Communication Strategies

Conflict situations are common in almost all aspects of life, ranging from workplace, institutional, political, religious conflicts etc. Conflicts are said to arise in situations where different individuals have varying ideologies, goals and perceptions which may lead to personal animosities between the conflicting parties. With the increasing conflicts and disputes, several conflict resolution methods and styles of interacting in such situations have been formulated. Proper conflict management styles may lead to professional and personal growth based on the fact that negative and positive outcomes of the conflict are identified (Falikowski, 2002).

There are five major styles of addressing conflicts depending on the prevailing dispute situation. The approaches include competitive, collaborative, compromising, accommodation and avoidance tactics. Other methods used in conflict resolution include diplomacy, negotiation, mediation, litigation and arbitration processes.

The aim of this essay is to briefly discuss various approaches applied in alternative dispute resolution and general conflict management. Each approach shall be defined and applicable situations for each alternative dispute resolution strategy identified.

Competitive Approach
In this approach, the conflicting parties take firm positions in order to achieve their personal goals. Such conflicts in most cases are brought about by the desire for power in political scenarios and other leadership wrangles. This approach is normally applicable in crises and emergency situations requiring urgent decision making. Where the decisions involved are correct, better decisions may be arrived at without compromise. It may also be applicable in defending unpopular decisions and if not checked, may have the impact of precipitating resentment, hostility and violence, leading to injuries and dissatisfaction on the aggrieved party (Falikowski, 2002).

Collaborative Approach
This approach encourages a mutual style that attempts to satisfy the needs and demands of the parties involved. This conflict interaction styles makes the two parties to effectively cooperate and acknowledge the importance or the role played by each individual in the conflict. In this approach, several viewpoints are brought together and solutions based on the ideas optimized to address the conflict. This approach however requires commitment and consumes a lot of time  effort before reaching an optimal solution (Falikowski, 2002).

Compromise
In this approach, the parties involve develop mechanisms to cope with the conflict by attempting to get solutions acceptable to both parties. In such a scenario, the parties are expected to relax some of their pre-conditions by relinquishing some of their demands. This conflict interaction style is applicable to situations where the costs or risks associated with the conflict are higher than the costs associated with the relinquished demand. As an example, this approach may be applicable in unlocking political deadlocks, by arranging power sharing arrangements especially where the opponents have equal strengths with interests in diverse solutions to the existing problem. The demerits associated with this approach include creation of less ideal outcomes that may be unsatisfactory to the interested parties.

Accommodation
In this case, one party in the conflict may show some willingness to satisfy or meet the demands of the other party at their own expenses. The accommodating party learns to cooperative in this approach may know the right time to surrender particular demands especially if peace is at stake. The returns of such an approach may include favors and other positive outcomes, maintaining the working relationship, and minimal losses associated with losing on the part of the accommodating party.

Avoidance
This is characterized by evasion tactics whereby the parties concerned develop response mechanisms such as taking responsibility for default decisions and delegating controversial verdicts by taking precautionary measures to minimize negative impacts on the other parties. This approach is categorized as ineffective and weak since the disputes remain unresolved and the other conflicting parties may take advantage of the prevailing situations to undermine the avoiding party.

The most appropriate times for applying this approach are circumstances where victory is practically impossible. It may also be applicable where the other party is better placed to address the crisis or in scenarios involving trivial controversial issues. The approach also minimizes confrontations and in turn plays a part in building the working relationship (Falikowski, 2002).

The Conflict Resolution Process
The various conflict resolution processes in use today have several common aspects. The preliminary step taken in the resolution process is the problem identification stage (Bellafiore, 2010). Understanding the underlying causes of the problem and the demands of the conflicting parties leads to the next stage which is the suggestion of possible solutions. At this stage, it is advisable to generate as many ideas as possible (Bellafiore, 2010).

The third stage in the conflict resolution process involves scrutiny and evaluation of the suggested solutions, weighing the benefits, risks and costs associated with every suggested solution. Here, the suggested solutions are eliminated one after the other leaving behind two or three of the best recommended ways of solving the crises. This stage requires honesty, transparency and commitment from both parties. A final optimal decision acceptable to the conflicting parties is then arrived at before actual implementation of the suggested solution (Bellafiore, 2010).

During the implementation process, parties share various roles in the process based on mutual understanding in order to facilitate the conflict resolution process. The solution is then evaluated continuously and reviewed from time to time to include further suggestions and recommendation. This process is regarded as progressive until and when a final solution, satisfying most of the demands of either party has been arrived at and mutually agreed upon.