The Manager and Conflict Resolution
by Ijlal N. Haqq, Head Start Region Vb TASC Specialist, Center for Special NEeds Population, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

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Conflict resolution is an essential skill for all managers in Head Start. As we embrace cultural diversity among staff and families, we must expect to encounter conflicting values, experiences, beliefs, and perceptions.

The manager's role isn't to eliminate all conflict, but to minimize the anger, grudges, hurt, and blame it can cause. Having systems in place for handling conflict allows programs to move on to the business of providing quality services to children and families- even when there are differences. Trouble does not arise because there is a conflict of values, beliefs or perceptions- a program is in trouble only when that conflict goes unmanaged or unresolved.

A conflict resolution system has four components that every manager should be familiar with:

#1 Know your style of managing conflict and that a style can either motivate or discourage staff. (See sidebar.) This knowledge can make resolving conflicts more productive, and less stressful.

#2 Use approaches to conflict which take the interests of both sides into account when fashioning an agreement, such as: getting agreement on the definition of the problem before trying to reach a solution; requiring mutual consent for any solution; encouraging negotiation first (the parties try to work it out themselves)- then, if necessary, providing third-party intervention (the parties seek a mediator); and avoiding the use of force, unilateral judgments, giving in, and doing nothing.

#3 Develop a process for handling conflict. Identify who to go to, what steps to take, and expected outcomes.

#4 Develop a procedure to follow, including establishing ground rules, purpose, roles, and a confidentiality policy.

Conflict resolution must be a cornerstone of Head Start's organizational structure. But it must be built on mutual consent and respect for the views of parents, administrators, managers, practitioners, and the community-all of which are needed for its success.
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Adapted from Bill and Cher Horton's The Manager's Short Course: A Complete Course in Leadership Skills for the First Time Manager, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1992


Is your style of managing conflict effective? The following styles can all be appropriate in certain situations, but should be evaluated in each case to see if they are producing the desired results.

ACCOMODATIONS: This style uses collaboration and cooperation to arrive at a mutually satisfying resolution of a conflict concerning the interests of all parties involved.

AVOIDING: An avoidance style is uncooperative and might take the form of postponing an issue until a better time, or simply withdrawing from the situation (emotionally, physically, or intellectually.)

COLLABORATING: Collaboration is a cooperative style which searches for mutually satisfying solutions. Can take the form of demonstrating team unity, agreeing not to compete, and finding creative solutions to mutual problems.

COMPETING: An aggressive and uncooperative style, competition is the opposite of accommodation. A "competitor" can often pursue his/her views at another's expense.

COMPROMISE: This cooperative style involves finding mutually acceptable solutions that partially satisfy the parties involved.
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Source: Kenneth W. Thomas and Ralph H. Kilmann's "The Thomas-Kilmann, Conflict Mode Instrument," XICOM, Inc., Tuxedo, NY, 1974.

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