Marquette University Department Chair Leadership and Educational Development
Navigating Conflict and Difficult Conversations

Dr. Shaun Longstreet

When: Wednesday, October 19, 2016 (12:00-1:00pm with lunch provided) (PART I)

Wednesday, November 16, 2016 (12:00 - 1pm with lunch provided) (PART II)

Where:Center for Teaching and Learning (Raynor Library 330B)

RSVP:October 3 via e-mail to:

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Conflict is the result of intersecting perspectives and interests. Conflict is inescapable in any organization and yet much of an administrator’s time is spent avoiding rather than managing conflict. Conflict itself is neither good nor bad, yet the fallout of conflict managed poorly can have long-term detrimental impact to an academic unit.

In this session, participants will have the opportunity to discuss results of a self-assessment tool that provides insight into their personal approach to conflict as part of an orientation to this session. Note, this will require participants to complete the instrument prior to attendance as well as some additional reading. (Marquette will cover the cost of purchasing the tool for each participant and the instrument results are for your own edification. Instructions will be sent after receiving your RSVP).

We will then, as a community, engage with each other on a case example of conflict. We can share possible strategies for resolving conflicts that can arise for Department Chairs. The session will draw from faculty experiences and several published resources on organizational communication and research in higher education.

Schedule

  • Discuss results from the Thomas-Kilman Instrument on Conflict (TKI)
  • Foster collegiality as a means to mitigate conflict fallout
  • Approach difficult conversations productively
  • Cases and strategies: A working conversation

Sources and Resources:
Cipriano, R. E. (2011) Facilitating a Collegial Department in Higher Education: Strategies for Success (Jossey-Bass Resources for Department Chairs) San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Crookston, R. K. (2012) Working with Problem Faculty: A Six-Step Guide for Department Chairs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Gmelch, W. H., Buller, J. (2015) Building Academic Leadership Capacity: A Guide to Best Practices. San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass.

Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R. and Switzer, (2011) A. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High 2nd Ed.. New York, NY: McGraw Hill

Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI®)

THE UNIQUE BENEFITS OF THE THOMAS-KILMANN INSTRUMENT (TKI)

The TKI has been the worldwide leader in assessing conflict-handling behavior for almost 40 years. More than 7,000,000 copies of the TKI have been purchased since 1974.When you take the TKI, therefore, you can be confident that you are using an assessment tool that has withstood the test of time.

Dr. Ralph Kilmann is the co-author of the TKI: If you have any questions about how to administer the assessment or interpret your results, you won't be able to find another person who has more TKI knowledge and experience.

The TKI is a self-report assessment that allows you to discover whether you might be overusing (a high score) or underusing (a low score) one or more of these five conflict-handling modes: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating.

To determine which of your TKI mode scores are high or low, your results are compared to a.U.S. research sampleof 8,000 men and women who were drawn from a pool of 59,000 TKI respondents in order to mirror the demographic distribution of the U.S. population. A subsequentcross-cultural research sampleof 6,000 men and women from 16 different countries revealed only minor variations from the U.S. norms. These rather surprising results demonstrate that the TKI is measuring an aspect of conflict-handling behavior that is fairly consistent across different countries and cultures.

One reason that TKI results have such cross-cultural consistency is because the assessment was purposely designed to minimize the "social desirability response bias" (which is the natural tendency for people in all societies to respond to test items in order to look good to themselves or to others). Consequently, TKI results provide an accurate picture—across the globe—of how people actually behave in conflict situations.

The online version of the TKI assessment only takes 15 minutes to complete. Immediately afterwards, you can download your TKI Profile.Click here to see aSample TKI Report.