Is Your Company Working At a Standstill? You Need Activities for
Conflict Resolution Skills!
Are you worried that the upcoming staff outing is going to be an
all-out disaster? Maybe instead of horseshoes or badminton at
your next picnic, you should think about activities for conflict
resolution skills!
Conflict among staff and team members are typically symptomatic
of misperceptions and disintegrated communication - in other
words, your employees are probably acting a lot like this:
*Defensive or hypersensitive
*Fearful of reprisals and putdowns even if encouraged to speak
*Unwilling to see the "other side's" point of view
Planning Activities for Conflict Resolution Skills...
If you're planning a group meeting in the near future, this can
be a good time to incorporate fun activities for conflict
resolution skills. What should your planned goals be in planning
activities for conflict resolution skills?
*Enabling everyone in your company to actually recognize and
reframe their misperceptions - to understand how words were
meant to be understood versus how they were interpreted.
*Giving your team a sense of "air time" through activities for
conflict resolution skills so team members can identify their
place in the group and the situation at hand.
*Give your staff a chance to see and experience another side to
the great people they work with on a daily basis.
*Activities specifically designed for your staff and their
unique challenges so that the lessons learned will be maintained
long after the event is over and you receive a good return on
your investment.
If conflicts run deep, it's often advisable to bring in an
objective professional to choreograph activities for conflict
resolution. Your planned activities may stem from your best
intentions, but if they are not designed and monitored carefully
by a specialist, the process can blow up and potentially become
worse than it was at the start.
Following is an example of of some fun and informative
activities and programs we have had success with. This example
will give you an idea of how to approach conflict resolution
within your organization.
Orientation/Context: Participants are given an
understanding of the experiential program and how it can benefit
them as well as their team, department and /or organization.
Additional topics focus on personal safety, importance of
support, how to enter the learning zone, and other key points
that invite participation.
Paired Shares: In a structured one on one format
participants meet and converse with many different colleagues.
Each conversation and the subsequent progression (4-5 different
topics) are specifically designed to get the group more
connected and comfortable with each other and help anchor points
made in the previous context phase.
Shape It Up: While seated and blindfolded the team must
discover the answer to an equation that involves colored plastic
shapes. This event requires clear and descriptive communication,
open and non-biased listening, and consensus.
Diminishing Resources: As work projects and demands
continue to rise to a shrinking time line and budget, moods and
effectiveness may deteriorate. This simulation catches the team
assuming too much and supporting too little until one brave
member begins to share his/her knowledge (thus reducing stress
and effort) with the team.
Debrief: At the conclusion of each simulation, the team
is given an opportunity to assess their performance. Discussions
involve the poignant insights they have gained or been
introduced to and how these relate to their developmental
leadership stage, career and/or office environment etc.
Sharing/Close: Small group discussions regarding stages
of leadership development and where they perceive themselves to
be (i.e., novice, moderately competent, proficient). Or they can
discuss one area in their realm where they've had a great
breakthrough and one area that needs attention/support etc.
The groups will be brought together for the last time of the
day/evening. This is a final opportunity for the entire group to
share, cross learn and connect about key insights and critical
points (i.e., leadership, communication, teaming, and shared
successes) that were experienced during the program. Variation
for constricted time lines: A representative from each team
shares a highlight and insight about the teams experiences with
the other groups.
This outline is an approximation only. The value of these
activities comes not from the events so much as from the insight
and dialogue the events inspire. Therefore, if learning from a
particular event and subsequent debrief is going exceptionally
well, we suggest you deviate from the aforementioned outline in
order to solidify and deepen the learning potential. This will
tend to promote further dialogue related to this subject at a
further time.