1.
Conflict Description
Last month, my friend Alex and I had a conflict over a group project. Alex missed two
important meetings without informing us, leaving us to cover his work. When he finally
attended, he criticized the project's direction, leading to a heated argument. I felt
frustrated by his absence and saw it as a lack of commitment, while Alex felt ignored
and undervalued. This misunderstanding escalated our conflict, making collaboration
difficult.
2. Conflict Resolution Using the Seven Steps
Step One: Agree to Work It Out Recognizing the conflict's negative impact, Alex and I
agreed to resolve our differences for the project's sake.
Step Two: State Your Feelings In a private meeting, I expressed my frustration about
Alex’s absences, and he shared his feelings of exclusion and undervaluation.
Step Three: State What Has Happened We each described our perspectives: I
highlighted how Alex’s absence increased our workload, while Alex explained his
personal issues and felt criticized upon returning.
Step Four: State What You Need I needed Alex to be reliable and communicative. Alex
needed his ideas to be valued and a clear role in the project.
Step Five: Brainstorm Ideas We brainstormed solutions like using a shared calendar,
regular check-ins, and clearly defining responsibilities.
Step Six: Choose the Best Solution We chose to implement the shared calendar and
regular check-ins, and agreed on weekly review meetings to ensure alignment.
Step Seven: Try Out the Solution We implemented these solutions immediately,
improving our communication and collaboration. Weekly meetings allowed us to
address issues promptly, ensuring everyone felt included and valued.