CoNFLict Resolution For Managers - Pre-assessment

Conflict is a condition that exists between people:  (Click on the box to the right that describes a condition of conflict. Choose as many items as you prefer).

• Who are task interdependent

• Where one or both are angry

• Find fault with the other

• Use behaviors that cause a business problem

The informal conflict management system provides "self-help" tools of assessing, managing or referring conflicts, and preventing their further escalation.

• True

• False

The structure of a "simple" conflict helps a manager to understand when to use "managerial conflict resolution."  Which of the following items reflect an element of conflict appropriate for a manager to resolve?  (Click on the box to the right of each item you feel would be appropriate for you, as the manager, to resolve the conflict.  Check as many items as you feel best reflect a "simple" conflict.)

• There is a high need for two people to work together.

• There may be more than two people involved in the conflict.

• The people involved find their own solution to resolve their conflict.

• A union employee can ask a shop steward to represent him/her.

• The conflict does not require urgent action to prevent violence.

• People involved need to be in the same place at different times to resolve the conflict.

We are designed by nature to automatically respond to threats to our self-interests in ways that we believe will protect us. We can best describe this response in conflict as:

• Passive or aggressive

• Yielding or compromising

• Cooperating or collaborating

• Fight or flight

Which of the following behaviors does NOT reflect a flight (or distancing) response in conflict?

• Avoiding

• Withholding information

• Getting others to take sides

• Silent treatment

Which of the following behaviors describes a coercive "power-play" in conflict?  Choose as many options as you like.

• Threatening

• Yelling, screaming

• Hostile gestures

• Withdrawing

When our natural tendency in conflict is to either fight back or distance oursleves, and neither type of behaviors serves us well in resolving conflict, we could describe a better way of resolving conflict as the:

Which of the following items would create the conditions for two people to resolve their conflict more effectively than walking away or fighting back?  (Choose as many items as you wish).

• Talking face-to-face

• About the issues or problem

• Without interruptions or distractions

• Long enough to find a solution

• None of the above

The Essential Process of conflict resolution is simply what is left after the wrong reflexes are prohibited by the Cardinal Rules of "no walk-aways" and "no power-plays."

• True

• False

The Retaliatory Cycle illustrates how conflict follows a predictable path through each of the three aspects of human experience.  Which of the following items describes the typical human path in conflict?  One person's behavior serves as a "trigger" which leads to another person's:

• Perceptions, thoughts, assumptions or beliefs, which comprise a frame of reference for making sense out of what is going on.

• Feelings of anger, fear, or hurt, which supply the energy our bodies need to act quickly in protecting ourselves from perceived danger.

• Behaviors (verbal and nonverbal) that are taken in attempting to protect oneself in response to the perceived threat or risk.

• Calling HR, the Ombudsman's office, Auditing hotline, or EEO Affairs to make a formal complaint.

The most appropriate way to break The Retaliatory Cycle is to change the:

• Way you think.

• Way you feel.

• Way you act.

• Trigger that leads to conflict.

Which of the following is NOT a cost factor in conflict?

• Wasted time

• Lowered morale

• Theft, sabotage, vandalism, and damage

• Health costs

• Poor decision quality

• When performance and productivity expectations are met

There are varying levels of severity of conflict. Consider the following. Two employees who are expected to work together can never seem to agree on where to go for lunch.  Both employees get annoyed with each other, yet seem to find a way to make it work in the end.  This is a workplace conflict that can best be described as a:

• Nuisance

• Crisis

• Clash

• Blip

A conciliatory gesture is a voluntary statement of vulnerability.  Which of the following behaviors reflects a conciliatory gesture?  Choose as many as you wish.

• Apologizing for wrongdoing

• Asking someone else to change their behavior and then agreeing to change ones own behavior.

• Revealing personal information about oneself

• Taking responsibility for behavior

• Acknowledging something positive about the other person

• Trying to get someone to see how s/he was wrong

• Expressing a willingness to move forward in a constructive way

There are varying levels of severity of conflict.  Consider the following.  One employee expresses that he or she cannot work with another employee because of his verbal abuse.  The employee asks to be assigned to work with another crew or he will make an EEO Complaint.  This workplace conflict can be best described as a:

• Nuisance

• Crisis

• Clash

• Blip

The inhibitory reflex, as described in conflict resolution, can be thought of as "taking the wind out of another person's sail."

• True

• False

When Person A's conciliatory gesture provides a stimulus for Person B's inhibitory reflect, which then produces another conciliatory gesture in Person B; and this in turn, continues to produce Person A's inhibitory reflex; we can describe this as:

The Conflict Mountain is a concept that describes the phases of a conflict resolution session.  They include the:

• Manager asking questions and making a decision about the outcome

• Employees talking long enough to reach a solution on their own

• Confrontation and conciliation

• Manager listening and finding the best solution

A mutual attitude shift from "me against you" to "us against the problem" best describes the moment of a:

As a manager conducting conflict resolution, you can help the employees achieve a breakthrough by allowing the natural "forces toward harmony."  These forces toward harmony accrue during an uninterrupted dialogue.  They include:  (choose as many options as you wish).

• Fatigue

• Expressed readiness to end the session

• Desire for peace

• Presenting options as a solution

• Mental or emotional exhaustion

• Inhibitory reflex

Managerial conflict resolution is appropriate in which one of the following situations?

• When two employees simply cannot get along and one clearly has a chemical or substance abuse problem.

• When two employees cannot get along because one is highly trained and experienced and the other requires more training and skill proficiency to do the job well.

• When two employees simply cannot get along and one should be disciplined for a violation for a policy, procedure, rule or regulation.

• When there is a "simple" workplace conflict and the manager is trained to facilitate conflict resolution.

When using managerial conflict resolution as a tool for helping employees resolve their differences, it is the manager who identifies WHAT the problem is that needs to be solved and the employees identify HOW it will be solved.

• True

• False

Which of the following steps are included in managerial conflict resolution?  (Choose as many options as you like).

• Deciding whether or not you will conduct managerial conflict resolution.

• Talking to each employee seperately.

• Deciding who is right and who is wrong.

• Planning the time and the place for a meeting with you and the two employees involved in the conflict.

• Holding a three-way meeting with you and the two employees involved in the conflict.

• Follow-up.

What are the three primary tasks of manager to consider when using managerial conflict resolution?

• Ask good questions to gather accurate facts and information.

• Keep both employees talking to each other.

• Sit, listen and wait.

• Help the employees find an agreement to a solution that works for both of them.

• Support conciliatory gestures made by either employee.

All of the following are statements of voluntary vulnerability EXCEPT:

• One employee owns up to his/her responsibility that contributed to the problem.

• One employee self-discloses personal information to the other employee.

• One employee holds onto his own view and position.

• One employee expresses positive views of the other person.

• One employee expresses a need to the other employee to help find a solution to their conflict because it's in their best interest to do so.

When both employees reach an agreement, it should be in writing.

• True

• False

Which THREE of the following elements would make for an "ideal agreement" between two  employees?  Their agreement should:

• Be fair and balanced

• Be behaviorally specific

• Include timeframes

• Be written

• Include the manager's approval

When considering using managerial conflict resolution, you would want to get voluntary agreement from both employees to attend the session with you.

• True

• False

Managerial conflict resolution is a confidential process and the information in the session and the agreement should not be shared with anyone.

• True

• False