Have you ever wondered about the difference between empathy and sympathy? And if you have, why sympathy has got such a bad name? I addressed these very questions in the recent pilot of my online course that focused on Challenging Workplace Relationships, but was prompted to write this after watching a short online video narrated by Dr. Brené Brown. In the video Dr. Brown says that empathy fuels connection and sympathy drives disconnection. To empathize, she says, we must “internalize the feelings of another.” In the examples she gives she suggests that we sympathize when we avoid acknowledging others difficult… Continue Reading What’s the difference between Empathy and Sympathy, and why has Sympathy got such a bad name?
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Archives for Uncategorized
Book Review: Hold on to Yourself Through Tough Conversations
The Center was fortunate to get an early look at Julia Menard and Judy Zehr’s new book, Hold on to Yourself Through Tough Conversations, which comes out in early February from Balboa Press. It is a wonderful new offering that helps explain and provide pathways for addressing the emotional challenges we all face in conflict settings. The book draws from a multitude of rich and diverse sources including Jon Kabat Zinn (mindfulness), Laurel Mellin (emotional brain training), Daniel Goleman (emotional intelligence), Daniel Siegel (interpersonal biology), John Gottman (couples communications), Marshall Rosenberg (nonviolent communications), and others. It provides an in-depth but… Continue Reading Book Review: Hold on to Yourself Through Tough Conversations
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Promoting Your Practice
We covered a lot of great topics at the 2015 Practitioner Conference. One of our most popular sessions was the table talk entitled “Marketing your Conflict Practice” hosted by Matt Dreger, the Director of Digital Marketing for the Division of Executive and Continuing Education, and Dorie Michalik, the Assistant Director of Product Management for the Center for Conflict Dynamics and Mediation Training Institute. At these sessions, seasoned practitioners shared their thoughts with the group, and the CCD staff gained valuable insight into the support our certified partners need. A large list of ideas emerged from these session, take a look… Continue Reading Promoting Your Practice
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What are your hot buttons?
Helping Managers Learn How to Wait
In MTI’s Manager-as-Mediator course, managers have three tasks to accomplish in the three-way meeting with their employees: Keep disputants engaged in the Essential Process (by preventing violations of the Cardinal Rules) Support Conciliatory Gestures, and Wait! (remember the abbreviation W.A.I.T. = “Why Am I Talking”) While each of these steps is conceptually straightforward, they can each be challenging to perform. In many cases, the most difficult one for managers is the last one. It is simple – as long as the parties are engaged in face to face talking about the problem and there are no conciliatory gestures that are… Continue Reading Helping Managers Learn How to Wait
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Trends in Conflict Research and the CDP Model
In the late 1990s, when the Conflict Dynamics Profile was originally developed, organizational research in conflict had begun to focus on the concept of conflict types. Three main types were described: task conflict which involved differences over substantive issues, process conflict which dealt with how to organize various functions, and relationship conflict which focused on interpersonal problems. At first it was thought that task conflict could lead to enhanced productivity, improved creativity, and better decision making. Relationship conflict and to a lesser extent process conflict were seen as producing negative outcomes – both in terms of productivity and morale. In… Continue Reading Trends in Conflict Research and the CDP Model
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Practitioners, Research, and Uncategorized.
Mediation and Stress
New Conflict Related Research – IACM 2015
Practitioners, Research, and Uncategorized.
Mediation Can Alleviate Stress
Conflict can cause serious stress for individuals which can lead to a number of health problems. These health costs can be expensive for both employees and their organizations and are included in The Dana Measure of Financial Cost of Organizational Conflict. A recent article in the Conflict Resolution Quarterly suggests that mediation can help reduce stress and its aftermath. In “Mediation’s Potential to Reduce Occupational Stress: A New Perspective,” Tamia Tallodi argues that increased use of mediation can intervene in stress through “communication, reappraisal, problem solving, and relationship change.” As such, when coupled with other constructive approaches to conflict management… Continue Reading Mediation Can Alleviate Stress
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The Value of Civility in Conflict
There are remarkable parallels between the costs of poorly managed conflict and incivility in the workplace. Dan Dana’s Measure of Financial Cost of Organizational Conflict instrument and Porath and Pearson’s book , The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility Is Damaging Your Business and What to Do About It, outline a wide range of costs associated with conflict and incivility. Many of them overlap, such as: Absenteeism Wasted time worrying about the issue Avoiding the other person Turnover Lower motivation Both poorly managed conflict and incivility promote poor corporate citizenship behavior. People begin to act badly towards one another and… Continue Reading The Value of Civility in Conflict
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