SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR TRAINING

Several implications for training emerge from this discussion. Let us briefly explore how the newly trained conflict resolver may act as a change agent within her own social system.

The question I address is how can the trained conflict resolver be an effec­tive change agent? A difficulty that people often experience after receiving train­ing in a particular skill area is how to practice the new skills back in a setting that does not necessarily support developing those skills in the first place. How can we apply what we know about the change process to encourage changing a system to be more supportive of constructive conflict resolution skills?

With this question in mind, we can apply the same three psychological prin­ciples involved in change to this application: create the motivation to change systemic conflict resolution skills, overcome people’s resistance to changing those skills, and generate commitment to constructive conflict resolution skills in future conflicts in the system.

Thus, the person who enhances their conflict resolution skills through train­ing can be seen as a representative of the system whose conflict skills need strengthening. The person’s role is twofold: first, to acquire productive conflict skills and, second, to transfer those skills to the system that offered the resources for the individual to attend the training. This second role involves becoming a change agent.

Generating Motivation

To become a change agent after conflict training, one needs to identify where the system is in relation to strengthening its conflict resolution skills. We can assume that the act of undertaking training in this area is a sign of unfreezing from the current state. However, we must not confuse this sign with the sys­tem’s motivation to change.

Further, the skilled conflict resolver must work at making salient to the system some desired future state, or change goal. This can be done by reflect­ing on the initial reasons for undertaking the training. These may include, for example, the desire to reduce divisiveness between professional staff and sup­port staff. A way to create tension, then, would be to highlight the gaps between the current state of divisiveness and the desired future state, say, by articulat­ing a sense of introspection about where the system currently is or posing ques­tions about the current state to groups of stakeholders (perhaps the leadership of the organization, the two groups with a history of divisiveness, or one’s peers). From these activities, it is important to identify a group that, in the change agent’s judgment, demonstrates sufficient readiness for change: people who are most interested in strengthening their own skills in ways that the change agent has done. Stated prescriptively, find where there already exists some motivation and begin efforts there. Using Gladwell’s terminology, we want to find those who are conflict “mavens,” others, similarly inclined, who are strong at connecting appropriate people together, and “salespeople” who can broaden interest in such change.

Identifying and Handling Resistance

Many forces operate to move the individual and the social system back to the pretraining state, among them using the hierarchy and power structure to resolve conflict, leaders’ modeling of poor conflict-handling skills, and using verbal or physical threats or abuse to resolve issues.

One idea for doing this is to focus on how the conflict resolver himself is learning and changing, rather than focusing on how the other, or the system, needs to change. Schein (in Coutu, 2002) eloquently discusses the importance of this among change agents: unless they become willing to look at themselves and acknowledge their own anxieties, conflicts, vulnerabilities (and strengths), then any efforts at changing the system will never take place. Second, change agents often devote too much attention and resources to those most resistant to a change, underemphasizing the degree of attention and support needed by those individuals and groups who are least resistant. Another way to look at this is to increase the level of support, attention, and resources to those whose motivation for change is already high. To some, preaching to the converted is redundant or a waste of energy. It can, though, play a valuable role in helping to spread the positive energy for change and thereby lessen the effects of neg­ative forces against change. This embodies the notions that Gladwell speaks of in creating the tipping point, or the point at which the seesaw swings in the desired direction and where the forces to go back are overwhelmed.

Fostering Commitment

Several ideas can be applied to generating commitment to changing a system’s conflict-handling skills. First, the change agent must create opportunities for key members of the system to participate in planning how their skills are to be strengthened. If, for example, the change agent must reduce intergroup conflict, she might engage members of both groups in strategizing effective ways of bring­ing parties together.

A related idea about generating commitment has to do with free choice. Choos­ing the level of involvement people wish to pursue in the change effort (and making that choice salient to them) contributes to commitment. In many social systems, especially in work settings, we come to believe that we are in an unpleas­ant situation by force. This is rarely the case. Reminding people about their choice in these matters can be freeing, both reducing resistance and generating commitment. Thus, if people don’t want to participate in strengthening their conflict skills, the change agent should not mandate or force their participation. Such action merely leads to compliance and other increases in resistance.