Resolving conflicts whether at work, in your community or at home is a challenge. The situation sometimes get worst when nobody shows the flexibility on his/her stance. The below tips might help when you have to resolve a conflict.
Be fair regardless of your relation with different parties. Sometimes your closed perspective can be wrong. Hence make up your mind to be transparent and fair throughout. Hear all people fairly.
Empathetic Listening is very important. Listen to all parties carefully. Put yourself in their shoes to understand their stance.
Carefully analyze the statements from each party. List down the pros and cons of the stance from each party. Sometimes both parties are right and sometimes both are wrong. In your analysis you need to find the option which gives maximum benefit to everyone.
If the conflict is between two persons, consider a solution which neither party has proposed. Develop and try to propose a third solution which suits both persons (the middle way). Consider Win-Win scenario where everyone gains something at the cost of compromise.
If you want to give advice to a party (which you think is wrong), give it privately. Don’t do counseling when both are present. This will offend one party and may strain the relations further. Remember not to criticize.
Sometimes youth has a fresh perspective and elders can have limited insights (to modern problems). If the issue is not too serious, request youth to be flexible. It always pay off. Remember that we have learned so much from our seniors (bosses, team leads, parents and other senior family members). So this is the time to pay back to make them feel proud about their teachings and to develop trust in relations.
Developing emotional intelligence is another approach to study people and understand them in depth. As I have spoken on before “Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, understanding others, and of groups” Learn this technique to improve your mental state.
Peace and Love, Jim
