Conflict Resolution Styles Essay

Five Conflict Resolution Styles
According to Robin (2002), there are five conflict resolution styles: confront compromise, collaborate, accommodate, and avoid. Identify the preference(s) you most often use from these resolution styles. Think about times you have interacted with styles other than your own. Once the differences between these styles are identified, they can be managed, and the appropriateness of when to use them can be determined.
Style 1. Confront
This approach directly addresses the conflict and is often viewed as “might makes right” (Robin, 2002). A confrontational style usually involves high emotional levels, clear clarity of goals, weak relationship, and low concern for formalities or fear of punishment, moderate concerns for traditions, and a moderate self-concept.
Style 2. Compromise
Compromise involves bargaining and mutually giving up something to reach a settlement. It can be used to get a quick resolution, with the prevention of further escalation (Robin, 2002). Compromise usually involves high to moderate emotional levels, high to low skill levels, moderate clarity of both goals, moderate status of the relationship, win-win attitude toward authority, moderate concern for traditions, and moderate fear of punishment.
Style 3. Collaborate
This involves working together to generate win-win alternatives for resolving issues (Robin, 2002). Collaborating involves high to moderate skill levels of parties, clear clarity of both goals, strong status of relationships, Win-Win attitude toward authority, low concerns for formalities and traditions, and a high self-concept.
Style 4. Accommodate
This involves listening and accepting without resistance. This style is characterized by suppressed emotional levels, a high ...

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...s that will later be regretted.
• The interrogator: challenges all answers in a confrontational manner and continues to demand further details.
• The cloak of reasonableness: appears to be reasonable while making impossible demands for the purpose of winning the opponent's confidence while undermining him.
• Divide and conquer: used when negotiating with a group to create dissension among opponents so that opponents are distracted by internal disagreements rather than the issue at-hand.
• The “act dumb” negotiator: pretends not to understand the issue so that the opponent, or opponents, will become so exasperated that he, or someone in the group, will accidentally reveal information.
Conclusion
Managers and associates continually face conflict in the workplace. Using the five conflict resolution styles and knowing when to use them makes resolving differences easier.