Conflict Communication Strategies Training Course

Participants can recognise reactive patterns and use practical techniques to remain purposeful during conflict.

• Trigger mapping using bodily cues, thoughts, emotions and action urges
• Window of tolerance techniques for remaining present under pressure
• Name emotions precisely to reduce reactive and accusatory language
• Pause protocols: STOP, breathing, grounding and response delay
• Recognising early defensiveness, contempt, stonewalling and counterattack patterns
• Choosing regulation methods appropriate to meetings, calls and written exchanges
• Personal conflict pattern analysis using recurring incidents and feedback

Participants can listen for interests, test assumptions and clarify meaning before responding.

• Active listening: attending, paraphrasing, summarising and checking meaning
• Open, probing and clarifying questions that surface interests
• Ladder of Inference used to test conclusions before responding
• Reflecting feelings without agreeing with the other person's account
• Silence, pace and turn-taking managed during difficult conversations
• Listening for values, identity concerns, risks and desired outcomes

Participants can state concerns, requests and boundaries directly while preserving respect.

• Assertiveness continuum: passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive and assertive responses compared
• DESC script for stating facts, effects, needs and consequences
• Using I-statements without blame, diagnosis or disguised criticism
• Specific behavioural requests with ownership, timing and observable criteria
• Boundary statements that acknowledge needs while declining unacceptable conduct
• Calibrating directness for hierarchy, culture and relationship history
• Written conflict messages structured for clarity, dignity and traceability

Participants can give and receive challenging feedback and repair communication breakdowns.

• SBI feedback model: situation, behaviour and observable impact
• Fact-pattern preparation separating evidence, assumptions, impact and desired change
• Disagreeing with proposals while preserving the contributor's dignity
• Reframing blame statements into shared problems and workable requests
• Receiving criticism through inquiry, reflection and selective agreement
• Repair statements after missteps, interruptions and unintended offence
• Documenting agreements, owners, deadlines and review points after conflict

Participants can negotiate workable agreements when parties have competing needs or priorities.

• Interest-based negotiation: people, interests, options and objective criteria
• BATNA, reservation point and aspiration point prepared before discussion
• Generating options without premature commitment or positional bargaining
• Objective criteria drawn from policy, precedent, data and professional standards
• Packaging trade-offs across scope, timing, resources and decision rights
• Testing proposed agreements for feasibility, authority and mutual understanding
• Closing negotiations with clear commitments and contingency arrangements

Participants can adapt conflict communication to power differences, cultural expectations and inclusion concerns.

• Power analysis: formal authority, expertise, networks, control and dependency
• Addressing status threats without surrendering legitimate concerns or standards
• Cultural dimensions affecting directness, face-saving, silence and disagreement
• Psychological safety behaviours that invite dissent and challenge respectfully
• Allyship and bystander interventions when exclusion shapes the conflict
• Adapting communication channels for senior leaders, peers and external partners
• Distinguishing cultural difference from harmful conduct or policy breaches

Participants can facilitate team discussions that convert conflict into clear decisions and commitments.

• Team conflict diagnosis: task, process and relationship sources
• Ground rules for interruption, airtime, challenge and decision closure
• Facilitating structured dialogue using speaking turns, summaries and issue logs
• Separating divergent discussion from convergent decision-making stages clearly
• RACI clarification when role ambiguity drives recurring disputes
• Meeting interventions for side conversations, coalition-building and repeated interruptions
• Team agreements covering behaviours, escalation routes and review cadence

Participants can determine when informal resolution is appropriate and when formal action is required.

• Conflict assessment determining informal resolution, mediation, investigation or escalation
• Preparation for mediated conversations: issues, interests, evidence and acceptable outcomes
• Mediator neutrality, confidentiality boundaries and participant self-determination
• Shuttle diplomacy and caucusing used appropriately during impasse
• Workplace grievance, harassment and conduct allegations handled through proper channels
• Recording factual notes without inflammatory labels, diagnoses or unsupported conclusions
• Escalation briefings that distinguish risks, decisions needed and prior resolution attempts

Participants can apply course methods to priority conflicts through a structured personal action plan.

• Selecting priority conflict situations using impact, frequency and relationship risk
• Conversation planning with purpose, interests, questions, requests and boundaries
• Anticipating likely responses and preparing de-escalation options in advance
• Personal commitments linked to observable communication behaviours and review dates
• Peer feedback criteria for clarity, listening, assertiveness and agreement quality
• Manager follow-up plan for applying methods to live workplace conflicts
• 30-day practice schedule tracking conversations, outcomes, lessons and adjustments