Avoidance
The issue is simply ignored, or there is denial that a problem exists in the hope that it will go away. This approach creates winners and losers and makes decisions difficult to implement as the issue can arise again later on.
Accommodation
People may give up their position to be agreeable. This approach costs the team the value of people’s opinions and ideas. It also creates winners and losers and makes decisions difficult to implement as the issue can arise again later on.
Confrontation
People may act aggressively and try to win an argument. However, winning can become more important than making a good decision. This approach also creates winners and losers and makes decisions difficult to implement as the issue can arise again later on.
Compromise
The goals of each person are balanced by each person yielding a little. The approach promotes equity and fairness. However, it does not result in optimal decisions because they are not sought.
Collaboration
People search for a solution that satisfies everyone. The approach requires cooperation and respect and may be time consuming and difficult, but everyone wins. Collaborative decision making encourages creativity, improves relationships among team members, and leads to greater commitment to decisions.
A number of factors influence the choice of approach for the resolution of conflicts, including personalities, social relationships, the time available, and the particular issue. PHA facilitators should be ready with a strategy for managing conflict. It should address prevention, preparation, and conflict resolution.
Prevention can be addressed by establishing rules of the road, that is, guidelines for behavior by team members, and ground rules for how PHA will be conducted. Preparation can be addressed by creating an environment that encourages mutual respect and courtesy, open communication, and constructive debate. A climate should be created in which people feel safe to raise issues and voice disagreements. A sense of trust must be built between team members. It is important to allow PHA team members to become acquainted with each other before embarking on a study to allow this process to begin.
In addressing the resolution of conflict, PHA facilitators must know when to intervene. It should neither be too soon nor too late. If it is too soon, the expression of opinions will be nipped in the bud; if it is too late, people will have dug in their heels. Facilitators should control communications between parties, while allowing the brainstorming that is essential in PHA studies. Attention should be focused on the issue of interest rather than positions taken by people. Facilitators should look for small areas of agreement and use them to build trust and rapport and demonstrate common ground. Resolutions can be suggested, without putting words into the mouths of participants, to try and create win-win solutions.
