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Conflict Resolution
Learn to identify the root causes of workplace conflict and guide teams toward durable, relationship-preserving resolutions. Practical frameworks and scripted conversation techniques you can apply immediately.
Team leads, managers, and individual contributors who want practical tools for handling workplace conflict with confidence and care.
Course content
Workbook & downloads
Put the course into practice — a printable workbook plus editable templates you can fill in and reuse.
Preview the workbook
This workbook gives you hands-on practice with every framework in the course. Work through each section as you complete the corresponding module, or use it as a standalone reference when you face a live conflict situation. The exercises move from diagnosis to de-escalation to resolution to culture — giving you a complete playbook in one place.
Understanding Conflict
Map a real conflict using the TKI model and Glasl's staircase to build diagnostic clarity before you take any action.
Exercise: Conflict Autopsy
Select a workplace conflict from the past 90 days — one you were involved in or observed. Work through the questions below to diagnose its root causes and escalation stage.
- Describe the conflict in 2–3 sentences: who, what, when, and the current status.
- Using the three root causes (resource scarcity, value divergence, role ambiguity), which one is dominant? What evidence supports that diagnosis?
- Where does this conflict sit on Glasl's nine-stage staircase? What specific behaviours signal that stage?
- Which TKI mode did you use? Which mode would have been more effective given the situation and stage?
Worksheet: TKI Style Inventory
Recall five recent conflict situations and assess your default mode in each. Use the completed inventory to identify your over-used and under-used modes.
- Conflict situation (1 sentence)
- Your assertiveness rating (1–5)
- Your cooperativeness rating (1–5)
- TKI mode used (Competing / Collaborating / Compromising / Avoiding / Accommodating)
- Outcome (Resolved / Festering / Escalated)
- Better mode in hindsight
Checklist: Early Warning Signal Scan
- I have identified any relationships where communication has become unusually formal recently
- I have noted any cases where requests are being routed through intermediaries to avoid direct contact
- I have noticed sarcasm or dismissive language in team meetings and named the pattern privately
- I have assessed which active conflicts are at stage 1–2 (self-resolvable) vs stage 3+ (need facilitation)
- I have scheduled a direct conversation for any stage 1–2 conflict I have been avoiding
De-escalation and Active Listening
Practice the EARS framework and de-escalation scripts until they feel natural — especially under emotional pressure.
Exercise: EARS Practice Run
Choose a conflict conversation you need to have in the next week. Script your opening using the EARS framework, then rehearse it aloud at least three times.
- Write your Explore question: an open question that invites the other person to share their full perspective without judgment.
- Write two Acknowledge statements: emotion labels starting with 'It seems like...' or 'It sounds like...' that reflect what you expect the other person might be feeling.
- Write your Reflect paraphrase: a 1–2 sentence paraphrase of what you expect them to say, ending with a confirmation check ('Did I get that right?').
- Write your Summarise statement: the 2–3 sentence synthesis you will offer before transitioning to problem-solving.
Worksheet: De-escalation Language Planner
Plan the exact language you will use in an upcoming conflict conversation by selecting and adapting scripts from the course. Personalise each to your relationship and context.
- Name of conversation / relationship
- Opening line (adapted from the script bank)
- Phrase to use if you feel misunderstood
- Phrase to use if the other person becomes hostile
- Phrase to call a break if the conversation floods
- Closing line to gauge whether the conversation felt resolved
Checklist: Pre-Conversation Preparation Checklist
- I have done the 60-second breathing reset (4 counts in, 6 counts out) before entering the conversation
- I have identified which SCARF domain was likely threatened and planned language to restore it
- I have rehearsed my opening line aloud at least three times
- I have blocked 60–90 minutes with no back-to-back meetings so I am not rushed
- I have chosen a neutral, private space that does not signal hierarchy
- I have a plan for how to call a break if either of us floods emotionally
Interest-Based Resolution
Apply the IBR six-step process and BATNA analysis to a real or simulated conflict to build facility with the method before you need it live.
