Have you been searching for ways to avoid conflict? Have you ever thought how many people find themselves in conflicting situations daily? Definitely, a myriad with endless causes. Nevertheless, there are tried and tested ways to avoid such.

Reasons for Conflicts in Daily Situations

Have you ever imagined that from a quarter to a half of people in the workplace are involved in conflicts daily according to research studies (Bao et al., 2016). The statistics can make either think that most persons almost always find themselves in stressful situations or simply that conflicts are integral part of human life.

In fact, although conflicts are results of disagreements, chain reactions from negative emotions, or differences in interests, they may be avoided before their development.

Ways to Prevent Conflict

1. Understand the Individual

Sometimes, you may have to deal with persons who show conflicting behaviors as inseparable parts of their character. You may do nothing that can cause a disagreement, but a conflicting situation always arises in interacting with such individuals. The reason is that they lack inner strength and need to free negative emotions. Therefore, detect such triggers immediately before any conflict develops.

2. Show Your Understanding to Prevent Conflicts

After assessing the individual as a trigger of conflict, show your understanding through pointing to strong aspects of his or her argument. Sometimes, people may feel stress due to the lack of support.

3. Use Facts by Authoritative People

In case of disagreements, the best solution is to present your neutral perspective and facts by authoritative people, like researchers and university studies. Show respect for views different from yours, as proven by Carl Rogers.

4. Present Benefits of Your Points of View

Imagine you are a manager and your subordinate disagrees with you and does not want to do the assigned task. The best solution is to show your understanding, but more importantly to underline why doing what you ask is more beneficial. Such advice can work in most cases.

So what are your ways to overcome conflicts? Share in comments.

Reference

Bao, Y., Zhu, F., Hu, Y., & Cui, N. (2016). The research of interpersonal conflict and solution strategies. Psychology, 7(4), 541-545. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/psych.2016.74055