Anytime there is a sustained relationship between two or more people, differences are inevitable. It’s what makes us all unique, adds variety and enables growth and learning. For the most part, differences add value to relationships. However, when differences lead to conflict, the positive can turn to negative unless the tension can be embraced as an opportunity for insight and growth.
Given the right tools, conflict can be a key that unlocks a deeper understanding and allows for creative learning and bonding during intimate conversations and company-wide dialogues. Exploring how we react in tense situations and learning new skills to keep the dialogue open when tension arises creates avenues to improve communication, productivity and leadership in our lives.
Style Matters: The Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory is a useful tool for gaining knowledge about our preferred method of engaging with conflict. Additionally, this inventory scores participants on their “storm shift”, showing how behavior changes when under stress or the situation becomes more intense. We use this tool to help participants understand their own preferences for conflict navigation as well as examine how communication is the key to setting new patterns.
Building off of the Style Matters Inventory, we’ll help participants put their new knowledge to use. We’ll introduce effective dialogue tools to identify, address and resolve points of tension. Our experiential learning activities are a great way to see differing styles in action and provide real opportunity to try new ways of opening up communication to address differences in a non-confrontational and generative manner.
This session is great for teams who want to:
- Understand different approaches to navigating conflict and the advantages of each style
- Learn specific tools and methodologies to effectively communicate with colleagues and clients
- Better identify underlying areas of tension in order to mitigate before they escalate
- Gain an understanding of how communicating through conflict can be a tool for change and understanding.
- Gain valuable knowledge on effective dialogue techniques to open conversations in a productive and genial space
Tension can be the gateway that leads to opportunities to discover the collective intelligence available within an ongoing dialogue. Discovering that running into conflict, rather than away, is a shift in thinking that can change how we view the world, friends, family and ourselves.