As you learned in a previous lesson, the pre-conflict stage is when an issue may be brewing, but you're not really aware of what it is. Then, of course, there's the actual conflict stage and the post-conflict stage when things are resolved.
Within the conflict phase, the very first stage is often the feeling of discomfort that something is wrong. Following discomfort is the incident stage, where something either minor or major happens to bring the conflict out in the open.
Next is the misunderstanding stage of conflict, in which parties begin to view each other negatively based on their differing interpretations of interactions. Let's look at some ways this could occur.
EXAMPLE
You have been preparing a large dinner for a holiday gathering. This includes planning the menu and preparing the food, both of which depend on the responses from people about whether or not they can make it. You have one relative, your sister-in-law, who has been very iffy about whether she can make it this time; you haven't gotten a concrete answer from her. She thought at first that she could come, then she said she probably couldn’t.EXAMPLE
Things have been very busy at your job. One of the people on your team keeps sending you these snippy emails, saying do this, do that, where's this, where's that. You are very put off by it; you wonder, "Who does he think he is, sending me these emails?"In a misunderstanding or potential misunderstanding, a party is having a reaction to an incident that has happened. As we’ve discussed before, conflict can start at any stage, but it's important to address it at the earliest possible stage because conflicts can escalate or de-escalate back and forth through the stages. Let's look at how to address a conflict in the misunderstanding stage.
EXAMPLE
You decide to talk to your sister-in-law about why she came to the gathering with three extra people that you didn't even know about. Through this conversation, you discover that she did leave you a phone message, but you never received it. The message pops up on your phone the next day.EXAMPLE
You’ve been feeling really resentful about these emails from your coworker, so you decide to talk to him about it. You might say, "You know, I'm really upset. What's with all these emails? I kind of feel like I'm being bossed around here."Source: Adapted from Sophia tutorial by Marlene Johnson.