Coastal Management memo

Conflict management involves an eight-step plan which guides mediators on what they can do to solve conflicts in an organization. Depending on the nature of the conflict, mediators may use different mediation approaches to resolve a conflict. These approaches include collaborative, avoiding, competitive, accommodating, and compromising. The competitive approach is often formal and originates from a person of authority in which decisions have to be made very fast even when the decisions are not popular. The accommodative approach presents a willingness to meet the specific needs of either party involved in a conflict. This condition may have arisen because the manager does not give women a chance to advance or that the manager does not believe in gender empowerment or he has a personal issue with Ann Macron.

The steps for finding a solution for this case are as follows: First, the mediator needs to keep the mediation team as small as possible. The small negotiating team allows each member to know another as well as giving the negotiator an opportunity to understand the parties and their conflict. Lussier (2016) acknowledges that large groups affect effective communication during conflict management process. In this case study, the mediator has to meet the two parties and some other few individuals to a maximum of eight members. The best conflict resolution approach for this case study is the collaborative approach which is meant to have the issues of all parties have a win-win solution. The mediator should control the discussion and avid finger-pointing before the problem happened and instead, decide the goals that work for Mrs.

Ann Macron and the manager. Another step is that the mediator should see the resolution through to the end. After establishing an appropriate plan for the negotiations, the negotiator should monitor through to the end to ensure that each party’s issues are solved (Edwards-Hart, 2012). In the case of Ann and the management, the mediator should focus on discussing what is not being met and create a condition for an agreement between the manager and Ann Macron. The mediator should continue to ask many questions to ensure that adequate information is obtained to get to the cause of the conflict. The next step involves establishing a common goal for either party. In this case, the mediator should create an atmosphere in which both parties will accept the outcome of the negotiation.

Katz & Flynn (2013) acknowledges that it becomes easy to work with parties who understand and work towards achieving the same goal because they will work to ensure that they attain that goal together. With this said, conflict mediation is an important factor not only for an employee but also to the organization in any situation and time. In the case herein, solving the conflict between Ann and the management will lay a good foundation for Ann to implement her unrealized ideas which may improve the organization’s performance as well as promoting the issue of gender equality at the company. Part II Conflict Resolution Form This conflict resolution form intends to serve as an optional way to allow Ann Macron and the management to help resolve conflicts which don’t rise to the level of contract grievances, discrimination, or sexual harassment.