Contents
Glossary

Click on any of the terms highlighted in green to view its definition.

Action Plan  Active listening  Affirmation Appropriate Assertiveness Assertive statements Brainstorming  Compromise  Concerns  Conflict Clues  Conflict Map  Creative Response Crisis Conflict Clue  Discomfort Conflict Clue  Empathy  Fight Reaction  Flight Reaction  Misunderstanding Conflict Clue	Needs Negotiation Positive Visualization RAFT Creative Response Rapport RAS - Reticular Activating System React Respond  Specific Incident Conflict Clue  Suppression  Tension Conflict Clue Win/lose  Win/Win  Withdrawal


Action Plan

An action plan describes action that must be taken to resolve a conflict.  An effective action plan must answer the following questions:

·	What are the tasks that must be completed to make the solution happen?

·	Who is responsible for each task?

·	When will the task be started and when will it be completed?

·	What kind of review will take place when the task is completed?


Active listening

Active listening is a skill that helps you tune out of your own point of view for a while and tune in to the other person's to find out what their needs are.


Affirmation

An affirmation is a statement used repeatedly to tell yourself how a situation will turn out.  Affirmations can be positive or negative.  They rely on the assumption that an outcome can be determined by how you think about a situation.


Appropriate assertiveness

Appropriate assertiveness means stating your case without arousing the defenses of the other person.  People who respond in an appropriately assertive way are likely to generate a positive outcome.


Assertive statements

There are fours steps in building assertive statements:

1.	state the issue objectively

2.	state how you feel about it, without blaming the other person or being insulting

3.	state what you'd like

4.	get agreement or confirmation


Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a technique that helps you to collect suggestions and ideas without judgement.


Compromise

The compromise approach to dealing with conflict employs some negotiation skills so that everyone gains something.  It aims to divide things as fairly as possible.  The danger of compromise is that one party sometimes compromises by giving up far more than his or her fair share.


Concerns

Concerns are the fears, anxieties and worries that a party has about a conflict.


Conflict Clues

Conflict clues are clues which identify a conflict situation.  These clues range from the subtle to the obvious and include: discomfort, specific incidents, misunderstanding, tension, and crisis.


Conflict Map

A conflict map provides a big picture.  It is a diagrammatical representation of the needs and concerns of all parties involved in a particular conflict.


Creative Response

see RAFT creative response


Crisis Conflict Clue

Crisis is an obvious indication that you are in conflict.  During crisis people often become overwhelmed by their feelings.  This can effect their behavior,  extreme actions are contemplated and sometimes carried out.


Discomfort Conflict Clue

Discomfort is the intuitive feeling that something is wrong, even though you cant quite identify what it is.


Empathy

Empathy is about understanding things from the other person's point of view.


Fight Reaction

A fight reaction is an aggressive approach.  People who use this approach attack first and ask questions later.


Flight Reaction

A flight reaction is a passive approach.  In a flight reaction, people ignore their own rights and needs.


Specific Incident Conflict Clue

A specific incident is usually a minor event that leaves you feeling upset or irritated for a while, for example an unreturned phone call.  In itself a specific incident is a simple problem, but if it is not handled it may grow.


Misunderstanding Conflict Clue

Misunderstanding occurs when people make false assumptions about a situation, usually because of unclear communication.  In a misunderstanding people see the problem in a distorted way.


Needs

Needs include the wants, values and interests of a party regarding a particular conflict situation.


Negotiation

Negotiation is the process of working together to find the best possible solution for everyone concerned.


Positive Visualization

Positive visualization is a technique which uses your imagination to create a desired outcome.  This technique relies on the assumption that an outcome is determined by the way you think about it.


RAFT Creative Response

The RAFT creative response to conflict - Respond, Accept the situation, Find the positive learning experience, and Transform the situation - consciously directs conflict towards the positive.  Using this response you look for opportunities that would not have been possible if the conflict had not occurred.


Rapport

The trust and openness in a relationship that results from mutual understanding is called rapport.  Conflict is often caused and then fuelled by a lack of rapport in a relationship.


RAS - Reticular Activating System

The Reticular Activating System (RAS) is an area of the brain responsible for selecting what we focus on or notice and what we don't.


React

In the conflict resolution context, to react means to behave impulsively and lose control.  A reaction is characterized by the belief that someone else is the cause of your behavior.


Respond

In the conflict resolution context, to respond means to behave thoughtfully.  When you respond you feel in command of a situation rather than swept away by it.


Suppression

The suppression approach to dealing with conflict is about refusing to acknowledge conflict and is suitable only if a more direct approach will put too much strain on the relationship.


Tension Conflict Clue

Tension is an indication that you are in conflict.  When there is tension one person distorts the way he or she sees another person.  Communication with that person becomes weighed down with negative attitudes and fixed opinions.


Win/lose

The win/lose approach to dealing with conflict is a power struggle where one party wins at the expense of the other.


Win/win

The win/win approach to dealing with conflict involves cooperation and becoming partners rather than opponents. The approach aims to meet the needs of all parties involved in a conflict.


Withdrawal

This approach to dealing with conflict involves the physical or emotional withdrawal from the situation, usually from fear of confrontation.