Recommended Reading For Conflict Resolution in Business

Conflict Resolution and Negotiation This segment of businessLISTENING.com was written by Bruce Wilson based in part on a series of conversations with professional mediator-facilitators Heidi and Dan Chay. Part I, Conflict Resolution Basics for Business covers the what, why, and how of conflict resolution. More.... Part II, A Simple Process for Resolving Business Conflicts presents a step-by-step guide to simple conflict resolution. More.... Part III, Q&A With Mediator-Facilitators Dan and Heidi Chay explores in greater depth why an exchange of listening between parties in conflict reduces conflict and builds relationships. More.... An appendix offers Recommended Reading For Conflict Resolution in Business for those who want to learn more. More....

Part four of a four-part look at Conflict Resolution Tools Every Business Needs.

A business could rely exclusively on outside help for conflict resolution processes, or simply recruit already-trained facilitators to work in-house. But business people can also develop their own abilities to detect, defuse, and preempt conflicts before they become costly. As with any other business skill, real skill development flows from the experience of actually planning and implementing conflict resolution processes following self-study and/or training.

Books

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For business readers from all backgrounds, businessLISTENING.com highly recommends Daniel Dana, Conflict Resolution (McGraw-Hill, 2001) (>Amazon.com), written specifically for business people who want to apply conflict resolution techniques themselves.

In a short book (about 160 small pages with large type and sprinkled with explanatory graphics) Dana's hands-on "how to" approach to conflict resolution for business includes:

- identifying situations that can be mediated;
- estimating the business costs of conflict;
- how managers can resolve conflicts between two team members;
- how to mediate disputes between more than two people;
- how one person can mediate his or her own dispute with a co-worker; and
- preventive mediation to keep conflicts from creating business problems.

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The classic text on conflict resolution is Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton, Getting To Yes, Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (Penguin, 1991 (2nd Edition)) (>Amazon.com). Another short book (only 200 small pages), Fisher and Ury simply and cleanly explain negotiation and mediation theory as it applies to any kind of dispute, from complaints about barking dogs to Middle-East peace. There is less focus on the nuts-and-bolts of applying mediation to business situations.

Dan and Heidi Chay's book picks.

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Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee, Primal Leadership (Harvard Business School Press, 2002) (>Amazon.com). Dan says: "I've just read it, and dealing with the emotional aspect of conflict is hugely important. This book nicely puts emotions in context (emotional intelligence), illuminates its importance, and offers some excellent ideas for conflict resolution leadership."

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Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline (Currency/Doubleday, 1994) (>Amazon.com). Dan says: "Excellent insight for unpacking many kinds of business environment conflict and contributing factors."

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Deborah Tannen, The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialogue (Random House, 1998) (>Amazon.com). Dan says: "Since we refer to it in our discussion about dialogue... [see the section Q&A With Mediator-Facilitators Dan and Heidi]."

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David A. Lax and James K. Sebinius, The Manager as Negotiator (Free Press, 1986) (>Amazon.com). Dan says: "Excellent reference on negotiation with lots of business stories and references."

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Peter Block, Stewardship: Choosing Service over Self-Interest (Berrett-Koehler Pub, 1996) (>Amazon.com). Dan says: "Helps rethink how we negotiate and frame leadership and 'agreements'. Excellent."

Web Sites

The Public Conversations Project, http://www.publicconversations.org/, is a highly regarded center for information and advanced training about conflict resolution, although they are not primarily concerned with business-related conflicts.

by Bruce Wilson with mediator-facilitators Heidi and Dan Chay

previous section: Q&A With Mediator-Facilitators Dan and Heidi Chay

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