Executive Summary
of The Conflict Report

This 400-word Executive Summary is taken from The Conflict Report, an expansive investigation with Business Leaders about how they perceive, manage and resolve conflict.

The Conflict Report investigates how Business Leaders from Australia’s Building and Construction industry manage and resolve conflict.

If we assume that the financial and personal costs of poor conflict outcomes in this multi-billion dollar, conflict-riddled industry are immense, then surely the need for successful conflict resolution must be equally important.

James Glenn, a practitioner in conflict resolution, conducted interviews with 19 Business Leaders from a diverse range of medium to large organisations, both public and private. Reasoning that their seniority,
long professional experience, and sustained success made them ideal candidates to ask about conflict, he recorded over 20 hours of one-on-one interviews across 5 areas of conflict:

        * Types of conflict at work

        * Successful tactics to manage conflict

        * Tactics which fail

        * Disadvantages of conflict

        * Benefits of conflict.

Applying a test of “relevance, originality or insight”, only 233 comments made the final Report together with commentary, models and techniques from the Author.

Important findings and issues raised by The Conflict Report:

        * Conflict is relative to the individual; it is invariably external (ie with someone else); and all Leaders are vigilant about rooting out and resolving conflict.

        * Leaders successfully resolve conflict by applying one or more
of 6 drivers from the Circles of Negotiation; smart negotiators match the appropriate driver to the situation.

        * Tactics that fail fall into 1 of 3 areas – Coercion (forcing others
to comply); Reduction (stripping away another’s humanity); and Evasion (dismissing the problem or ignoring the person). Responding appropriately
is surprisingly simple.

        * Conflict results in many disadvantages yet 3 are most prevalent – an increase in personal stress; a loss of productivity (as much as 30%); and negative effects on money.

        * When talking about “conflict” we often mean “unresolved conflict”. The distinction is critical.

        * The majority of Business Leaders see benefits in conflict. We conclude that conflict can be highly positive and gives permission to discuss issues openly.

Conclusion

The problem is not conflict (and its associated high costs) but its residue – unresolved conflict. The solution lies in resolving conflict which, properly managed, proves highly beneficial to both people and organisations.

People who skilfully resolve conflict should be highly prized because they propel individuals and teams to succeed thereby adding enormous value
to their organisation.

The Conflict Report is available as an eBook
to download for $29.95. Click here to purchase your copy of the full 120-page report.

                                      
If you would like to comment upon issues raised by The Conflict Report in this Executive Summary contact the Author, James Glenn, through this link.