The roles of managers in conflict - Part 2

This second of two articles addressing the manager's roles in relation to conflict needs to be read in close conjunction with the first in the April issue.

1.              Leader

This aspect of the manager's role includes:

2.             Model

This role entails:

• Demonstrating an enlightened understanding and use of friction and conflict, escalation processes, resolution and transformation strategies
• Self-awareness and mindfulness of others and your impact, of what is in conflict and of contextual issues and the needs of the business.
• Emotional competence, including recognition and recovery from unconscious defensiveness and self-protection, managing one's own pain and suffering.
• Compassionate communication, deep listening capacity for non-verbal signals and implied meaning in language, empathy and non-judgemental attitude.
• Clarity about one's own values, those of the business and respect for those of others
• Self-empowerment, awareness of rank and privilege and positive use of power
• Skill in using non-adversarial strategies and responses to adversarial and defensive behaviour.
• Commitment to learning from friction and conflict, receiving feedback and personal change - proactively conducts inquiry about the effectiveness of own conflict behaviour, management style and strategy.

3.             Educator

The educator:

• Reframes conflict: Introduce positive ways of understanding and transforming friction and conflict and their benefits, as well as the limitations of adversarial/ formal procedures
• Explains different options: Especially non-adversarial ones, for dealing with friction and conflict along with the processes involved, the likely outcomes, benefits and challenges.
• Helps make explicit the costs: To individuals and the business of current ways of handling conflict and  the potential costs of not addressing the conflict constructively.
• Informs parties: Of the personal and interpersonal capability requirements of non-adversarial approaches, and the development that may be needed to implement various processes
• Offers non-judgemental feedback: To staff members where possible and as required.
• Introduces staff member to self-development: Guides, resources and references as aids to dealing effectively with friction and conflict
• Offers coaching or facilitation support: In first instance or where appropriate them refers to other people offering informal and formal support e.g. counselling, coaching, HR advisors, union representatives, or peer support.

4.             Coach

This includes being able to:

• Listen: Empathise with and affirm the nature and significance of report's experience of friction and conflict, and elicit how they came to their current understanding and attitudes, etc.
• Expand awareness and understanding: Regarding self, others, issues and context including the needs of the business and to help them gain new perspectives and map contributions to the friction or conflict.
• Clarify what is most important: Values, needs, restrictive or limiting beliefs and expectations, and how perceptions and interpretations are being generated and utilised by parties involved.
• Explore how emotions are being generated: And handled as well as options for more productive ways of processing the feeling dimension
• Surface defensiveness: And self-protective attitudes, behaviour and the identity issues that may be at stake and what may be at risk or perceived as threatened
• Inquire into rank and power differentials: How they use their power, how these may be contributing to or exacerbating the friction as well as more constructive ways of using  their powers.
• Assess: The communication processes, conflict styles and language being used and the ways in which these help or hinder; and clarify and practise compassionate communication and non-alienating language.
• Help create a vivid and compelling vision of the future, desired outcomes, and relationship.
• Identify and consider options/strategies and choose best/preferred option(s)
• Develop the skills needed to implement chosen strategy
• Monitor progress, support and maintain action inquiry

 

5.             Facilitator

This entails:

• Informing parties of good practice in dealing with friction and conflict and especially as regards non-adversarial approaches, learning conversations, NVC, etc.
• Providing structures and processes which aid communication and dealing with friction and conflict and guidance on how to use them, e.g. ownership and acknowledgement of emotions, balancing advocacy with inquiry, listening and response skills, etc
• Helping to create and maintain a holding environment which can withstand the raising of difficult and contentious issues and the heat of the interaction between parties, e.g. regarding location, ground-rules, power-balancing, trust-building, creating partnership, shared goals, etc.
• Identifying and drawing attention to opportunities for awareness-raising, learning and progress that will contribute to the achievement of shared goals and supporting parties in their learning, conciliation and resolution endeavours.
• Raising awareness of dynamics of interaction and communication that helps or hinders the resolution or transformation of friction and conflict, e.g. rank and the exercise of power, escalatory language, defensiveness and self-protective behaviour.
• Assisting parties deal with the challenges of resolving and transforming friction and conflict, communication breakdowns and the celebration of success and progress, e.g. interrupting personal attacks, personalisation, withdrawal, power imbalance, etc.
• Supporting structures that record progress, agreements, outcomes, challenges and follow-up on implementation and learning.

6.             Arbitrator

This includes:

• Informing the parties of the procedures to be enacted and what they can and cannot expect as outcomes, e.g. problem-solving not sanction or punishment of the offending party, the requirement of compliance with the findings or directive, etc.
• Listening to and gathering as much information about the parties perceptions, the context and the issues as well as the views and perceptions of relevant others who may not be directly involved in the conflict
• Consideration of the findings in conjunction with the needs and goals of the organisation
• Generating a solution to the conflict (and rationale for it) that best serves the interests of the organisation and the requirements this solution demands from parties in conflict.
• Communicating the outcome of the arbitration and monitoring of its implementation, or redirecting appeals to higher authority or imposing sanction as required.

These are different aspects of the manger's role and examples of what is good practice in implementing them.  At any given time one or other of these roles will come to the fore.  For example, at an initial meeting with someone who is struggling to handle friction, the educator role is likely to be more central.  At another meeting the leaders role may come to the fore to set the business context and give the work of resolution back to the parties.  At yet another, coaching or facilitative skills may be needed depending what stage of advancement the process requires.  While the best scenario is that the manager is competent across any of these roles, for various reasons - not just to do with level of manager's competence, the manager may choose to delegate certain aspects or roles where this is appropriate or the manager's presence is not needed.

It is clear from making explicit what may be required of the manager in dealing effectively with friction and conflict that the skills outlined will not be developed overnight.  However, most managers have already developed many of the skills required through other aspects of their managerial work and their own personal development, so the task of building such competence may not be as daunting as it may seem on first reading. Every advance moves the prospect of effective handling of friction and conflict a little closer and when a certain threshold of competence builds up, the "hundredth monkey" phenomenon kicks in and capability will spread throughout the organisation at an exponential rate. 

Personal development and skills training can be supported and enhanced by the executive team's advocacy of values and a cultural shift in favour of non-adversarial approaches to friction and conflict.