Creative Dialogue

Make the most out of conflict

Unresolved conflict can paralyse cooperation within projects, departments and between business partners as well as poison the atmosphere in the workplace. This is especially true if conflict continues to rumble on in the background or for long periods. If it is allowed to escalate, the resultant confrontation can lead to considerable damage. The same also applies to conflict that flares up between candidates jostling for senior management positions – but there is another way! Those who succeed in putting conflict to constructive use often benefit from unexpected opportunities for positive change.

Conflict in the world of business is often linked to corporate goals, strategy and distribution. Even though these are overarching issues, it is vital that the human factor – and in particular differences in terms of employees’ perceptions, interests, (unspoken) expectations, desires and needs – is not underestimated.

Our conflict management services not only pave the way for constructive resolutions and agreements, but also guarantee a professional process and maximum acceptance among all participants. Once a conflict has been resolved participants feel better, their motivation returns and they work together more efficiently. The resultant increase in their performance levels makes an important contribution to corporate success.

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Here are some of the most common scenarios in which conflict management is required:

Employees within a department or partners within a project team exhibit varying degrees of commitment, leading to frequent friction and even open hostility.
Project success is in jeopardy due to increasing conflict and tension within the project team.
A project is stagnating, in the balance or even set for termination. Participants shun open confrontation in favour of intrigue and blocking strategies. Meetings are hard going at best, no-one has anything left in the tank (but enough to bicker with one another) and there is a general lack of motivation to discuss the root causes.
A personal vendetta is costing you a lot of money and may ultimately threaten the survival of your company.
There is disagreement regarding the best candidate for a senior management position or issues of inheritance.

Such instances of conflict are generally accompanied by a set of complex circumstances and causes. The first step is therefore to analyse the conflict scenario carefully and comprehensively. It is only once this has occurred that we can select a suitable process design:

Chaired conflict and mediation within organisations
Commercial mediation between partners or companies
Conflict consulting and conflict coaching
Implementation of conflict management systems as a means of conflict prevention

Selected conflicts we have successfully mediated:

Team conflict at an international telecommunications company
Team conflict at a company in the media sector
Confrontation within project teams in the publishing sector
A legal dispute between two firms of architects which had previously worked in partnership
Conflict between two brochure distribution companies
Team conflict within the central administration department and individual faculties at a university
Conflict between managers and employees
Clarification of the brief for a conflict resolution project initiated by an international human rights organisation in Israel and Palestine (conflict mediation and intercultural communication, including exploratory talks with prominent representatives of all relevant parties and aid agencies)

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