When important matters and decisions are on the table for discussion, conversation can get a little tricky and difficult sometimes.
You can prevent the conversation from getting tangled and tripped up by common pitfalls with a little care in language choice and a few simple strategies for staying on track and making clear decisions.
I’ve compiled my 7 simplest meeting and conflict resolution hacks to help:
- When you’ve got a problem to solve, don’t waste valuable face-to-face time. Learn why blamestorming is a waste.
- Avoid a common decision-making mistake with silence does not equal yes.
- Don’t fall into the trap of this guaranteed disagreement sidetracker: always, never.
- When things get a bit hot under the collar, make sure you’re taking the right steps to really cool them down again.
- Learn why the phrase I hear you is one to avoid and what to say instead.
- Understand why “and” can be a much better word than “but” in conflict situations: Yes, but…
- Don’t fear that truly effective listening will inadvertently convey that you agree. Acknowledging is different than agreeing.
What are your favorite meeting and conflict hacks?
Conflict Zen by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at ConflictZen.com.
May and June have been a whirlwind, between clients, keynote speeches, and conference presentations. I love months like this one!
In every argument, there’s a moment when you choose to fight. It may not seem a choice, because the moment is fleeting and the decision may not be a conscious one.