When you live with such a varied group of people, mix of personalities, ages and backgrounds in close quarters, under pressure and without a way to get away this can sometimes lead to personality clashes, and disagreements. When someone behaves inconsiderately towards other crew or disregards the feelings of others it can lead to a number of emotions. Are you someone who can approach these situations easily or do you avoid it and just put up with it. There are ways to empower yourself to be more comfortable in having conversations which could lead to an improvement for everyone.

How does conflict make you feel?

This skill is useful in a practical sense but also for your emotional wellbeing, to minimise stress and anxiety stemmed from the dread of either doing it or living with it because you can’t or won’t deal with it.

Disagreements can be demotivating, and affect team moral, and can also stem from poor management and victimisation.

To manage conflict successfully there are a number of things to consider

Be mindful of where and when to have that conversation to talk about the issue

Don’t be defensive, angry or hurt – assume only positive intentions, say things that are for the good of the team or the individual.

Allow for a two-way converstation allows sharing of perspectives and collaboration towareds a win-win situation.

Set asside preconceived thoughts and be open to change – Active listening is a skill that can be improved – it’s hearing what someone saying without your own thoughts running alongside the conversation at the same time. Listen carefully to the points made and centre conversation around these topics with an open mind.

Be specific about the issue rather than accusatory, avoid the other person going on the  defensive, be clear about the impact of the problem and be as objective as possible

Don’t bring up other less relevant past events no matter how tempting this may be.  This may make you feel more powerful but will only serve to make people defensive.  Focus on the main points the main issue and how to make things better.

Consider your own contribution to the problem, consider what you might have done to flame the problem, take ownership and full responsibility if there is something you could have done better.  

Focus on what you want not what should have been or what could have been done.   Focus on steps that will resolve the problem

Consider the way your non verbal messages are being received, if you show yourself to be genuine through body language it can help build a more ameniable conversation.

Knowing how to negotiate well is a combination of listening, talking and finding a middile ground and is a valuable skill to use.

If these are skills you need to improve you can do this through skills development and practice how to apply these in real life scenarios. Either use the Whats App icon at the bottom of the page or click here to get in touch.