All relationships, personal and professional, experience some kind of conflict. This is normal, natural, and sometimes even necessary for continued growth and development.
Resolving Conflicts on the Job focuses on managing conflict in your professional life. However, many of the techniques described can be applied successfully in managing conflicts in your personal life as well. These techniques include:
Sources of conflict
Management methods
Communication models
Active listening skills
Giving and accepting criticism
Assertiveness theory
Approach and possible outcome vary according to who is involved in the conflict, so there is also a chapter that addresses handling differences with bosses, peers, and employees.
This book is designed to be interactive; in addition to thoroughly examining the elements surrounding conflict, you will find case studies containing questions to answer. In many instances, your current experience will establish the case study itself. Again, there will be questions to help you determine the best approach to dealing with your individual situation.
Some people feel it is best to avoid conflict. While this may be appropriate at times, it is not always recommended. The main issue with conflict is not so much that it occurs, but how you manage it when it does. The following chapters will help you examine this concept further and give you the tools you need to manage conflicts when they occur.