Thought-provoking ideas, and transformative tools and training for working with individuals, groups, organisations, and communities.
Is this our best tip to make facilitating conflict easier?
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Dear Reader There aren't many facilitators who feel comfortable working with conflict. Some might feel competent, but very few feel comfortable. Which is OK. Working with conflict can be tough, and it’s natural to want to avoid it. It’s also not always necessary to lean into it (check out Beck’s video about when NOT to go there). But it can also be revealing, insightful, and make groups safer. And whether we like it or not, it’s a crucial facilitatory skill essential for systemic transformation:
In Beck and Jane’s upcoming course Working with Conflict in Groups, they articulate several working principles for facilitating conflict, including this gem: Catch it early!So often, we dismiss early signals, thinking we'll deal with them if they come back/get bigger, but catching conflictual signals early helps harness the benefit of conflictual difference before things get too personal or heated (and conflicts are much easier to facilitate in the early stages). Three simple steps to catching conflict early in a group: 1. Notice niggles, or sticky exchanges. 2. Attend to them with due diligence – take them seriously. 3. Slow the group down to understand the perspectives of these positions in relation to the group's purpose. (Or if the conditions aren’t good enough (also something Beck and Jane address in the training), take notice and explore these two different positions in your prework/postwork reflection, pay attention to when the polarity or positions come up again and frame to the group when they do). If you can catch it in the moment this might be something along the lines of: “I noticed something about that exchange had a bit of spark, and even if it seems personal, this isn’t just about these two. They also represent parts in the system of what we’re here to work on today, parts we may not have considered. Do you mind if we slow down a little here and explore this a bit more in relation to our purpose here today?” (wait for feedback and if you get positive feedback, negotiate a time boundary to explore). Working with conflict doesn’t have to be impossible – it doesn’t even have to be big: starting with the small things can still be beneficial when we appreciate their purpose and have some tools and principles to work with them. You may never be completely comfortable with facilitating conflict, but you can help groups make conflict useful. If you’re interested in growing your awareness so you can hold your ground when conflict arises (it’s a when, not an if) and make it productive and valuable for the groups you work with, enrol now in Working with Conflict in Groups – we have two spots left (we deliberately keep the cohort small so people get a chance to practice at their own pace). warmly ANZPOP P.S. Want to learn more about facilitating conflict? Check out Beck’s recent article: Why being nice in groups isn’t enough: Facilitator tips for getting more comfortable with conflict. |
ANZPOP
Thought-provoking ideas, and transformative tools and training for working with individuals, groups, organisations, and communities.
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