Management training is often overlooked both by employers and employees who see it as an unnecessary distraction that can't teach them anything new. Of course the opposite is, in fact, true. The modern business world changes at a frightening pace, management and managers must keep up if they are to perform to the best of their ability. Management training today bears very little similarity to what management training would have looked like fifty years ago but because economies, the law and the world's markets change with such frequency, management training next year will look nothing like it does this year. With this in mind it is worth asking the question 'Do I really have all the management training I need?' Conflict management may be something you'd expect to only hear on the Channel 4 news in a story about a conflict in some far off country but it's increasingly being seen as a vital tool in any good manager's arsenal. Conflict management training has been proven to deliver results in all manner of difficult situations, not just on the battlefield. Staff at an NHS hospital in Hertfordshire, who was given just a week's conflict management training, experienced a significant drop in attacks on employees by patients and visitors. This goes against the national trend where attacks are on the rise. By giving this type of specialist management training the benefits could be measured almost immediately. Management training doesn't just have to apply to areas where there is obvious conflict occurring though; like a war zone or A&E department. The same skills can be used to great effect in managing any team or set of employees. There are three main areas to conflict management: Intervention - It is important to deal with problems early on. Recognizing problems before they escalate will make finding a solution and a route forward that much more easily. The longer a problem is left to sort itself out the less likely it will be to find a simple solution. Prevention - Obviously the best form of conflict management is to avoid conflict in the first place. A good manager should already be fully aware of the personalities in their team and should not create a conflict situation by inappropriate management or delegation. De-escalation - Once a situation has arisen a manager very often finds that they are dealing with very emotional people who are not thinking clearly and are sometimes irrational. This is the hardest part of conflict management but also the area where good conflict management training can be the difference between a violent attack and a satisfactory resolution. All staff are different and every manager's experience of working with difficult staff and having to rely on their management training in a conflict situation will be unique. Having said that there are things that all such situations have in common. Lack of motivation - A person who is not motivated can often become disruptive which can lead to conflict within a team. It is vital that people are given direction and goals to keep them focused and motivated. Flexibility - Not being sympathetic to a person's individual needs, whether they are personal or professional can lead to a conflict situation. An important part of conflict management training is to teach negotiation and compromise. A manager should understand when and why it is sometimes important to give a little ground and when it is important to stand your ground. Unnecessary pressure - The demands of work are often bad enough when they ask the possible. Asking the impossible in the hope that you get as much from an employer as possible is bad management. Part of conflict management training is acquiring the skills to set achievable goals and realistic targets.
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