Federation of Medical Women of Canada Annual General Meeting Rose Goldstein Calgary, Alberta

1. RAISING CONFLICT PRODUCTIVELY Federation of Medical Women of Canada Annual General Meeting Rose Goldstein Calgary, Alberta June 2008

2. Objectives To be able to use a strategic framework to analyze conflicts; To identify several communication skills and conflict resolution techniques that can be used to prevent, reduce and resolve conflicts.

3. Workshop Objectives Participants will be introduced to: A strategic framework to transform conflict into a forward moving force

4. The Two Faces of Conflict • A destructive force • Physically and emotionally damaging • Wastes resources, time and money • Distracts from what we really want to accomplish

5. The Two Faces of Conflict • Creates opportunity for personal growth and change • Exposes real problems • Stimulates improvements • Galvanizes problem solving • Increases community

6. A Simple Strategy Goal: BecomeLess Reactive and More Systematic Method: Apply a Simple Framework & Communication Skills

7. Strategic Framework4 TOOLS Conflict Analysis What are the sources of this conflict ? Identify Interest What interests underlie the positions or demands?

8. Strategic Framework4 TOOLS Consider Culture Is culture impacting on this situation ? Communication skills Using skills to turn a “positional debate” into productive joint problem solving

9. A CONFLICT SITUATION FROM YOUR WORK ENVIRONMENT • Jot down some notes on a conflict you have been part of or observed • Identify a question you were left with • Describe the situation to your partner

10. The New Meeting Policy Look for: • Communication skills • Positions or demands • Concerns and needs underlying demands • Sources of tension

11. POSITIONS • Students have no vote; Advocacy issues are priority • We have to have buy-in; we have multiple issues to consider

12. INTERESTS – Regional Director • Assisting the organization to achieve its mission • Respecting and influencing new National policies • Meeting needs of the organization and membership • Good relationship with National office • Having input • Respect for her own leadership skills • Managing change efficiently

13. INTERESTS – Branch President • Maintaining membership and involvement of members • Getting input from members and having input into the organization • Advancing on multiple issues • Meeting educational and social objectives of members • Acknowledgement of educational initiatives to date • Respect for her own leadership skills

14. SKILLS • Not reacting. Breaking the negative pattern • Ignoring the personal attack (Don’t get mad, get what you want) • Gathering Data • Letting them know you are listening to understand

15. SKILLS • Empathy • Paraphrase • Acknowledge the problem and the other person’s point of view • Creating the right environment

16. REFRAMING Reframe away from the position to the problem Position: Students have no vote Reframe: Plan for student input while prioritizing advocacy issues

17. Sources of Conflict • Negative repetitive behaviour • Poor communication skills • Hierarchical decision making • Lack of data and interpretation of data • Imposed decision and structural constraints • Assuming decisions are final and input is futile

18. Communication Basics • Active Listening • Restating • Reflecting • Paraphrasing • Summarizing • Reframing

19. Positions • Interests

20. INTERESTS • Change or shifts people from their positions • Broaden the range of solutions

21. CONFLICT PRESENTS AS POSITIONS Compromise X X

22. UNCOVERING INTERESTS • Interests - concerns, wants, needs, hopes and fears • Uncovering the interests underlying the positions creates more ground for solutions. • A mix of substantive, procedural and psychological interests

23. Interest Triangle PROCEDURAL PSYCHOLOGICAL SUBSTANTIVE

24. Interests • Substantive: • Material concerns such as money, property, resources, time • Procedural: • How things are done; • How decisions are made; • How disputes are resolved • Psychological: • Psychological aspects can include emotional needs, respect, trust, fairness, acknowledgement

25. X Shared Interests

26. UNCOVERING INTERESTS • Interests – common - non-competing • Enlarge problem-solving potential • Enables multiple options for resolution • Identify all the stakeholders

27. Next Steps • Topics that need to be discussed • Problems that need to be resolved • Create agendas

28. Examples: Substantive • Position: Starting next week we are closing the clinic on Fridays unless we are allowed to recruit new faculty to handle the increased demand for service. • Interests: A manageable workload to assure quality services, prevent faculty burn-out and promote good staff morale. • Issues: • Extent of increased demand for service • Workloads • Faculty wellness needs

29. Examples: Procedural • Position: You must rescind the decision on the allocation of research funds because I was not consulted! • Interest: My department needs sufficient funding. I want a budget allocation process that maximizes departmental input. • Issues: • Impact of the current allocation • Shortcomings in the recent process • Improving the process for future allocations

