Essay Example on Dealing With Conflict: Understanding Styles and Strategies

Conflict arises when we have a personality clash with someone or meet people whose ideas are contrary to our goals. Everyone copes with conflicts differently. Some people may hide for some time to allow the uncomfortable moment to pass while others take time to think everything through and find an appropriate approach to the conflict. Styles of conflict arise according to the strategies individuals use to solve their differences. To understand conflict styles and ways of managing conflict, I will analyze a conflict that involved my friend and me.

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A week ago, I had a conflict with my friend. She wanted me to accompany her to a club on a Wednesday night, where we were to have fun by indulging in alcohol. However, I disagreed with her since I did not want to leave my place at night and more so without completing my assignments. She did not share my sentiments either, and she got frustrated and furious at me. She went to her place, and when I tried reaching her through her phone, it was switched off. The next day at school, she kept avoiding me and could not talk to me at all. I could not stand losing my friend especially based on such an issue. Therefore, I decided to visit her on Thursday at her place for us to talk and solve our differences.

Our conflict styles were different. My friend was using avoidant conflict style where she decided to avert any argument by ignoring me the whole day. She understood very well that if we had a chance to meet at school, I would bring up the same issue which had frustrated her. Therefore, she avoided me to avoid any further confrontations. However, my conflict style was collaboration. I wanted us to talk through our differences and find a solution to our problem since I did not want to lose my friend.

Initially, our conflict styles had failed to work since my friend did not want to have any conversation with me regarding our conflict. She had resolved into avoiding me. However, when I visited her, we had an in-depth discussion regarding our problem, and we decided that we had to find a solution together. I realized that through avoiding me, she had been able to cool down and she was no longer angry at me. Therefore, she was able to let me in, and we had the chance to talk through the problem.

We were able to solve our conflict by talking our differences out. We were very close friends, and none of us was ready to lose the other over a small disagreement. She apologized for not considering my opinion and her overreaction on Wednesday. She clearly understood that I was not a clubbing person. Therefore, she requested me to be hanging out with her at her place on Wednesdays for movies where we can have fun peacefully without disturbance unlike in clubs. I also suggested that we should be studying together and assisting each other in our assignments and she agreed with me. We were able to solve our problem and even came up with approaches that would help us in our studies.

In the future, if I disagree with a person who has a different conflict style from mine, I would use an interest-based approach to ensure the conflict is resolved. In this case, we will talk about our mutual concerns to come into an agreement and solve our conflict. As a result, both of us will have a fair decision-making process, and we will be more committed to applying the solutions identified. Also, the approach will help us understand and respect each other to avoid further disagreements.