Microskills in Conflict Resolution

Microskills in Conflict Resolution

• Microskills are useful in specific situations. These include Active Listening, Paraphrasing, Summarizing, Reflecting, Reframing, "I" Statements, Observation, and Questioning.
• Active Listening involves using body language, focusing attention, avoiding interruptions, providing positive feedback, and being aware of unspoken cues.

Communication Skills

• Clear and concise language, avoiding jargon and absolute terms ("never," "always").
• Effective body language (SOLER: Straight, Open, Leaning, Eye Contact, Relaxed).
• Be aware that body language can express fear, positions, moods and emotions that can vary across cultures.

Content and Meaning

• Manifest Content: the literal message communicated.
• Latent Content: implicit, non-verbal parts that aren't explicitly stated, but implied in communication.
• Questioning techniques:
  • Open-ended, closed-ended, clarifying, justifying, probing, consequential.

Cognitive Dissonance

• A feeling of discomfort when beliefs, values, or attitudes clash with actions or new information.

Stories in Conflict Resolution

• The Hero's Journey: a narrative pattern where an ordinary person overcomes hardships and becomes a hero.
• Narrative Mediation: a process used to build trust, externalize conversations, map the effects of conflict, deconstruct dominant narratives, and develop shared meanings.

Creativity in Mediation

• Convergent Thinking: focusing on specific solutions or goals.
• Divergent Thinking: exploring various solutions and approaches.
• Inventing Options for Mutual Gain: using brainstorming and "Six Thinking Hats" to move from convergent to divergent thinking.

Six Thinking Hats

• A method for generating diverse perspectives, including red (emotion), yellow (optimism), green (creativity), blue (process), black (critique), and white (information).

Chapter 8: Frame of Reference and Self-Image

• Frame of Reference: a person's subjective reality, shaped by their experience and culture.
• Ethnocentrism: believing one's own culture is superior.
• Ethno-relativism: recognizing the validity of different cultures.

Chapter 9: Culture, Gender, and Power in Mediation

• Collective Culture: values the group over the individual.
• Individualistic Culture: values the individual over the group.
• Demonstration: using stereotypes to belittle, accuse, or attack the other party.
• Mediating Intercultural Conflict: involves controlling the physical space, regulating language, and using silence as a tool.

Chapter 10: Community Mediation

• Community Conflicts: include conflicts within a community, between communities, single or multiple-issue conflicts, and two- or multi-party conflicts.
• Forms of Community Mediation: include government-sponsored programs, volunteer neighborhood boards, and within religious organizations.
• Types of mediation approaches:
  • Rights-based: relying on authority
  • Power-based: using power to resolve
  • Types based on specific community expectations, values, and conflict nature.

Chapter 11: Workplace Mediation

• Typical Workplace Disputes: include conflicts between coworkers, managers and subordinates, employees and customers, and between teams or departments.
• Five Kinds of Conflicts: structural, relationship, interest, data, and values.
• Approaches: power-based, rights-based, interest-based.

Chapter 12: Restorative Justice

• Restorative Justice philosophy views crime and harm as violating relationships. Goal is to restore people by repairing relationships, fixing damage, and healing pain.
• Victim-Offender Reconciliation: face-to-face meetings between offender and victim, assisted by a mediator.

Chapter 13: Mediation Across Disciplines

• Critical Skills Education (Harvard): critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, collaboration.
• Skills Policing: active listening, building rapport, emotional regulation, conflict management.
• Psychology: focused use of brief therapy and techniques in mediation, increasing emotional intelligence (EI), and understanding subconscious needs.

Chapter 14: Professional Practice and Ethical Considerations

• Codes of Conduct: professional guidelines for mediators from various organizations (e.g., Canadian Bar Association, ADR Institute of Canada, Ontario Mandatory Mediation Program).

Chapter 15 Mediation across Disciplines

• Definitions, Purpose of Mediation, Mediator and Parties, Confidentiality, Self-Determination, Rules of the process, Issues to be mediated, Full disclosure, Fees and other costs.

This quiz explores essential microskills in conflict resolution, highlighting techniques such as Active Listening, Paraphrasing, and Questioning. Understand how effective communication enhances interpersonal interactions and resolves disputes effectively. Dive into concepts like Manifest and Latent Content and the impact of body language in diverse cultural contexts.