like it sounds, compromising is when both parties find a solution by each giving a little to achieve a middle ground. When compromising, each side must let go of part of their desired endpoint to hopefully achieve a majority of what they want. Compromising can be productive when a decision is needed quickly. Each side should be willing to give in a little bit to make a decision in the necessary time frame. Understanding another perspective or seeing the issue in a new light can also be a positive outcome. However, oftentimes a compromise seems unfair to one side or the other because making an equal compromise takes skilled communication and flexibility. Begin by focusing on those things that you can agree upon.
Competing
The competing style of conflict management is also known as the win-lose approach. One party must hold tight to their opinions and win over the other party, leaving the other party at a loss. This style facilitates facing the conflict head-on and naturally causes one party to appear authoritative. While this style is not always the best solution and can lead to employee unhappiness, there are times it is necessary, such as when the conflict is over an ethical issue that cannot be compromised.
Collaboration
Collaboration is when both parties work together to come to a solution that benefits all involved. Using this style is time-consuming and requires negotiation and mature communication. Seen as the win-win approach, collaborating should leave both parties happy and satisfied with the resolution since each side’s needs are considered. Leaders should strive to use this style of conflict resolution as often as they are able, as it will lead to better results and a more trusting team. The biggest drawback of collaboration is that it by far takes the most time of all five styles.
Understanding each of the styles and what type of situations they are best for is useful for your company and can be great tools with which to equip your team. By learning how to properly and efficiently manage conflict, disagreements can become a benefit to your team by allowing the team to move forward, instead of a distraction.