Collaborating is a conflict resolution style in which parties work jointly to try to meet all of each other’s needs. Collaborating really focuses on finding a win-win solution. A conflict might resolve via collaboration when all parties are highly invested in working together to achieve everyone's goals.
As a style, collaborating is:
EXAMPLE
Two restaurants are next door to each other. They serve different styles of food, but both offer a popular brunch menu, and on weekends there can be extremely long lines of people waiting for a table at either restaurant. Neighboring businesses have begun to complain about the long lines blocking their entrances, and patrons get confused about which line is for which restaurant.EXAMPLE
You love your brother and want to spend time with him, but you can never agree on what to do. He always wants to spend time actively, by going on hikes and bike rides, and you'd rather catch up at home while watching a movie.Most conflict-resolution processes and techniques work toward bringing parties together in a collaborative style, as this style is really focused on creating positive outcomes and preventing negative outcomes.
IN CONTEXT
Collaboration creates positive outcomes and prevents negative outcomes, so it is often the goal of conflict resolution (along with compromising). Let's take a look at a single scenario and how it could be approached through each of the different conflict styles.
Three roommates are trying to establish a system for housekeeping, but they all have different needs. Veronica wants a really clean kitchen and a tidy house with no clutter; she works late hours and finds it stressful to come home to a mess. Chelsea finds a little bit of clutter to be comforting and desirable; she loves to cook and wants to have things in easy reach, and she feels at home in a place where she isn't constantly thinking about tidying up. Maddie spends most of her free time at her girlfriend's apartment so she doesn't have a strong opinion about how the house is kept, and she hates having constant discussions about it.
Accommodating: If one or more of the housemates chose an accommodating approach, the conflict might be resolved by Chelsea agreeing to follow Veronica's standards for cleanliness, even though it isn't what feels comfortable to her. Chelsea might begin resenting Veronica, or might not do as good a job cleaning as Veronica would like, but the conflict would be resolved at least temporarily.
Avoiding: Maddie might opt for an avoiding strategy by spending more and more time at her girlfriend's apartment so that she doesn't have to take a side in the conflict between Chelsea and Veronica.
Competing: A competing strategy might result in one roommate issuing an ultimatum: everyone must agree to her approach or she'll move out.
Compromising: In a compromise, the household might agree to have the kitchen be kept to a super clean standard to please Veronica, while allowing for more comfy clutter in the living room to please Chelsea. Maddie's compromise would be in her willingness to keep track of the different standards for the different rooms.
Collaborating: If the roommates approached the conflict with a collaborative approach, they might come up with a different solution altogether. Perhaps Veronica and Maddie are happy to pay for a professional cleaner twice per month, which would give Veronica the level of cleanliness she desires and allow Maddie to ignore the situation altogether, while giving Chelsea the opportunity to make big cooking messes when she knows the cleaner will be coming soon.
Source: Adapted from Sophia tutorial by Marlene Johnson.
