Organizational leaders don’t have it easy. They are not only responsible for their actions but are responsible for the actions and behaviours of their people. Sometimes conflicts occur in companies and if unchecked may result in impacting the organizational productivity and profitability. This is when conflict resolution and negotiation skills for Middle Eastern leaders become important.
Teams are comprised of individuals with different traits. The ability to identify potential conflicts and quick resolution can improve organizational productivity. Effective conflict resolution and negotiation skills can help resolve issues before they arise or can efficiently resolve problems to ensure teams can continue working as a cohesive unit.
Training programs from an experienced service provider can enable leaders to acquire the necessary skills. Some important skills include:
Early and frequent communication
Communicating their intentions to all the team members is important for leaders to reduce ambiguity and misunderstanding. If leaders suspect any possible conflicts, resolving these before they become larger is important.
Active listening
Active listening does not only entail hearing the words but also reading the non-verbal communication. Leaders with conflict resolution and negotiation skills ensure all parties understand each other, which makes it easier to resolve issues.
Emotional intelligence
Emotional Intelligence is about being more self-aware of one’s emotions as well as those of other people. Effective handling, expressing, and understanding emotions are important for conflict resolution. An effective training program imparts soft skills, which leaders can use to resolve conflicts and improve relationships.
Problem-solving
Problem-solving abilities help leaders identify the root cause of conflicts and explore the possible solutions to overcome issues. The five steps include identifying the problem, listing potential solutions, evaluating the options, choosing an appropriate solution, and implementing the option. These skills can enable leaders to find creative and equitable solutions to resolve conflicts.
Negotiation
Negotiation skills are an integral component of conflict resolution and aim to agree with all the involved parties. An experienced service provider can help leaders learn and improve negotiation skills to resolve conflicts and work towards organizational goals.
Observation
This is an important skill for effective conflict resolution. Leaders must observe all aspects of the conflict and find a resolution that is fair to all parties. It is also important to remain impartial and control emotions to find the best solution for conflicts.
Conflict resolution strategies
Focus on the gains instead of losses
It is not uncommon for people to become highly competitive when they focus on their possible losses during conflict resolution and negotiations. For a more collaborative approach, adopting a gain frame of mind where the discussions focus on what can be gained by all parties is highly beneficial. Viewing areas where the parties do not see eye to eye as potential opportunities for growth can be an effective way to resolve conflicts.
Differentiate between interests and values
It is important that leaders separate the people from the problems and engage on individual issues during negotiations. Determining that the parties attach to their positions and bargaining accordingly can bring in a faster and more lasting resolution.
Engage in relationship-building dialogue
Developing relationships through rapport and finding common causes is helpful. These encourage the people to arrive at common goals while understanding the values and interests of other people involved in the negotiations. Appealing to shared values is beneficial to bridge gaps.
Although the meaning of conflicts may vary from one person to another, resolving these is a challenging but crucial aspect of all relationships. Leaders may be frustrated when negotiations don’t progress but being patient is crucial for effective resolution of conflicts. Effective leaders do not rush into hasty decisions and circle back to understand all points of view to bring in a solution that is fair to all parties. Most importantly, leaders must remain impartial during conflict resolution without taking sides. Addressing the historical issues and focusing on the problem at hand and not on the people involved in conflicts are important conflict resolution and negotiation skills for leaders.
Soft and hard skills are important for leaders to resolve conflicts. Discover an effective training program to acquire these skills and resolve conflicts more effectively.
