When you are faced with conflict, you have five conflict management styles to choose from. The five styles, along with concern for your own and others’ needs; passive, aggressive, and assertive behavior; and win-lose combinations. Some advantages and disadvantages and the appropriate use of each conflict management style (there is no one best style) are also discussed. Also, realize that personality affects how people respond to conflict. Agreeable personality types are more willing to collaborate, whereas narcissists are more likely to use force to get their way.

Avoiding conflict style, users attempt to passively ignore conflict rather than resolve it. When you avoid a conflict, you are being unassertive and uncooperative. Accommodating conflict style, users attempt to resolve conflict by passively giving in to the opposing side. When you use this style, you are being unassertive but cooperative. Forcing conflict style, users attempt to resolve conflict by using aggressive behavior to get their own way—narcissists use this style. You are uncooperative and aggressive; you do whatever it takes to satisfy your own needs.

Users of the negotiating conflict style, also called the compromising style, attempt to resolve conflict through assertive give-and-take concessions. When you use the negotiating style, you are moderate in assertiveness and cooperation Compromise may lead to counterproductive results, such as suboptimum decisions. An overuse of this style leads to game playing in which people ask for twice as much as they need in order to get what they want. Users of the collaborating conflict style, also called the problem-solving style, assertively attempt to resolve conflict by working together with the other person to find a solution acceptable to all parties. Learn how to resolve conflicts using the collaborative style.