30. Examples: Psychological • Position: I want Dr. Jones removed as my thesis supervisor. She ridiculed my thesis statement. • Interest: Respect for my work. Constructive feedback and fair evaluation of my efforts. • Issues: • Supervision and evaluation expectations • Constructive feedback • Effective and respectful communication

31. Positions and InterestsExample: • 2nd Person: I am working on an urgent project and need the reference. You weren’t around and I couldn’t wait for you to come back. Office space is not private property. Possible interests: • Efficiency • Doing good work • Not wasting time • Using the resource

32. Positions and InterestsExample: • 1st person: I spent 20 minutes looking for that reference book, how dare you take it from my shelf. I ordered that book. My office is off-limits to you. Possible interests: • Privacy • Not wasting time • Using the resource • Doing good work • Recognition of initiative in acquiring the resource

33. Positions and Interests • Shared Interests • Not wasting time • Using the resource • Doing good work • Competing interests • Privacy • Efficiency • Control • Interests that are neither shared nor compete • Recognition of role in acquiring the resource

34. Positions and Interests • Be clear on your own interests • Understand the other person’s interests • Prioritize interests • Use interests to reframe positions into problems that can be worked on • We are looking for a solution that meets X for you and Y for me

35. Positions and Interests We both need to use this reference book to get our work done well, and we both need to be efficient with our time. I really appreciate that you got this book for our department, it is really useful. How can we arrange things so that your privacy is ensured and I can still use the book when required for the project?

36. Sources of Conflict Adapted from C. Moore, 1996

37. Identifying Sources of Conflict is Useful for: • Targeting systemic or root problems • Finding ways to immediately de-escalate tensions • Identifying problem solving approaches • Developing long range plans to prevent future problems • Choosing different dispute resolution approaches

38. Relationship • Poor communication • Misperceptions • Stereotypes • Strong emotions • Negative, repetitive behavior • Cultural miscues

39. Relationship “Whenever I bring up the topic of my workload, the attending physician rolls her eyes” Immediate de-escalation: Communication: Clarify perceptions Improve listening Use active listening so the resident feels heard Long-term strategies: Set ground rules for how and when complaints are made Restructure assignments Raise awareness of non-verbal communication

40. Relationship Problems • Cultural miscues “She has no right to expect we will take her point of view into account if she is not prepared to raise it at the meeting.” Does the decision-making process optimize input from people with different culturally influenced behaviors?

41. DATA • Information lacking • Misinformation • Disagreement on relevance or interpretation • Different data collecting and assessing processes

42. DATA “My chair is pushing me to submit a $500,000 budget for this project , but Joe’s wife sits on the committee. She says that they are not approving budgets over $250,000. I can’t submit an unrealistic proposal. The project must be scaled down.”

43. Strategies – data problems Immediate de-escalation: Fill data gaps/clarify strategy Find mutually acceptable sources and assessment processes Consider alternative data sources Long-term: Agree on common criteria Engage 3rd party experts

44. Structural Conflicts • Formal and informal structures, patterns and operating constraints • Relating to: decision making, time, hierarchy, communication channels, resources • Often externally imposed • Often systemic and longstanding

45. Strategies – Structural problems “I had no part in the decision to accept more medical students, now I have to miraculously find more PBL tutors.” Immediate de-escalation: Questions to uncover needs and impact, timelines, resources Reframe as a joint problem to work on together Long-term strategies: Reorganize PBL tutor recruitment strategy Establish working group re: PBL and new increased numbers of students Improve decision-making strategy

46. Values Conflicts • Values contribute to our sense of self-meaning and can impact our assumptions of: • Moral behaviour • Priorities • Fairness and Justice • How conflicts should be resolved

47. Value Conflicts • Arise when people insist on one set of values to the exclusion of others • Divergent views are not allowed to be expressed • Decisions are unconsciously based on ideology or culture

48. Value Conflicts • Chair :“If you want to be successful in academic medicine you have to put in long hours at the hospital like the rest of us.” • Faculty member: “Just because I value my family life and try and leave the clinic by 6:00 p.m. doesn't mean I'm not pulling my weight.”

49. Strategies – values conflict Immediate de-escalation: Mutual education Use communication skills to surface the values and perspectives Long-term strategies: Agree to disagree and look for other objective standards Translate values into interests Focus on a larger common goal Reframe the problem from a conflict over dedication (personal) to a joint problem (patient care] Create spheres of influence

50. RAISING CONFLICT PRODUCTIVELY Strategies that: Improve Communication Meet Interests Prevent Cultural Miscues Deal with personal attacks, offensive tactics and tricks