Notes

Share your survey results. Did you agree with your results.
My results identified me as a collaborator (30) closely followed by avoider (28). I agree with these findings despite their contradictory definitions because it illustrates where I stood with my group when I filled out the survey. I aim to collaborate with peers to assign roles and streamline how assignments are managed, but decompensate and rapidly withdraw when disputes arise and are not addressed outright. Despite this, I struggle with negotiation during compromise and often accept sacrifices to either my goals or relationships.

Describe a situation when your conflict management style was ineffective and did not work. Discuss the outcome and lessons learned.
I struggle with minimal, scant communication. A recent example of this was when my group scheduled the Zoom meeting for the initial conflict resolution discussion over the weekend prior to the Conflict Mgmt.'s recording. I wasn't familiar with how iOS focus modes worked at the time and wasn't clear on what we were meeting for, but I had a date & tentative time and did not add anything to the conversation except a 'like' that we were planning to meet online then. Due to Monday's 4h commute, I was exhausted and doubted my capacity to stay awake to record the 45mins. I tried to communicate alternative dates & times but because I had not said anything about my commute's difficulty [or really anything as part of that conversation], they shut me down by popular vote and proceeded without me. I felt this example best illustrated attempts at collaboration that fell to avoidance. I feel my avoidant tendencies sharply increased with this group; I typically try to assert myself more.

Describe a situation when your conflict management style was effective and did work. Discuss the outcome and lessons learned.
My conflict management style worked when I was a new hire for a part-time retail job at a clothing boutique storefront for an apparel wholesaler over the holidays several years ago. I had no formal schedule for this job; I worked when I was available. I wanted to take a day off work to go to Disneyland with my sister, but my boss didn't acquiesce to the request since it didn't meet his criteria for what I could be absent for. That afternoon, a young man came into the store with his CV & an objective to work as an alternate in my retail storefront position (with many more years' experience than me). Because nobody else had my job, I brought it to my boss with the proposal that he work that shift in my place. At first, my boss rejected the proposal, saying 'only women could work the shopfront' because female front-end employees allegedly produced a higher onlooker to completed transaction ratio. Though this probably features controlling traits more so than collaboration, I retorted to my boss that he could accept the young man's help that day while I was at Disneyland or he'd have to find a new shopkeep altogether. Later, he pulled me aside to let me know I could take that weekday off. I kept my job & the new guy mostly worked wholesale but would help me at busier times up front.

Share your findings from the article you found on conflict management styles
I found two readings on conflict management I wanted to share. The first was a cross-sectional qualitative study linking nurses' personality traits with their conflict management strategies. Nurses broadly score highest on conscientiousness & variably on openness scales, with statistically notable differences according to specialty. They mostly use collaboration to resolve conflicts; measures of agreeability and extroversion lend to their resolution strategy preferences. My other research on conflict management was from a chapter from the 2015 Springer & Francis book "Organizations, Communication, and Health"; I plan to cite relevant findings in my summary reflection.