Written by: Yvette Durazo, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Conflict intelligence refers to the broad range of skills that allow professionals in the field to manage normative conflicts successfully that come as a result of changing situations. It also makes professionals more capable of successfully resolving these different types of conflicts without hurting other people’s existing relationships among their peers.
Professionals with conflict intelligence tend to manage pressure and stress much better than others in the workplace. It is the art of staying calm but alert during intense pressure or major conflicts while finding solutions to them.
Staying calm and considerate helps you think straight and understand various situations carefully. Conflict intelligence can also help you convey your message through verbal and non-verbal means, while controlling your emotions and focusing on the main concern.
Importance of Conflict IQ for professionals
A high conflict intelligence helps develop stronger connections, reduces team stress, resolves conflicts, and improves job satisfaction. A higher conflict intelligence means having the capacity to increase team productivity and improve employee retention.
Conflict IQ increases awareness and helps you learn about the root cause of your problems. Once you learn your problems and the reasons behind them, you can start looking for a solution. It also makes you believe a positive change is possible, which makes finding a solution a lot easier.
Effective conflict resolution techniques aim to prevent arguments from getting worse. Meanwhile, continuing to address all sides of the issue to come to a mutually agreeable solution. You'll be more equipped to learn from, and teach people, in professional and personal environments if you work on your conflict resolution skills.
If you are on the top level of your company and people look to you to address their issues, you need to have strong conflict resolution skills to meet their expectations. You have to manage these conflicts to maintain a positive environment where change is possible.
Conflict Intelligence is more than a Soft Skill
Conflict resolution is more than just a soft skill, as leaders will also need to have knowledge about humanity, psychology, anthropology, and sociology. Conflict is inevitable in our daily lives and at work, depleting the valuable energy we can use for productivity and innovative ideas.
There has never been a better time to develop conflict intelligence, given the different types of conflict in more diverse work environments. A newly applied framework offers new meta-competencies for Conflict Intelligence and Systemic Wisdom.
The research guides people in resolving conflict and fostering more constructive and peaceful relations in various contexts. It is based on insights from research in psychology, conflict studies, and complexity science.
How to handle conflict on a professional level
Nearly 43% of CEOs chose "conflict management skills" as their top area for personal improvement when asked about their biggest skill. Since CEOs must handle various constituencies daily, learning good conflict management techniques should be one of their top responsibilities.
As a CEO and decision-maker, a wide range of issues will cross your desk daily. Your employees look up to you and need you to help them with your expertise and conflict-resolution skills. Decisions become centralized when they come to you, and they will take less time to resolve when there is less involvement from a third party.
We will discuss some essential communication components to handle conflict in the workplace.
Talk to your colleagues and discuss work and other work-related issues. Try to solve them mutually. Also, including them in the decision-making process can make them feel more valued.
You should focus on important events and behavior and not personalities.
Listen carefully when your co-workers talk to you and make them feel heard.
Enjoy the similarities between you and your co-workers and respect the differences to make your workplace a much healthier place to work. Identify your points of agreement and disagreements with your colleagues.
If you find an area of conflict, make it your priority to solve that conflict.
Create plans and objectives to work on conflicts and their solution.
Follow your plans and develop ways to succeed.
Professionals that work with people daily should read this book. Conflict cannot be avoided, but we must also prevent it from worsening. Professionals will realize that conflict is not all bad when handled properly and may enhance interpersonal relationships and organizational culture.
Skills needed for conflict management
Conflict management is developed using various skills and styles. Here are some of the basic conflict management skills.
1. Active Listening
Active listening is the art of listening to another person carefully. The key to solving conflicts is paying close attention to what the other person is saying. Although sales assistants frequently use this competency to better connect with customers during a pitch, any accomplished professional should also be able to use it with their team.
The most crucial thing you can do to improve your active listening skills is to keep an open mind. Pay attention to how the other person is expressing what is bothering them. Then, carefully reply to them to make them feel heard.
This shows that you paid attention to what they were saying and aids in dispelling any ambiguity regarding the topics being covered. Additionally, remember to clarify any points you're unclear about and focus on figuring out what the other person wants.
2. Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand the perspective of other people. One has to think about what is going on in another person's mind while doing something. It is important to know before taking any action.
3. Patience
You encounter different types of people daily; some will never accept that they are in the wrong. In this situation, patience is necessary to overcome these issues.
Conclusion
There are various ways to solve conflicts in a workplace to improve the workplace for your co-workers. Conflict Intelligence “Quotient Conflict-IQ” is a good read for people having trouble managing conflicts in a workplace and solving them effectively. You can also test your Conflict-IQ™.
Yvette Durazo, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Yvette Durazo, MA, ACC is the author of the book Conflict Intelligence Quotient (Conflict IQ™); The Missing Piece to Turbocharge Conscious Leaders’ and Organizations’ Emotional Intelligence. She is the founder and principal consultant at Unitive Consulting, a workplace organizational effectiveness, strategic conflict management, and leadership development firm. Some of her services included, training, mediating conflicts in the workplace, anti-bullying prevention, settlement negotiations, developing dispute system design, and bringing unique strategies to address the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) workplace.
She is passionate about optimizing professionals and teams to engage in constructive problem-solving communication toward instilling respect, civility, and collaboration. She believes that human conflict is one of the most important things organizations must learn to work with and harness to overcome any derailing of employees’ performance and engagement. Her methodologies are like a vitamin that is the breath of life to the immunity of organizations.
Presently, Yvette is an instructor for the Human Resource Management Certification program at the University of California, Santa Clara Extension Silicon Valley. She also is an instructor for the University of California Davis, Conflict Resolution Program and teaches for Portland State University in the Conflict Resolution and Mediation department. She holds a PCC coaching credential from the International Coach Federation, a master’s degree in Conflict Resolution, Negotiation, and Peacebuilding from California State University Dominguez Hills, and an undergraduate degree in International Business from San Diego State University. She is a former Core Adjunct Professor at National University, where she taught courses in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mediation, and Communication for over six years, and a former Instructor for the Leon Guanajuato Mexico Institution Power of Justice. Yvette is fully bilingual in Spanish and has expertise in cultural diversity and inclusion.
