A conflict manager is a professional who helps prevent conflict situations and find constructive solutions to conflicts.
The conflict manager serves as a peacemaker between the conflicting parties, whoever they are, and for whatever reason they are in conflict. It may be just two people, one person, and an entire collective, or even two collectives, each rallied by righteous anger over their pinched interests.
Features of the Profession
This specialty has been widespread in Europe and the United States for quite some time. It is not yet as well known in many developing countries, and it is most in demand in large cities. However, as the psychological literacy of the population grows and improves, and managers at all levels begin to understand how much they depend on human resources, the conflict manager profession is becoming more and more.
What skills should a professional conflict manager have? He should learn to:
- identifiy of contradictions that can provoke a conflict situation;
- prevent the development of the conflict (if possible);
- resolve disputes at the initial stage, which can be resolved before they enter the active phase;
- search for ways to compromise the conflict situation resolution;
- assist the conflicting parties in implementing the compromise solution;
- help psychologically to the participants of the conflict;
- develop programs and recommendations, which will help to avoid psychological tension in the team when making difficult management decisions;
- constantly improve conflict resolution skills.
Generally, the conflict manager is responsible for ensuring that the team members are as calm and comfortable as possible. Suppose they are in private practice. In that case, their main task is to resolve each particular conflict in a way that satisfies its participants and gives them the knowledge and skills to deal constructively with other conflict situations in the future.
Pros and Cons
As with any profession, you should consider the pros and cons if you plan to tie your life to this particular job.
Pros
- Quite a new profession and, as a consequence, the lack of oversaturation of the labor market with such specialists.
- Ability to influence the psychological climate in the team, to see the real results of their efforts.
- The usefulness of professional knowledge for your own life.
- Ability to engage in the scientific aspect of conflict resolution – to conduct research, study the phenomenon of conflict, and write scientific articles and books.
- The opportunity to open a private practice and work for yourself.
Cons
- Low demand for conflict managers in small towns.
- Lack of experience in working with conflict managers and constructive conflict resolution for many people.
- The need to regularly “immerse” themselves in the negative emotional states of their charges and deal with people in a state of anger, aggression, and dissatisfaction.
Important Personal Qualities
To be a successful conflict manager, one must have a sufficiently high level of empathy combined with the ability to follow sober logic. Such a specialist must be able to hear other people understand them. Still, he must be guided not by emotions but by real patterns of conflict situations and algorithms of their resolution.
In addition, stress tolerance is important for work in this field. If the conflict moves to the active phase, the participants may not be polite to each other or the “peacemaker” trying to help them. It is crucial not to let one’s emotions run wild here because otherwise, the conflict manager may turn into a third party to the conflict.
