What are the 5 conflict resolution strategies?

Asked by: Zena O'Kon  |  Last update: October 7, 2025
Score: 5/5 (44 votes)

In a 2023 Harvard Business Review article, Catherine Cote broke down the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Model, which highlights five conflict resolution strategies: avoiding, competing, accommodating, compromising, and collaborating.

What are 5 strategies you can use to resolve conflict?

Master these five important lessons, and you'll become a better and more effective leader whom people feel they can trust.
  • Address the Conflict. ...
  • Clarify the Issue Causing the Conflict. ...
  • Bring the Involved Parties Together to Talk. ...
  • Identify a Solution. ...
  • Monitor and Follow Up.

What are the 5 steps of conflict resolution?

The Five Steps to Conflict Resolution
  • Step 1: Identify the source of the conflict. The more information about the cause of the conflict, the more easily it can be resolved. ...
  • Step 2: Look beyond the incident. ...
  • Step 3: Request solutions. ...
  • Step 4: Identify solutions both disputants can support. ...
  • Step 5: Agreement.

What are the five 5 styles of conflict resolution?

Here's a brief overview of the five conflict management styles, when they might be most appropriate and examples of each:
  • Avoiding. Some people delay meeting a deadline or making a decision to avoid confrontation and conflict. ...
  • Competing. ...
  • Accommodating. ...
  • Compromising. ...
  • Collaborating.

What are the 5 approaches to conflict resolution?

Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilmann developed five conflict resolution strategies that people use to handle conflict, including avoiding, defeating, compromising, accommodating, and collaborating.

The 5 Conflict Styles - Which Is Yours?

26 related questions found

What are the five 5 types of conflict and explain each?

There are five main types of conflict in organisational settings including Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Intragroup, Intergroup, and Interorganisational conflict. Intrapersonal conflict happens within the individual and can be caused by self-doubt, stress, role conflict, and ethical dilemmas.

What are the 4 C's of conflict resolution?

The four C's of conflict resolution are communication, cooperation, compromise, and constructive conflict management. These principles emphasize the importance of clear communication, working together towards common goals, finding mutually acceptable solutions, and managing conflicts in a constructive manner.

What is the five stages of conflict?

Pondy's model of organizational conflict was formulated in 1967, defining the conflict process as a dynamic among individuals, and is made up of five stages of conflict: latent stage, perceived stage, felt stage, manifest, and conflict aftermath.

What is the teddy bear conflict management style?

Teddy Bears use a smoothing or accommodating conflict manage- ment style with emphasis on hu- man relationships. Teddy bears ignore their own goals and resolve conflict by giving in to others because Teddy Bears see the relationships as of the greatest importance while their own goals are of the least importance.

What are the 3 C's of effective conflict resolution?

The Three C's of Conflict Resolution

The Three C's—Collaboration, Compromise, and Communication—give you a simple game plan for fixing team tiffs. Collaboration: Let's all join forces, shall we? The aim is to find a solution where everyone walks away happy.

What is the 5 5 5 conflict resolution?

The 5-5-5 method is simple, according to Clarke. When a disagreement comes up, each partner will take 5 minutes to speak while the other simply listens, and then they use the final five minutes to talk it through.

What are the 4 R's of conflict resolution?

The 4 Rs of conflict resolution are Recognize, Reflect, Respond, and Resolve. By recognizing the conflict, reflecting on its causes and impact, responding in a constructive manner, and working towards resolution, conflicts can be effectively managed.

What are 3 positive ways to resolve conflict?

Some Ways to Resolve Conflicts
  • Talk directly. Assuming that there is no threat of physical violence, talk directly to the person with whom you have the problem. ...
  • Choose a good time. ...
  • Plan ahead. ...
  • Don't blame or name-call. ...
  • Give information. ...
  • Listen. ...
  • Show that you are listening. ...
  • Talk it all through.

What are the four A's of conflict resolution?

So here's a simple way to remember a conflict resolution process. Four A's: Acknowledge, Accept, Appreciate, Apologize. Acknowledge: that a problem, conflict, misunderstanding exists. Climb out of the comfort of denial.

What are the 5 stages of Thomas-Kilmann's conflict model?

There are five general positions a person can take based on their degree of assertiveness or cooperativeness during a conflict situation. Someone can either be competing, collaborating, accommodating, compromising or avoiding.

What are the 5 A's of conflict resolution?

The authors suggest a five-step approach to managing conflict: assessment, acknowledgement, attitude, action, and analysis. Conflict management begins with an assessment of the sources of the conflict, the individual characters involved and their goals, and the communication environment.

What are the five solutions to conflict?

In a 2023 Harvard Business Review article, Catherine Cote broke down the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Model, which highlights five conflict resolution strategies: avoiding, competing, accommodating, compromising, and collaborating.

What are the 5 steps to solving a conflict in a healthy way?

Here is the conflict resolution process in five steps.
  1. Step 1: Define the source of the conflict. ...
  2. Step 2: Look beyond the incident. ...
  3. Step 3: Request solutions. ...
  4. Step 4: Identify solutions both disputants can support. ...
  5. Step 5: Agreement.

What are the three pillars of conflict resolution?

He synthesizes them into his own Three Pillar Framework, which simplifies conflict analysis into three main categories including 'conflict elements, conflict causes and conditions, and conflict intervention' (p.

What are the 7 steps in conflict resolution?

Below is a step-by-step process to help you manage and resolve conflict in the workplace.
  • Acknowledge the problem. ...
  • Gather initial information. ...
  • Clarify the source of the conflict. ...
  • Have a private and honest meeting. ...
  • Determine a goal and develop a plan. ...
  • Evaluate how things are going. ...
  • Identify and Implement Key Takeaways.

What is the ABC of conflict resolution?

This is a simple but powerful tool that helps you identify the three main elements of any conflict: A for antecedents, B for behaviors, and C for consequences. In this article, you will learn how to apply the ABC model to any conflict situation and use it to improve your conflict management skills.

What are the 5 stages of conflict?

5 Stages Of Conflict And Workplace Conflict Resolution
  • Stage 1: Latent Conflict. ...
  • Stage 2: Perceived Conflict. ...
  • Stage 3: Felt Conflict. ...
  • Stage 4: Manifest Conflict. ...
  • Stage 5: Conflict Resolution. ...
  • Workplace Conflict Resolution Strategies.

What are the 5 conflict management styles?

According to the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), used by human resource (HR) professionals around the world, there are five major styles of conflict management—collaborating, competing, avoiding, accommodating, and compromising.

What are the 3 most common types of conflict?

Different types of conflict — including task conflict, relationship conflict, and value conflict—can benefit from different approaches to conflict resolution. In the workplace, it sometimes seems as if some types of conflict are always with us.