Conflict: The Critical Questions (Part 3 of 4)
By
When you’ve taken on the task of helping others resolve conflict, your most important job is to know what questions must be answered to help clarify the situation. The more of these questions you can answer, the better you be able to help your clients to tap their own resources to resolve the conflict.
The questions you must keep in mind will help your clients to identify the problem, identify the goal they want to achieve and discover the areas in which they already agree.
Here are some questions to keep in mind that will help you and your clients to resolve the conflict.
Identifying the problem—·Do the participants know what their problem is?
· Do they need your help in order to define it?
·Is the problem actually within the group, or is it a symptom of conflict?
·Are clients arguing about solutions before the important issues have been identified?
·What issues are being avoided or brought up in conversation and then quickly dropped?
·What are the group’s sacred cows?
·Is there an elephant—something that is obvious that nobody is willing to talk about—in the vicinity?
Identifying the goal—·What is the desired overall result?
·Do all participants agree on that goal? If not, is there a larger goal on which they agree?
·Does disagreement concern the goal itself, or only the means by which the goal should be attained?
Establishing areas of agreement—·On what issues do all participants agree? If you begin the conflict resolution process by establishing a climate of agreement, it is easier for the participants to accept that an agreeable solution can be reached.
Behavioral and communication patterns are often just as important to understanding the situation as are specific areas of disagreement. Keep these questions in mind as well to help you understand what happens from moment to moment.
·To whom is most of the communication in the group addressed?
·Are remarks responded to politely?
·Are speakers interrupted?
·Who directs traffic?
·Who doesn’t respond at all?
·How do individuals within the group position themselves in relation to each other?
·What does their body language imply?
·Are verbal and physical messages congruent?
·Who is active?
·Who is passive?
·Who facilitates the process?
·Who creates obstacles to clarification?
·Are unwritten rules interfering with resolution of this conflict?
·If so, how can the group be made aware have and dispense with them?
This may seem like an overwhelming number of things to keep in mind. An expert in conflict resolution is probably aware of most of them most of the time. The more of these questions you’re able to keep in mind the more effective and helpful you will be in a situation.
Remember it’s your job to help your clients resolve their conflict, not to do it for them.
Laurie Weiss
http://www.articlesbase.com/communication-articles/conflict-the-critical-questions-part-3-of-4-70035.html
2 Comments
March 17th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
History Multiple Choice Questions?
1. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was partly the result of the expansion of the Soviet Union in Central and Eastern Europe as World War II ended. Which of the following describes an action taken by the United States in response to concern about Soviet expansion?
A. adopt a policy of containment and pledge to contain the spread of communism
B. offer the Soviet Union financial assistance in exchange for a promise that they will not spread communism to other countries
C. launch a nuclear attack against the Soviet Union
D. negotiate with the Soviet Union about what territories they could expand into
2. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a nuclear arm race. The fear of a potential nuclear war was very real. What was the most dangerous moment of the arms race?
A. The building of the Berlin Wall.
B. The collision of two nuclear submarines.
C. A leak at the Chernobyl nuclear facility in the Soviet Union.
D. The Cuban missile Crisis.
3. On March 12, 1947, President Truman addressed a joint session of Congress to recommend that the United States provide economic assistance to Greece and Turkey. His reasons were as follows: The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want. They spread and grow in the evil soil of poverty and strife. The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms. If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the worldand we shall surely endanger the welfare of our own Nation. -President Harry S. Truman, address to Congress, March 12, 1947 This statement would be helpful in supporting the thesis that, in 1947, President Truman believed the United States
A. had little to gain from membership in the United Nations.
B. was more interested in foreign policy than in domestic issues.
C. should help maintain democratic governments in other countries.
D. should conserve its resources to maintain its own economic strength.
4. Following World War II, the Soviet Union dominated the countries of Eastern Europe. Forty years later the Soviet bloc disintegrated, and the Soviet Union broke apart as well. These later events led to
A. struggles for political control in countries formerly under control of the Soviet Union.
B. the Chinese communist revolution.
C. renewed conflict between Israel and its neighbors.
D. the dismantling of the NATO alliance.
5. The use of atomic weapons at the end of World War II fostered fears about their potential use during the Cold War years. These fears were critical in determining the U.S. response to
A. the Marshall Plan.
B. the Berlin Blockade.
C. the Cuban Missile Crisis.
D. the independence movement in India.
6. As World War II came to an end, a new kind of conflict emerged, the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union were at the center of this conflict. It was called the Cold War because
A. The use nuclear weapons created a nuclear winter.
B. Both nations agreed on postwar issues.
C. The two countries were increasingly suspicious of each others motives.
D. H. The two countries did not engage in actual combat.
7. Following World War II, France attempted to re-establish control over its colony, Indochina, which included Vietnam. Leaders of the Vietminh, a communist-supported independence movement in Vietnam, fought against Frances efforts to retake the colony. The United States viewed this conflict as part of the Cold War and aided France. This U.S. action was based on which policy?
A. a policy of opposing colonialism
B. a policy of helping Japan rebuild its economy
C. a policy of containing the spread of communism
D. a policy of participating in United Nations peacekeeping efforts
8. Which factor did NOT help lead to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union?
A. differing intentions between the two nations for the political and economic rebuilding of Eastern Europe after World War II
B. the lack of U.S. aid to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease Program during World War II
C. US fear of the spread of communism
D. uneven prosperity between the two nations after the Great Depression
9. At the end of World War II, Soviet armies liberated the countries of Eastern Europe from Nazi Germany. The occupation of these countries by the Soviet Union contributed to the development of the Cold War by:
A. Contributing to conflict in the Middle East.
B. Bringing about the reunification of Germany
C. Strengthening the authority of the United Nations.
D. Dividing Europe into communist and non-communist spheres.
10. The primary purpose of the Marshall Plan was
A. To hinder the rebuilding of war torn countries under Soviet control.
B. To create the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
C. To end the Cold War.
D. To
March 18th, 2010 at 12:18 am
1. A, 2. D, 3. C, 4. A, 5.C, 6. D, 7. C, 8. D, 9. D, 10. Neither a,b,or c. You didn’t list a D. If it has something to do with rebuilding European industries so that trade could again happen and economic growth occur, that would be the one to take
References :
general knowlege of one who lived through the times