Conflict resolution guidelines ============================== Principle --------- Acknowledge that conflicts happen. Resolve conflicts as close as possible to the people involved. Begin with the people directly involved, and escalate from there as needed. We have mutual responsibility and care for each other. We act in good faith and work to be constructive, empathic, and honest. We resolve conflicts with both our individual needs and the needs of the organisation in mind. When disagreement becomes conflicted and is blocking progress, is hurtful or harmful, a resolution needs to be found. We engage to the best of our ability to resolve conflict, and seek help when needed. Anyone affected by a conflict can escalate an issue that is not being resolved at the current level of engagement. Resolution means the parties involved feel heard, the agreed outcome or change is clear, and normal decision-making and activity within the workgroup or organisation at large is possible. If a conflict continues to negatively impact an individual or the team, it is not resolved. Process ------- We endeavour to resolve conflicts at the lowest possible escalation step, but agree to escalate conflicts if they are not resolved. 1. Personal reflection & individual support: Think through what happened. Take time and space to process and clarify your thinking if you feel confused, overwhelmed, or are experiencing strong emotions. Talk to a trusted colleague to work through your own perspective and experience. Ask yourself what part you played in it, what you could have done different, and what your needs are to improve the situation. If you feel you need to go beyond individual work to resolve the problem, escalate to the next step. 2. Direct communication : As long as you feel safe and the power balance and tone is encouraging constructive discussion, approach the person in question and talk it out. Be mindful of picking a good time and place (privacy, lack of time pressure, mutually agreed location, if possible to meet in person). If you don’t feel like you can work it out one-on-one for any reason, escalate to the next step. 3. Supported communication: Bring in a colleague (preferably two) which you and the other party trust to act as a mediator and host a conversation with the people involved. Mediator's role is to support the participants in coming to their own solutions. If the colleagues feel insufficiently resourced, or you’ve tried and it didn’t resolve the conflict, escalate to the next step. 4. Workgroup or Coordinators group / topic-relevant colleagues: If the previous steps have not resolved the conflict, reach out to the workgroup team. Together you will try to find a mutually agreeable next step, such as hosting a mediation themselves, or inviting an external mediator or other expert in. If the above steps are not successful in resolving the conflict, the situation will be escalated beyond the conflict resolution process and become an employment matter. At this stage, the coordinators will be engaged to gather all the information about the situation and figure out next steps. Irresolvable conflicts may lead to someone leaving the organisation, referral to external authorities if relevant, or systemic/structural changes to our organisation. Processing a tension ==================== Notice, Understand and Act principle NOTICE tension UNDERSTAND: (one can use the ABC model here) --> Observe the situation --> Observe your emotions --> Understand your beliefs --> What do you want? ACT: • Leave situation • Change situation --> take action OR --> make a request • Accept situation ABC model ========= ABC = Antecedent → Belief → Consequence A - Activitating Event (also sometimes described as a 'Trigger') B - Beliefs (for example, the thoughts that occur to you when the Activating Event happens) C - Consequence - how you feel and behave when you have those Beliefs (consequences may be divided into two parts: your actions and your emotions) A: Write down the event or situation that triggered your thoughts and feelings. B: Write down the thoughts that went through your head when the activating event occurred (or after it) C: Actions: How did you act then? Emotions: What did you feel then? The ABC model encourages you to think about what your options are for dealing with negative thoughts both by using balancing thoughts to address your thought processes and by thinking about practical actions that you might take to improve or cope with a problematic situation you find yourself in. If on reflection you consider that the Beliefs are not justified, then you might think of some Balancing Statements which you can remind yourself of when the activating event occurs to help keep what is happening in perspective.