Golden Threads Project Worker, Ewa Babicka, shares valuable advice and tips on managing conflict in relationships. Effective conflict management is crucial for maintaining healthy and harmonious bonds with family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers.
In the world around us, we have all kinds of relationships. We value each of them based on our beliefs, needs, and experiences. Even harmonious and healthy relationships can experience conflicts sometimes. These temporary disagreements are usually manageable and help set relationships back on track.
One might ask: “How?”
The answer is: You can learn managing conflict skills! These skills revolve around three universal focus points of any argument: “Did you hear me?” “Did you see me?” “Did what I say mean anything to you?”
Nevertheless, it would help if you started with yourself. Remember, the only person you can directly control is yourself!
Focus on What You Really Want
Improve Your Listening Skills
Let’s start here with our listening skills because we are often bad listeners! We do not pay attention to what the other person is saying. By the same token, most of us have experienced inattentive, selective listening; it was dreadful and deepened the conflict. Therefore, effective listening is crucial for managing conflict in relationships.
Here’s how you can improve it:
To be effective in communication, we need to understand our triggers, biases, and prejudices. While speaking, introduce a concern without blame, judgment, or attack by using a specific framework:
Research shows that understanding our partners’ feelings and values, especially our loved ones, helps prevent major crises within relationships. It is crucial to acknowledge that our partners’ messages matter to us. Especially during disagreements, start with:
Before you find yourself in an argument with a friend, co-worker, neighbor, or loved one, use the guide above to practice active listening, a soft start to conversations, and positive recognition of others’ values.
Ask yourself:
By implementing these strategies, managing conflict in relationships becomes easier and more effective, leading to healthier and stronger bonds.
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