Exercise: Position-to-Interest Excavation
Take the active conflict you identified in Module 1 and excavate the interests beneath each party's position using the Five Whys method.
- State your position in one sentence and then your first why: what is most important to you about that position?
- Continue down two more levels of why until you reach an underlying value or fear. Name it explicitly.
- Now do the same for the other party: what do you believe their position is, and what are the likely underlying interests driving it?
- Identify any shared or complementary interests between your two lists — these are the integrative solution zones.
Worksheet: IBR Session Planner
Use this worksheet to plan a formal or informal IBR-style resolution conversation. Fill it out before the session and bring it as a reference.
- Parties involved
- Agreed ground rules (list 3–5)
- Your interests (substantive / procedural / psychological / relationship / principle)
- Anticipated interests of the other party
- Three potential options generated without evaluation
- Objective criteria for evaluating options (fairness, feasibility, precedent)
- Draft agreement language (plain English, 2–3 sentences)
- Follow-up check-in date
Checklist: BATNA Preparation Checklist
- I have listed at least three alternatives if this conflict is not resolved to my satisfaction
- I have evaluated each alternative honestly: cost, time, and relationship impact
- I have identified my single best alternative and used it as my resolution floor
- I have estimated the other party's BATNA to understand their real leverage
- I have confirmed that the resolution I am about to accept is better than my BATNA
- I have NOT revealed my BATNA to the other party unless it clearly strengthens my position
Building a Culture of Constructive Disagreement
Design and commit to the team norms and feedback habits that make productive conflict the default operating mode of your team.
Exercise: Team Norms Workshop Facilitation Plan
Design a 90-minute team norms workshop using the six-step process from the course. Customise each step for your specific team context.
- What case study or reading will you use as the 20-minute pre-work? Why does it fit your team's current challenge?
- What question will you use for individual reflection? How will you ensure psychological safety during the sharing step?
- Draft 3–5 candidate norms in plain behavioural language that feel most relevant for your team's current conflict patterns.
- How will you create a visible commitment moment at the end? What public sign-off or ritual will you use?
Worksheet: SBI Feedback Planner
Use this planner to prepare three pieces of feedback you have been delaying. For each, write the full SBI script before delivering it.
- Recipient name
- Situation (exact context — when and where)
- Behaviour (observable only — what you saw or heard, no interpretation)
- Impact (first-person effect on you or the team)
- Radical Candor check: am I challenging directly AND caring personally?
- Planned delivery date
Checklist: Culture of Constructive Disagreement Self-Assessment
- I publicly model separating ideas from people in meetings — I critique proposals, not individuals
- When I disagree, I ask a genuine question before stating my counter-position at least 80% of the time
- I have changed my position publicly at least once in the past month after hearing a better argument
- I have addressed a tension directly with the affected person within 48 hours at least twice this quarter
- I have delivered at least one piece of SBI feedback this week that I would previously have avoided
- I have coached rather than solved at least one conflict brought to me by a team member this month
- My team has a written set of conflict norms that were co-authored and have been reviewed in the past 90 days
Your Action Plan
- Complete the TKI Style Inventory worksheet using five real conflicts from the past 90 days to identify your default mode and its blind spots
- Map your single most pressing active conflict to Glasl's nine-stage staircase and choose the appropriate intervention level (self, facilitated, formal)
- Prepare the de-escalation language planner for your next difficult conversation and rehearse your opening line three times aloud before the meeting
- Run the position-to-interest excavation on one active conflict to identify at least one zone of shared or compatible interest
- Use the IBR session planner to structure a resolution conversation within the next 14 days; schedule a 2-week follow-up immediately after
- Develop your BATNA before any high-stakes conflict conversation so you negotiate from clarity rather than fear
- Deliver one SBI feedback item you have been avoiding this week using the Radical Candor check as your quality gate
- Schedule a 90-minute team norms workshop and use the facilitation plan from the workbook to run it within the next 30 days
- Add a standing 10-minute retrospective to your weekly team meeting to surface and address early-stage tensions before they escalate
- Review your culture of constructive disagreement self-assessment monthly and set one specific improvement target per quarter
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