Natural ways of dealing with conflict

What are natural ways of dealing with conflict?

When we examine the Thomas Killman model of conflict, many of the concepts and strategies he discusses—such as how people handle conflict—are in fact typical strategies that we can all identify with.

The first option is to avoid/ sidestep. How often do we act impulsively to avoid conflict when it comes our way? We simply want it to disappear; we don't want to deal with it, and we are hopeful that it will. Naturally, it depends on the dispute, its nature, and how significant or serious it is, but there's no doubt that many of us can connect to the idea of avoiding conflict.

The second one involves being accommodating and putting the needs of others above our own. This is frequently another method for resolving disputes. Therefore, rather than trying to avoid it, we just accept whatever the other person says—even though it's not actually okay. We want to be accommodating and avoid dealing with disagreement, so we will simply agree to anything that the other person says. Because we're not really dealing with our own feelings and having our voice heard, that can really generate a lot of anxiety and  turmoil.

The third one is compromising. Many of us are compromisers, meaning that we'll look for a somewhat acceptable resolution while still wanting to be heard and being receptive to other people's views. Therefore, compromising involves being open-minded and not always thinking about the other person or yourself.

Then there is competing, which is somewhat the reverse since when you utilize a competitive spirit to resolve a dispute, you genuinely want to prevail. Because you're there to win, it really doesn't matter who else is participating in the dispute. We frequently see that in sports and even in case competitions. Therefore, that is something that is normal, as we have often witnessed.

The final one is collaborating. Finding a win-win situation where we can be open to other people's ideas while still pursuing our own ideas and accepting that we can all work together and that we each have a unique skill to contribute to resolving that dispute is what collaboration is all about. Collaboration entails dealing with the issue, controlling it, and figuring out how to deal in a way that doesn't leave anyone out of the picture in order to ensure that the dispute is genuinely reduced.