Conflict Management for Front Line Managers

Facilitating Change in the Workplace

Conflict Management skills are rapidly becoming a fundamental skill set for managers, supervisors, and staff in the organization.

The front line interface with workteams, unions, and customers is a critical hot-spot for successfully managing and facilitating change.

The costs of systemic conflict are not always seen as an immediate drain on cash flow, but the costs are very real. In human resource terms, there are costs such as low productivity and morale, absenteeism and turnover. In the larger picture, costs can be quite high, ranging from lost opportunity and abuse of the grievance process all the way to protracted strikes and labour unrest.

Good conflict management, on the other hand, does more than minimize conflict in the organization, it creatively channels the energy devoted to conflict into moving the organization forward.

Although systemic conflict can originate at any level, many of these challenges begin at or near the front line employees, and tend to grow in size and magnitude as they move up the organization.

For this reason, conflict management skills and an understanding of both the impact and value of conflict are critical for supervisors, managers, stewards, and employees in an organization. In union environments, it becomes all the more critical. This two-day workshop is highly participative, and can be broken down into two one-day workshops, Basic Conflict Management, and Advanced Conflict and Communication Skills.

The two days explore the following key topics in detail:

• Understanding and Seeing Conflict Differently
• Tools for Analyzing Conflict Situations
• Core Conflict Management Skills
• Using Conflict Management as a Team Building Exercise
• Active Listening Skills
• Basic Win/Win Negotiating
• Dealing with Difficult People
• Numerous Exercises and Role-Plays

Summary

While it is critical that there be good "formal" systems for conflict resolution, it is equally critical to have supervisors, managers and employees skilled at eliminating the "noise" in the system, i.e. conflict that could and should be handled at the front line before it unnecessarily escalates and enters the formal system for resolution.

Agree Inc. is a North American leader in conflict management training, interventions, and consulting services to both the public and private sectors.

If you are interested in attending this program, contact Agree for details.