General information
Business relations include the most diversified kinds of activities, for the successful realization of which knowledge of business etiquette and the rules of effective communication are necessary. Unfortunately, in daily practices of any organization, despite the careful selection of personnel with consideration to their psychological compatibility and the aspiration to create a friendly team of like-minded employees, it is nevertheless impossible to exclude unforeseen conflict situations completely.
The significance of conflict in people’s relations in general and in business relations in particular obtain new context every year. In that regard, where most people see in the conflict a clash of interests, for HR managers such vision is a professional skill and a necessary condition. Thus, the present session plan is directed toward providing training, for managers and leaders of all levels in general and human resource managers in particular, in which the participants will enhance their skills of effective communication and conflict resolution.
Purpose and Scope
The purpose of the training will be to teaching and enforcing the concepts of communications, specifically in resolving conflict situations. Training will help participants:
- Revealing the factors leading to conflicts and hampering successful dialogue.
- Revealing the individual reactions destroying trust between colleagues.
- Learning how to establish relations of trust between partners.
- Learning effective methods and technicians of influence.
- Learning to resolve conflicts to win-win outcomes.
The main objective: learning to manage conflicts in the organization.
System Overview
The program entitled “Conflict management” is provided by the company “HR consulting”, in which the training process was completely adapted to the requirements of the customer, “General Technology for People”. In that regard, the program underwent several modifications to suit the customer’s demands. The main target audience of the program is the Human Resource department in the aforementioned organization.
Note: Although, the main target audiences of this training program are the HR department managers, managers of any level will benefit from the program. The program enhances the communication process, which is the basis of all business relations. In that regard, the practice of leading negotiations with business partners will benefit from the training program as long as there are communication and different interests involved. Generally, the target audience implies employees, whose direct and indirect duties are concerned with stressful situations.
Project References
- The documentation of conflict instances and complaints in the HR department of “General Technology for People”
- The course materials of the operational program “Effective Conflict Resolution and Managing Stressful Situations”, which is the property of “HR consulting”
- “General Technology for People” standard procedures documentation.
Points of Contact
Mr. Anthony Hutchinson – The Head of the HR Department in General Technology for People, tel. 123456789, email <[email protected]>
Mr. Jeremy Robbins – HR consulting lead trainer and consultant, tel. 232323323, email <[email protected]>
Mr. Seth Rogen – General Technology for People CEO, tel. 232323234555, email <[email protected]>
General Training Prerequisites
The main training aids will include a personal computer with a connected projector and a screen on which the presentation will be demonstrated. Additionally, a whiteboard will be used for writing explanatory materials. Additionally, each program participant will be given sheets and papers in which they will write their notes and tasks during the course.
Training approach
Techniques and Tools
The main method that will be implied will be based on a particular pattern, which includes the following processes:
- Presentation –the introduction of the theoretical material through projected slides on the screen
- Oral discussion
- Fixation of the material through a corporate game-like example related to the company’s business environment.
The tools needed for each lesson are one PC terminal, one projector with a screen, a whiteboard and several blank sheets.
Training for Revised Office Procedures
The main office procedures will remain unaffected as the training sessions will be held after the working hours in the main conference room of the company. The HR department is held responsible for the availability of the conference room at the established sessions’ time.
Schedule
Curriculum
The program will be implemented during a five-day schedule, where each session will last for approximately 90 minutes.
The training program will be using the following outline:
Day One – Types of conflicts
- Concepts about the conflict. Levels of conflicts.
- Typology of conflicts: the interpersonal, intergroup, intrapersonal conflict.
- Systematic character of conflicts.
- Dynamics of development of the conflict.
- Positions and interests in the conflict: how to distinguish true from the false.
- Constructive and destructive sets and ways of behavior in the conflict. Stereotypes of perceptions of the conflict and installation.
Day Two – Opinions on conflict. Causes and effects of conflicts
- Existing approaches to understanding conflicts.
- Diagnostics of conflicts.
- The reasons for occurrence of conflicts in the organization: objective, organizational-administrative, socially-psychological, personal.
- Infringement of principles of management. Discipline and justice.
- The broken communications as the conflict precondition: once again about the subjectivity of perception.
- Revealing of individual strategy of behavior in the conflict.
Day Three- Preventive measures in conflicts
- Definition of accurate goals. Constructive statement of the planned problems.
- Introduction of standards, duty regulations.
- Implementing a system of assessments and control of productive activity.
- Concept of corporation.
- Styles of effective management.
Day Four – Behaviour strategy in conflicts
- Recognition of the strategy of behavior in conflicts.
- Concepts of behavior during the conflict.
- Definition of dominating strategy of behavior in the conflict and crisis situations. Evaluation of the relevance of strategy of behavior.
Day Five – Communicative skills of managing the conflict
- Tactics and techniques in conflict situations: a reaction delay, reformulation, authoritativeness formation through speech models.
- Use of techniques of partner dialogue: establishing the interests of the parties, development of mutually advantageous offers, and acceptance of the arrangements on further actions.
- Influence techniques on the behavior of the opponent in the conflict and the argumentation of the position.
- Dialogue management leading to the best mutual understanding
Evaluation
The program was implemented during the course of two weeks with only one exception where the lesson plan on the 12th of August was postponed to the 14th due to a meeting held by the company with obligatory participation of most of the attendees.
Metrics
The following table reflects the captured metrics during the flow of the training program.
Strategy
The evaluation process will be divided into two parts, short-term and long-term. The short-term evaluation will be based on a survey that will be conducted after the program’s completion, where the attendees will answer several questions regarding the program. The survey will include such questions related to theoretical aspects as well as practical. Additionally, one question will be concerned with an example of the conflict and the proposed methods of its management, where the employees will be asked to respond to the situation in accordance with the program’s materials.
The long-term evaluation will be based on the documentation of the HR activity through specified periods. The periods are: month, 6 months and 9 months. During the aforementioned periods the data will be collected regarding any conflicts in the company through surveys and reports and will be compared to the data collected before the intervention. The results of the evaluation will be discussed during three meetings between the head of the HR department in the company and the training provider, where the accomplishments of the program will be discussed.
In conclusion, the effects of the program could be predicted in terms of its motivational aspect. In that regard, it should be noted that mainly conflicts can be seen as a part of the business process, whereas it always depends on individual factors.
References
- DEUTSCH, M. & COLEMAN, P. T. (2000) The handbook of conflict resolution : theory and practice, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.
- GOAD, T. W. (1997) The first-time trainer : a step-by-step quick guide for managers, supervisors, and new training professionals, New York, AMACOM.
- JOY-MATTHEWS, J., MEGGINSON, D. & SURTEES, M. (2004) Human resource development, London ; Sterling, VA, Kogan Page.
- MCARDLE, G. E. H. (1999) Training design and delivery : a single-source guide for every trainer, training manager, and occasional trainer, Alexandria, VA, ASTD.