Conflict Management Styles, Essay Example

I was not at all surprised that my dominant conflict management style was the Collaborating Owl nor was I surprised that my back-up style was the Compromising Fox. I do agree that my conflict management style reflects both of these in some sense, depending on the situation. I am a person that avoids conflicts and attempts to listen to everyone’s point of view in order to make important decisions. As the handout states, I do view “conflicts as problems to be solved finding solutions agreeable to all sides” (Falikowski, 2002). As the handout states, this conflict management style eliminates negative feelings and helps the outcome to be a positive one. Those are things that I look for when conflict is involved. I want to be the one that looks at all sides and helps everyone come to a mutual decision where no negative feelings need to be expressed afterwards.

As a back-up conflict management style the Compromising Fox is definitely one that supports my personality when I am not in the collaborating mood. I compromise in order to make each person feel as if their opinions are valued and heard. I believe that compromise is key and I am willing to give up some of my specific goals for a project in order to come to a mutual agreement with others on my team. However, while doing this, it is important that I have the ability to persuade the same of others on my team as well so that a mutual agreement can be obtained (Falikowski, 2002). By doing this, it is true that “relationships are maintained and conflicts are removed” (Falikowski, 2002). This is exactly what I want to see happen on an everyday basis as I feel it is important to remove the conflict and maintain the relationships in order to be a good team and in order to attain goals.

In conclusion, these two conflict management styles describe my personality to a T. I am one who will compromise and collaborate before I will do anything else. It helps maintain my relationships with others and reduces negative feelings as well as helps each person feel as if they have a say in the decision making process. I was not at all surprised and completely agree with the results of the personality test because my personality is a non-confrontational one.