How do you prevent conflict from escalating in a meeting?

To add to this, it can be helpful to understand the differences in personalities of the key individuals involved in the meetings, and how that can play into differences and communication styles and potential misunderstandings. That can help guide you on how to best bring clarity and alignment among the collaborators in the meeting.

I would suggest flipping the script and use conflict resolution to stimulate learning. By engaging in open dialogue and considering multiple viewpoints, individuals gain new insights and perspectives. This exchange of ideas encourages personal growth and expands our collective knowledge, enabling us to approach future challenges with increased wisdom and understanding.

Regardless of the cause, clearing the air is necessary. When conflict is not acknowledged or cleaned up, it can cause resentment and resistance. This will make it hard for some people to move forward, which prevent's the group's sucess as a whole.

Dealing with problems head-on by actively listening and thinking critically can lead to a number of good things. First of all, it helps us solve problems faster by letting us look at them from many different points of view. This full understanding of the problem makes it possible to come up with better and more efficient solutions. Also, solving problems actively brings back hope. By showing that we want to solve the problem, we create an environment where people feel heard and valued. This renewed hope has the potential to change the people involved, boosting morale and giving them hope for working together in the future.

In my experience in both business and personal, Anger is always based in some form of fear. Try to identify your fear or the other parties, even if they cannot realize their fear and offer them something that does not hurt you (if possible) but eliminates the fear you are perceiving from them. Once their fear is reduced or eliminated progress will continue.

Emotional intelligence and self awareness is key here. When you understand your own emotions (are self aware) you’re more likely to be able to control and regulate them & just as important, you’re able to respond and regulate them when responding to others. Essentially you’re able to understand the impact of your ‘mood’ or behaviour on others. For more information I recommend looking up ‘Golemans’ approach.

Use constructive feedback when it is appropriate to do so. It is important the issues be understood and shown to be understood before delving in to items, specifically sensitive items too soon. It is important active listening is prioritized.

Achieving a win-win solution requires creating a safe space for all parties to voice their concerns openly and honestly. This sets the stage for constructive dialogue and problem-solving. Additionally, it's important for both parties to understand that win-win does not necessarily mean a 50-50 compromise. The essence of a win-win outcome lies in reaching a shared goal or addressing common interests. By shifting the focus from individual positions to mutual objectives, parties can explore creative solutions that benefit everyone involved. It's a process that requires patience, active listening, and a willingness to collaborate towards a common purpose.

One thing to consider is translation errors as well. These can lead to conflict due to miscommunication. Having two translators and repeating what the other one is saying helps avoid these types of miscommunication. Repeating what one "hears" from the other is another way to eliminate passive aggressive language as well.

Why we meet ? We meet to exchange views for better understanding of the meeting 's objective. We endeavour to come out of the meeting , having atleast achieved some advantage that seemed difficult prior to such a meeting . So we now have a purpose which would guide us through the meeting to develop commmon grounds , agreements , and reduce the hotspots by adopting conducive pitch , tone & style of communcation. Compartmentalise mutual agreements and disagreements . We always give and take in a negotiation to win out the purpose of the meet . Mend & Blend must be our trend.

In my years of experience in working with teams/groups, preventing conflict starts with agreements. In order to effectively prevent the conflict, the group in the meeting needs to agree on how they will approach conflict if/when it comes up. This is often a missed step, but when clarified - allows for an ease and speed of resolving conflict. This proactive approach is amplified when the group explores the following questions: - What is our process for dealing with conflict? - How will we address conflict amongst the group as a whole? - What will we do when there is conflict between a smaller faction of the group? - When will we know we need support from outside of the group to remedy the conflict?

Remain neutral, encourage respectful communication, focus on topics, take breaks, create actionable measures with MoM as well.

Let the conflict play out! Establish some ground rules to prevent chaos and have all sides be heard. The idea that conflicts need to be avoided at all costs goes against the reality that we bring unique perspectives to challenges, and are passionate about what we believe in! Can structure a separate meeting or dedicate a set part of a meeting so you remain effective in a meetings purpose and agenda. Foster passion while creating an environment that supports expression of bold new ideas.