CHAPTER 8WHAT’S YOUR TYPE?

If two people on the job agree all the time, then one is useless. If they disagree all the time, then both are useless.

—Dale Carnegie

In order to manage conflict in the workplace, it is important to be able to understand and adjust to the situation. What is the source of the tension? How do the people involved in the conflict (including you) respond to conflict?

Each of us has a conflict style preference. As Mitchell and Gamlem say in The Big Book of HR:

There are five recognized modes for dealing with conflict that describe an individual’s behavior along two basic dimensions: (1) assertiveness, the extent to which the person attempts to satisfy his own concerns, and (2) cooperativeness, the extent to which the person ...

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