 Conflict Coaching
Conflict coaching is a process that can be used by a disputant and a conflict resolution professional.
Ross Brinkert developed a model that integrates disputants’ ideas with an experienced trainer who acts as both the facilitator and expert in conflict situations. As outlined in his book, “Conflict Coaching: Advancing the Conflict Resolution Field by Developing an Individual Disputant Process,” it is further defines as “the process in which a coach and disputant communicate one-on-one for the purpose of developing the disputants’ conflict related understanding, interaction strategies and interaction skills.”
 Conflict Coaching is an offshoot of the “executive coaching” concept that started in the 1980s. Executive Coaching began as a consultative approach to aiding managers and other individuals in positions of authority and was embraced by corporations such that “…there were two thousand executive coaches in 1996 and at least ten thousand in 2002, and there are projected to be more than fifty thousand by 2007.”*
In 1994, Conflict Coaching and Executive Coaching became linked because “executives tend to trigger conflict ineffectively or perpetuate destructive conflict.” Moreover, the Conflict Coaching field soon became an integral part of the executive world as organizations were forced to acknowledge the existence of workplace conflict.
In the last five years, one-on-one Conflict Coaching process has started to grow. “The emergence of Conflict Coaching as a recognizable and valued intervention process is perhaps most evident given that top-ranked organizations are adopting the practice.” IBM executives are the number one example of individuals who receive training in conflict management. They also provide online resources to assist them in coaching others.
The following is one example of a proposed conflict coaching model that “…combines the point of view of the disputant, the research and theory-informed point of view of the coach, and sensitivity to the disputant’s conflict context, including interpersonal, organizational, and cultural considerations.”
- Stage 1: Listening for the story and setting.
- Stage 2: Inviting multiple perspectives of the story.
- Stage 3: Clarifying the intentional story.
- Stage 4: Offering opportunities for living the story.
- Stage 5: Facilitating story review and (re)direction.
 There are three implications for Conflict Coaching. The first is that the coaches should express humility even though they are seen as the expert in this situation. The second implication is that the disputants should be encouraged to develop an understanding and appreciation for the identifiable circumstances of the conflict. The last implication is that coaches and disputants can never prevent conflict. In addition, conflict coaches should never be seen as “miracle workers.”
Conflict Coaching brings the knowledge and use of conflict resolution strategies to organizations and corporations whose leaders may never have thought to access these valuable resources that are typically housed within community mediation centers or ADR-related organizations.
*“Conflict Coaching: Advancing the Conflict Resolution Field by Developing an Individual Disputant Process,” Ross Brinkert. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, vol. 23. no. 4, Summer 2006. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the Association for Conflict Resolution.
|
