How Should I Manage Conflict Within My Department?

About this Course

HOW TO NAME AND MANAGE THE CONFLICT IN YOUR 
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

Some college and university departments could show the Hatfields and the McCoys a thing or two about feuding. 

Maybe you’re all too familiar with the wasted time, plummeting morale, and other negative consequences of poorly managed conflict.

But it doesn’t have to be like this. Discover a better way with How Should I Manage Conflict Within My Department?, a Magna 20-Minute Mentor.

In less time than you might spend discussing the latest dust-up—just 20 minutes—you’ll learn how to take a proactive approach to behavior that is less than collegial.

You’ll also discover that “constructive conflict” is not an oxymoron. Just as not all forms of stress are necessarily bad for you, conflict doesn’t have to lead to negative consequences. It can refocus a department and help propel it forward.

LEARNING GOALS

The program presenters will show you how to name and manage the irritable elephant in the room and find positive uses for the energy generated by conflict.

This session is informed by the presenters’ extensive experience in higher education leadership.and they emphasizes the importance of positive leadership.

After participating in How Should I Manage Conflict Within My Department you’ll be able to:

· Express the significance of promptly addressing conflicts

· Recognize the importance of a proactive approach to conflict management

· Use specific actions to calm volatile situations

· Identify strategies to promote respectful, professional, and civil climate and behavior in your department

TOPICS COVERED

A lot goes into how individuals react to conflict. But this Magna 20-Minute Mentor will add something very special to your repertoire of responses—common sense. In How Should I Manage Conflict Within My Department?, the presenters emphasize a practical approach, full of insights and tips you can put to work right away.

This presentation focuses on how building relationships and clarifying your leadership role can limit the development of disagreements and set the stage for successful resolution when conflicts do arise.

You’ll learn:

· Five proactive strategies to keep conflict from developing in the first place

· 11 possible negative effects from conflict

· 12 potential positive impacts of conflict

· The characteristics of an effective anticonflict code

·  Communication techniques to defuse conflict

·  The key to managing conflicts

The program mentors use role-playing to demonstrate how their approach would work in a real-world situation. You’ll also receive checklists and guidelines to help you implement what you learn.

AUDIENCE

Some individuals are comfortable wading into the thick of an argument. Others would rather have a root canal. Whether or not you’re calm in the face of conflict, How Should I Manage Conflict Within My Department? will help you know what to do—and understand why it’s important.

Once differences develop within your department, they can’t be ignored or glossed over. Addressing the issues at hand is essential in order for your department to function effectively.

This presentation is geared toward academic administrators with an intermediate level of experience and the authority to take action as needed.

You’ll come away with real-world, tested techniques you can count on in testy situations—even if conflict used to set your teeth on edge.