IDENTIFYING LEVELS OF CONFLICT

In my work I deal with a lot of conflict situations in teams and organisations. One of the dynamics I see occurring over and over again is:

Leaders avoid dealing with conflict for too long
Leaders often minimise the conflict and therefore skimp on the resources needed to successfully resolve it.
Leaders often call in other to assist them when it is too late (and wonder why things don’t change)

Differences, disagreement and conflict are normal in any workplace. As diverse human beings with different roles, goals and personal perspectives we will necessarily have differences of opinion. The goal is to resolve these differences is positive ways â€“ in ways that:

Respect the other person,
Consider multiple perspectives and possibilities, and
Value the legitimate needs of everyone involved.

Such a process can result in solutions or decisions that are creative and innovative. Decision-making and problem solving is enhanced when differences are used to generate and expand the possible avenues for action. However, disagreements that are not managed well can turn into unproductive conflict. There are negative results for an employee and/or team in these situations. People may feel threatened â€“ this feeling of threat can be physical but is often emotional. People might feel threatened around their goals, status, job security, values or preferred outcome. Ineffectively managed conflict can impact the parties in many ways, such as:

Loss of sleep,
Anxiety
Lowered morale
Decreased job satisfaction.
Choosing to leave that workplace.

It can, on occasion, also take on a life of its own, drawing in other people or departments. If the conflict grows – people, departments and the organisation – all pay the price of deteriorating work performance. In very extreme circumstances it can lead to workplace violence. NOT ALL CONFLICT IS THE SAME We have experienced that there are different level of conflict. There are some teams where there is mild tensions around some unspoken frustrations. Other teams there is full out war and factions have formed around those faction lines. If you try and resolve conflict using the wrong tools, not only might conflict not be resolved, you could in-flame the situation and make it worse. A past mentor shared a model with me, though I don’t know whether he made it up or learnt it from someone else. I have modified it over the years. What it gives us is a description of the different levels of conflict. Depending Identifying he level we are dealing with will help us develop the intervention that will have the most likely positive result. 4 LEVELS OF CONFLICT There is actually a 5th level however once it hits this level there is no intervention that will recover the situation. In fact, if things move from level 3 to 4 then the chances of recovery are very slim. The goal is to de-escalate the conflict to the lowest level possibleâ€”ideally to level 1. Read through the 4 levels and see if you can identify current or past conflicts within your workplace.

Level 1 Conflict = Problem to Solve
Characteristics	Description
Issue	Conflicting goals, values, needs. Problem oriented rather than person oriented.Real tensions, often an incident or two has occurred. Problem is clearly seen and people are starting to use generalities to describe colleagues personality or skills: â€œThey areâ€¦.â€ â€œThey alwaysâ€¦.â€. No sides at this point just some avoidance or caution.
Emotions	Blame, Annoyance, frustration and anger.
Orientation	Hoping for the best, trying to stay professional, but starting to have some side conversations about the person or people.
Information	Trying to stay open and professional. Sometimes they will approach the person with the issue other times not.
Language	Blaming type language, starting to cast the person as incompetent or selfish etc.
Objective	Get the person to see that they need to change and apologise. This wont always be expressed to the person but may need to be picked up through observing passive aggressive behaviours.

Level 2 Conflict = Disagreement
Characteristics	Description
Issue	Real disagreement, mixing personalities and issues; problems cannot be easily defined.
Emotions	Distrust beginning, caution in association. Less mixing with the other side'.
Orientation	Beginning to personalise problems. Shrewdness and calculation begins (taking notes, having others present etc)
Information	Selective holding back of information occurs by all.
Language	More vague and general, hard to quantify what the real issues are and if they are real. Tends towards overgeneralisation, â€œsome peopleâ€, â€œtheyâ€. Hostile humour, barbed comments and put-downs. Higher emotional content in language.
Objective	Face-saving, want to come out looking good. Tend to move towards consensus. Not yet win/lose conflict but tends to believe that for resolution, everyone will have to compromise.

Level 3 Conflict = Contest
Characteristics	Description
Issue	Begin the dynamics of win/lose. Resistance to peace overtures. Focus on person's representing the enemy'. Important my party' win
Emotions	Not able to operate in the presence of the enemy'. However, admire worthy opponent. Not willing/able to share emotions constructively.
Orientation	Personal attacks increase. Formation of cluimps' (boundaries more fluid that with factions. Need third party consultant.
Information	Distortion is a major problem. Information shared only within factions. Each party assumes they know the real' intentions of the other.
Language	Overgeneralisations: You alwaysâ€¦.â€ â€œYou neverâ€¦.â€ Attribute negative motives to others consistently. Out of context statements.
Objective	Shifts from self-protection to winning. Objectives are more complex and diffuse, clustering of issues. If a party emphases their solution, then it is probably a level 3 conflict.

Level 4 Conflict - Fight/Flight
Characteristics	Description
Issue	Shifts from winning to getting rid of person/s. No longer believes others can change, or want them to change. Hurt, weaken, punish, humiliate the other
Emotions	Cold, self-righteousness. Will not speak with the other side without back up. Each believes the other party is presenting a hypocritical position.
Orientation	Factions clearly emerge. Strong leaders emerge. Followers willing to conform to leaders wishes. Last place for constructive intervention by third party consultant.
Information	Limited only to the cause being advocated, will not accept/listen to contrary information.
Language	Talk now of principles' not of issues'. Language solidifies into ideology. Parties engage in rejection rituals (example: shaming, bullying, teasing etc)
Objective	No longer winning. Now about eliminating the other/s from the environment. Hurt the other person/group. Parties attempt to expel one another.

Conflict often develops and escalates in a predictable pattern. It begins as a problem that needs to be solved (Level 1). Problems are issues or challenges that can be described and for which solutions can potentially be found. If the problem is not solved, conflict can escalate to level 2, a disagreement. The disagreement is often about how to solve the problem and is a normal, expected part of solving problems. The key is to find ways to resolve disagreement or to convince all parties to come to a shared point of view. If the conflict continues to be unresolved, a level 3 conflict can emerge, a contest. A contest is one in which there are winners and losers and no one wants to be a loser. Sides begin to form and clarity about the problem to be solved begins to diminish. It quickly becomes more important to win than to solve the problem. If the conflict continues to escalate to level 4, individuals and groups begin to act in more aggressive, instinctual ways and the situation can quickly deteriorate. In a fight/flight situation, those who are conflict avoidant leave and those who remain are typically more committed than ever to winning. Principles and dogma are often evoked as justification for various points of view. This level is characterized by strategizing how to win the fight and garnering the resources necessary to do so. Level 5 describes a level of conflict in which hope for reconciliation is generally lost. Emotional responses overwhelm thinking and problem solving approaches. Combatants are focused not just on winning, but even on punishing or getting rid of their opponents. If you are experiencing the conflict that you would like some ideas about how to repair send me an email at Craig@transformleader.com

IDENTIFYING LEVELS OF CONFLICT

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