Name: Tiffany Busby

Course: Group Facilitation Certificate

In preparation for the team meeting, you have been tasked with outlining

key areas of focus, about the following learning areas, as listed below.

1. Factors you can use to help improve your problem-solving

capabilities

There are seven key factors that are situational to the conflict at hand. It is

recommended that you assess both yourself and the other party in each situation

to evaluate the best approach and how much help you may need in this particular

situation.

The seven factors that can be used to enhance your problem-solving capabilities,

including the following: experience; formal training; attitude towards the conflict in

general; current mood over the conflict; willingness to confront the conflict;

willingness to resolve the conflict; and the level of personal responsibility for

resolving the conflict.

If your score is in the high to medium range, you have self-judged your abilities to

be good and an effective resolution is likely. When your score it low, you should

consider hiring a professional mediator or seeking the advice of someone highly

capable. When there is a great difference between you and the other party

whether you are the higher or lower scoreit is a good idea to consider hiring a

professional mediator.

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It is also a good idea to consider the other partys ego maturity. Based on

whether the person acts in the conflict as an opportunist, rules, self-aware, or

goal responder, you can adjust your approach and expectations.

2. Your perspective and understanding of evaluating options

When evaluating possible options, it is important to evaluate the options, modify

them, and continue to improve the possible options. Options may be identified by

a brainstorming exercise that taps the creative energies available to the project.

You also dont have to work alone when you evaluate optionsthis is an

excellent time to seek expert advice or to develop a mind map to explore ideas

and additional options.

Once the best options have been identified, there are five discernable steps to

their evaluation. The first step is to choose the evaluation method. The methods

will depend on the types of options being evaluated. The second step is to select

the criteria that will drive the decisions. These may include considerations such

as cost, required time, usefulness to the company, or other similar factors. The

third step is to weigh the criteria. This should be done with deliberation, as the

weights will strongly affect the outcomes. The fourth step is to rate each criterion

and then to rank them. The options should be compared and the superior option

identified. It is recommended that more than one comparison be used. Finally,

the fifth step is to make a decision by selecting an option.

3. Some of the ways you can identify and manage risks

Some the approaches to managing risks are to look for trends and patterns in the

data related to your project or problem. Identifying trends and patterns has

multiple benefits including the following: informing the process with analyzed

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information; making predictions on future outcomes based on past responses;

understanding patterns and reoccurrences; improved problem solving; and

increased confidence in options. By using available information to manage risks,

the decision-making process is improved and beneficial outcomes more likely.

4. How you can avoid common problem-solving traps in the future

I can avoid common-problem solving traps through multiple techniques. First, I

can avoid errors in reasoning by being more aware of the types of errors that

people make and to guard against those errors. Second, through careful

reasoning of verbal information, I can sort and analyze data appropriately, even

when the data are incomplete or presented in a disorderly manner. Third, I have

learned to read carefully, to benefit from the information that is provided and to

read accurately. When information is complicated, it is important to read every

word and to re-read material until I reach comprehension. Fourth, I can look for

analogies to help understand relationships among problems and information.

Analogies may help explain information to others, but also may be the source of

ideas or solutions in and of themselves. Fifth, similarly to analogies, I can relate

concepts into relationships. By clearly distilling the relationships among different

factors, I can gain new insights into how they work and generate additional

options and solutions for further evaluation. Finally, I can evaluate trends and

patterns to utilize the information available and to look for predictive factors.

5. Techniques you can apply to work towards collaboration

There are five basic techniques that can be applied towards collaboration. These

are based on the degrees of assertiveness and cooperativeness that the parties

have in the situation. The five techniques, based on the Thomas-Kilmann Model

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in Practice, are called: avoiding; accommodating; compromising; competing; and

collaborating. The techniques may also vary depending on the outcome desired

and the importance of the long-term relationship with the other party.

Avoiding can be used when there is low assertiveness and cooperativeness and

is best when the costs are not worth the possible benefits. Avoiding is

inappropriate when the conflict is important and would remain unresolved.

Accommodating is low on the assertiveness scale but high on the cooperative

scale. Accommodations can empower staff members and develop decision-

making abilities. However, the accommodating technique can be interpreted as

pacifism and is inappropriate when decisive action is called for.

The compromise technique is occurs when both parties have something to give

and assertiveness and cooperativeness are both moderate. This approach is

also known as the agree to disagree outcome.

Competing occurs when assertiveness is high and cooperativeness is low. A

competing approach can be quick and decisive, which is sometimes called for.

Using a competing technique inappropriately can result in loss of trust,

relationships, good outcomes, and goodwill.

The collaborative technique can occur when both parties seek mutually beneficial

outcomes. This can result in win-win situations and evoke a problem-solving

mode on both sides. This technique is empowering but can be time-consuming

and is inappropriate when quick action is necessary.

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6. Your understanding of what it means to open doors to conflict

resolution, and how you can accomplish this going forward

Opening the doors to conflict resolution means to evaluate a conflict and to

decide whether it is worth confronting. After identifying the problem, researching

it, and reflecting on it and my role in the problem, I have to decide whether to

change my attitude, change my environment, or confront the problem. As a

manager, I need to understand how my staff are reacting to conflict and what

path they are choosing, and if I need to take intervention to manage the situation.

If I am the one confronting a conflict and I have determined that it is worth the

effort to confront it, then opening the doors means that I will prepare an

approach, rehearse my description of the problem, be prepared to listen to the

response, meet to resolve the conflict, and to follow up on the results. While each

step is important in opening the doors, I think the easiest one to forget to

implement is listeningreally listeningto the other person. If you have spent a

lot of time preparing and rehearsing, it may be hard to switch modes from your

own list of items to talk about and to listen to the other persons responses. And

this means listening to their verbal, non-verbal, and para-verbal responses.

With these techniques, not every conflict will magically resolve, but by using them

well, my outcomes will be better and my long term relationships will be stronger

with my staff, clients, and family.

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