The people factor and your ability to absorb change could and does
make all the difference for IT service providers. Most IT practitioners
will agree that “change” requires some organizational change management.
Organizational Change Management (OCM) is the process of preparing, motivating
and equipping people to meet new business challenges. Conflict can be
looked upon as good! Embrace conflict don’t ignore or avoid it because it
is necessary to listen to conflicting opinions that may not have been considered.
Learning to use different conflict modes helps to move forward and increase
engagement that could make your organizational change a success.
The Thomas-Kilmann
Conflict Mode Instrument is a tool for helping people understand
how different conflict-handling styles affect interpersonal and group dynamics
and for empowering them to choose the appropriate style for any
situation. I was studying this in preparation for an “Organizational Change
Management” workshop and had an ah-ha moment regarding the use of
“Collaborating” vs. “Compromising”.
It always appeared to me that compromising
was good. Jayne Groll, President of ITSM Academy, explained that
compromising is not bad but perhaps “collaborating” would be
better. This makes perfect sense when we think about the fact that
when you compromise someone is giving up something. That means that
someone “loses” some and that another “wins” more. There is an agreement
or “compromise” on this win/loss solution but a “Win” and “Loss” none the
less. Now let’s consider “collaboration”. Collaborating is both assertive and
cooperative. Collaborating
involves an attempt to work with others to find some solution that fully satisfies their concerns. It means
digging into an issue to pinpoint the underlying needs and wants of the two individuals.
Collaborating between two persons might take the form of exploring a disagreement to learn
from each other's insights or trying to find a creative solution to an interpersonal problem. The greatest benefit is that
“collaboration” ensures a win/win solution.
So should we “Collaborate” or “Compromise”? The answer is yes. The challenge is to know the difference between these and other conflict-handling styles and when to use them to ensure your strategic initiatives.
To learn
more:
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