Sunday, January 31, 2010

Resolve interpersonal conflict

Almost everyone experiences interpersonal conflict. Conflicts usually arise when people do not meet expectations that others have of them, and they end up getting disappointed, upset and start blaming each other. Failure to resolve conflicts can bring dire consequences, such as the collapse of partnership in a project and the destruction of relationships. However, If one succeeds in resolving conflicts, one can not only achieve one’s goals in a project but also emerge from the conflict with an even stronger relationship.

One of the most important thins that one needs in resolving conflict is a sincere attitude. Your colleague my or may not recognize your issue of concern. In any case, you need to talk to them with a genuine heart. Tell them honestly how you reel, instead of blaming them for making you feel that way. After all, no one is able to make you feel angry; you choose to respond in that way. If you need to clarify matters, do not throw vague questions. Ask specifically, but NOT in an offensive manner. Once you show your sincerity, they will respond in the same way.

Even if both parties recognize the problem, the opposite party may now know nor understand the situation that you are in, and vice versa, Once again, good communication skills are vital for resolving the conflict. Through proper communication, both parties are able to view the problem clearly and deal with it effectively. Eventually, as the saying gees, “there is a rainbow after the storm”, your relationship will be strengthened after the conflict is worked out.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Sanghyun
    I like your opinion about interpersonal conflicts and how you would address them in a more effective way. Yet, I think it will be nice if you can provide some concrete examples to illustrate your point.

    PS:
    There are a few spelling mistakes in your post:
    important thins---> things
    my or may not---> may or may not
    saying gees---> saying goes

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  2. Hi Sang Hyun,

    Like what Brad had said in the class, you didn’t mention any examples regarding conflict relationships. However, I do like your points on this issue. For instance, I totally agree with the last point, “relationship will be strengthened after the conflict is worked out”, as I had seen this worked out on my friends. I mean they really became like sisters as now, they understand each other more after the conflict.

    For me, I believe that prevention is always better than trying to resolve the issue after misfortune occurs. As sometimes, instead of resolving the conflict, we might hurt the friendship that we had built. Therefore, I prefer to prevent the conflict from happening. For instance, I tried putting myself in other people’s shoes before I start blaming them when things happened. This is one of the effective ways to prevent conflicts from occurring.

    However, when conflict does happens, then I would still try to resolve it in the ways that you have listed.=)

    Cheers,
    Shi Ting

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  3. Hello!

    Sang Hyun, I hope you are right about sincerity being reciprocated with sincerity. But being a bit of a skeptic and pessimist, this maybe a little idealistic for me. I have come across too many people just taking advantage and making use of a kind/sincere/good heart. But this is juts my opinion. :)

    As for the post, Brad actually wanted us to elaborate on a specific conflict (real or fictional), talk about what was going through the minds of the people involved and then ask the reader their opinions or suggestions on what should be done to resolve the conflict.

    But I think there's just been a misinterpretation, that's all. I guess, you could still talk about the interpersonal conflict if you want.

    Rgds,
    Lalitha

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  4. Dear Sanghyun,

    Thank you for your post. I appreciate the effort you've made discussing conflict. It's interesting that you state that anger is something that a person need not feel: "After all, no one is able to make you feel angry; you choose to respond in that way." Of course, that is rather idealistic. But learning to control one's reactions is possible.

    As we mentioned in class, the main objective of this task was for you to discuss an interpersonal conflict. By now I'm sure you understand where this post faltered in that regard.

    ReplyDelete