Situation 1: Coping With Conflict
While shouting matches are rare in most companies, subtler forms of interpersonal conflict are as common as paper clips... Grudges, jealousy, rivalries, resentments, stalemates, turf battles... Put people together for a prolonged period of time, throw in business pressures to perform and the everyday frustrations of work life, and you will get a rich variety of conflicts.

Since you know you will encounter conflict in many forms, why not prepare yourself to constructively manage conflicts when they arise? With the right strategy in place, conflict won’t stop you from meeting your objectives.

Influence strategy: Examine how you react to conflict. Many people, for example, experience a reflexive “fight or flight” response to conflict – they either meet it head on with aggression, or withdraw completely. Of course, neither of those responses may actually help them get where they want to go.

Managing conflict begins with remembering that you don’t have to go with your reflexive reactions. Take a breath and choose a more thoughtful course. The Situational Influence Model™ developed by SMS suggests that there are times when you should push, times when you should pull, and times when you should move away temporarily, with the clear intent to try the interaction again as soon as it seems more likely to prove productive. Any time you encounter conflict, remember: You have options.