Most people are conflict avoidant and don't have the unique set of skills to have difficult conversations successfully. What's the last conflict you have experienced? Conflict avoidance is a person's method of reacting to a situation that brings up uncomfortable feelings—resulting directly in avoiding or confronting the issue at hand. Conflict avoidance often leads to failure to communicate effectively, loss of talent, loss of relationships, and loss of revenue. When you learn to shift from a conflict to a conversation, you are stepping from a Win-Lose mentality to a Win-Win mindset. According to CPP Inc., the Myers-Briggs Assessment and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument found that 85 percent of U.S. employees deal with conflict on some level.

When it comes to succeeding in business, senior leaders and mid-level managers are dealing with more than just running the quarterly/annual strategy for the organization; they also cultivate a culture where the company is building on communication or dismantling it, which results in an avoidance culture.

To move forward with effective communication skills, it begins with identifying where you are as an employee to the organization, team leader, or as the greatest asset that the business has. Using a win-win negotiation strategy, where there is an equal advantage, there must be ground rules set to communicating the individual interest and the group's interest; that compromise and cooperation must be more or at least as significant as personal stakes. 

The research shows that the key to effectively managing conflict is developing skills and mindset. CPP reports these statistics about workplace conflict management training:

Connect with EQ Refined today and see how we can offer training to your organization.