Steem4nigeria Accelerator Contest Week 82, Conflict and resolution.

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Hello!! It is good to have you in my blog again. @steem4niferia hosted a contest on *Steem4nigeria Accelerator Contest Week 82, Conflict and resolution and I am super excited as I will be sharing knowledge on this regards.

Have you ever seen a 6 while someone opposite you is seeing a 9?
How about seeing a Y while the next person sees a tree?
What of craving for stew rice while your partner is deeply hungry for jellof rice?

All of these are things that poses arguments and misunderstanding thus, leading to what we could term conflict. In essence, for the sake of this piece I will be considering conflict as any disagreement, clash of interest, opinion, needs, or values existing within an individual or between a group of people. These conflicts are always has a result of differences in understanding, competition belief or expectations to mention but a few.

Just for record purposes, Let me quickly mention that conflict is a natural phenomenon that will always come whether we like it or not. As such, our position is not to avoid it but to manage it when it comes. In domesticating this concept, conflict happens everywhere and it ranges from work place, marriages, relationship, school, administrative roles to mention but a few.

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While some are minor disagreement, others escalate into serious crises and lifelong quarrel. Resolving conflicts is a process that requires patience, understanding, humility and some a willingness to compromise if only compromising would have a more dangerous effect.
Ways to Resolve Conflict in Our Workplace, Home or Among peers.

Resolving conflict is a simple yet, trivial thing to achieve judging from how different individuals are. For the purpose of this work, the following are suggested ways conflict can be resolved;

Effective Communication and Mediation Open and sincere communication is one of the ways to resolve a conflict. Here in Nigeria workplaces, most of the misunderstanding that arises between employees often arises as a result of ineffective communication. For instance, there was a time I had a little conflict with my coworker and my boss called us together, gave us an opportunity to express ourselves while he helped us to understand ourselves. With this, He serves our mediator. He enabled us to see and understand each other perspective.

Compromise and Negotiation there are situations where conflicts are best resolved through compromising. I.e, just letting go for the sake of peace to reign. I could recall an incident in my community where someone had to let go of his farmland just to ensure that peace reigns. Though, this is difficult to do, but he was able to resolve conflict through this medium. Meanwhile, in most cases, negotiable could be an option.

*Understanding and Empathy mostly in friendship and relationships where there is bond to be series of misunderstanding leading to conflict, here, both parties needs understanding and empathy to keep themselves moving. A real life situation occured in my class when two of my colleagues had serious issues over borrowed money. It was a serious case as one faced betrayed because the other had to no to pay.

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When they sat down to discuss over the issue, apologies where made and they both came to an understanding. The lender understood the struggle and allowed more time for repayment. With this, their friendship continued

Establishing clear rules and Boundaries one of the sources of conflict in our workplaces is uncleared boundaries and Rules. Setting a well structured were expectations can prevent disputes. For instance, there was a misunderstanding in my workplace due to clash of interest on roles and duties. The conflict greatly affected productivity until the management stepped in and remedy the situation setting standard established rules and Boundaries.

Years ago, I had a very serious conflict with my closest friend over what I would call a little misunderstanding. It happened when we were asked to handle a project together and I felt she was going to do the very part she expected me to do. When the deadline came, we discovered that the work was not done and boom the conflict began. She accused me of neglecting my part while I blamed her of not doing the work either.

Initially, it was a difficult bone to crack until we sat back and had a reflection on ourselves. I invited her for a talk and we talked things out. The discussion took place at campus one evening where I admitted and accepted the blames while she also acknowledged that she did wrongly by not communicating to me earlier. We apologized to each other and went ahead to finish the work together. That experience taught me that conflicts can strengthen relationships when handled with understanding and mutual respect

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Conclusively, Conflict is a natural phenomenon that will always occur in our daily life. As such, we all need to manage it when ever it comes so as to enhance our relationship and make it stronger.

I invite @alexanderpeace, @ruthjoe and @berda01 to join the contest.