Tim Hayes

MBA 505
Resolving Conflict with Another Person
November 20, 2008

Conflict arises when two parties have differences in needs, values and

beliefs. If the conflict is not resolved it could strain the relationship that the two

parties have. Many times, effective conflict resolution skills can make the

difference in a positive or negative outcome. I will discuss some conflicting views

a few clients and I had over paying me timely and what conflict resolution tools I

used to resolve the conflict.

When I lived in Southern California, I owned a business that did legal

research for attorneys, private investigators and employment screening

companies. Many clients would pay their invoice immediately after they received

it, but there was always a few that would wait and pay thirty to sixty days later,

which caused cash flow problems. The main cash flow problem came from

paying court costs for clients such as filing fees or copy fees, and not getting the

money in return for approximately thirty days. Many times, a few of these clients

would have outstanding court costs with us of over a few thousand dollars. I

thought to myself, these are multimillion dollar companies they should be able to

give me an expense account, prepay expenses, or pay me in a timely fashion

such as weekly or biweekly. I had to come up with some solutions to this problem

we were having, so that I would not have any more cash flow problems.

For the clients who were slow payers, I would use the following steps to

resolve this conflict: 1) Treat the other person with respect. 2) Confront the

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problem. 3) Define the conflict. 4) Communicate understanding. 5) Explore

alternative solutions. 6) Agree on the most workable solution. 7) Evaluate after

time. (Fittro, (N.D.)) I would call their accounts payable department, let them

know their invoice has not been paid and ask them when it would be paid. I

would usually get a response such as next week or that they would be sending it

out on a specific date. I would then repeat the date back to them that I was told I

would be receiving the check and they would confirm this information. If I needed

to have the check prior to the date I expected to have it, I would ask them if they

could Fedex the check to me, which in the end made both parties happier, I

would receive their payment faster and they would not be receiving calls from me

begging for payment. Occasionally, if I did not get paid by the date specified, I

would call the accounts payable department and let them know I still have not

received payment and if I did not receive payment within ten days I would file a

small claims case. The end result was that I was paid immediately and only had

to file one small claims case.

For the clients who had a large outstanding court fee balances with us, I

used the following steps to resolve this conflict: 1) Define the problem. 2)

Determine underlying need. 3) Find common area of agreement. 4) Find

solutions to satisfy needs. 5) Determine follow up you will take to monitor actions.

(UC Regents, 2008) I would first contact the Chief Financial Officer or the owner

and let them know we needed to establish an expense account with them to pay

the court fees we are incurring for them each week. A few clients had problems

not wanting to prepay fees. I had one person tell me that in a sit-down restaurant

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you don’t pay for food until after you eat it. After discussing this with a few clients,

some of them said they would think about it and would get back to me. I

received a call from one of our largest clients and we came to an agreement

which made both parties happy. They agreed to reimburse us the court fees

every week. Once I spoke to the other clients I needed to work out agreements

with, some of them agreed to pay back court fees weekly but many chose

biweekly, a solution that satisfied the needs of both parties. After I set up these

clients on a weekly or biweekly pay plan, I monitored the cash flow to determine

if other clients needed to go on a weekly or biweekly pay plan or if some of the

biweekly clients needed to be moved to a weekly payment plan.

“Communication problems in a conflict situation can form an escalating

cycle: poor communication exacerbates conflict, and conflict subsequently

diminishes the quality of communication” (Schultz, (N.D.)) Good communication

skills can be broken down into five categories:

• The Communicator: The one actually doing the communication is

responsible for making themselves clear, avoiding hostile,

misleading or ambiguous content.

• The Receiver: A communicator’s best efforts are foiled when those

on the receiving end do not listen well. Therefore, in reality, nearly

all of us can work on being better listeners, all the more so if we

become involved in a conflict.

• The Message: The content of the message can directly relate to

how easily it is communicated and how accurately it is received.

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 Great care must be taken when the content is technically complex,

when it is a new idea or when it has controversial, emotionally

charged implications.

• The Means of Communication: Face-to-face communication

would be the most comprehensive, including the important factors

of voice inflection and body language. Yet face-to-face

communication is not always practical. When any means is used,

the limitations must be taken into account.

• The Communicating Environment: When people are engaged in

a calm and rational exchange, one’s environment seems to be

taken for granted. Yet when the mood is heated, where hostilities

and mistrust are apparent, these take their toll on communication. It

can be quite important to change the way we communicate, or even

what we communicate, depending on the environment in which it is

presented. Sometimes it might be better to wait until the mood

changes, especially when offering controversial ideas. (Schultz,

(N.D.))

By following the previously listed conflict resolution plans, I was able to

communicate my message clearly to my clients. By repeating back to me what

they understood as the message, I knew then that I communicated effectively

and together in the end we created a win-win resolution.

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 References

Fittro, J., Resolving Conflict Constructively and Respectfully, (N.D.). Retrieved

November 16, 2008, from http:ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5218.html

Schultz, N., Communication Skills, (N.D.). Retrieved November 17, 2008, from

http://www.crinfo.org/CK_Essays/ck_communication_skills.jsp

UC Regents, Managing Conflict, (2008), Retrieved November 16, 2008, from

http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/guide/conflict.htm