Attending a well designed conflict resolution workshop can be a beneficial experience for you and your organization. Companies may hesitate to make the investment in time and money that is required to attend a high quality conflict resolution workshop, but the outlay will pay for itself many times over with happier employees, increased productivity, reduced management time, and less turnover.

By following these five tips, you and your group can maximize the benefits of attending a conflict resolution workshop.

Be sure to select a quality workshop.

There are many vendors who provide conflict resolution workshops as well as dozens of other unrelated programs. Make sure that the provider is an expert in the subject matter and that the event is being led by an accomplished instructor who uses modern technology and audience interaction to hold the attention of the attendees. If the workshop is fun and not a chore, everyone will learn more and return with a new set of skills that will benefit them for many years to come.

You don’t need to wait until you have conflict.

While a conflict resolution workshop can be extremely useful in resolving a conflict once it has begun, it can also be a powerful vaccination against future conflict causing damage within your organization. While attending a workshop won’t prevent conflict from developing, it will provide your staff with the knowledge and ability to respond in a non destructive manner when challenges arise. Having these skills in place before the conflict will benefit everyone because it will allow the conflict to be resolved with a positive outcome.

Play all out.

A well designed conflict resolution workshop will include some lecture time, but will rely on surveys, exercises which practice what is being taught (not role playing), self discovery, and group discussion. Using these methods makes sure that everyone absorbs the skills and has integrated them at an unconscious level so they can use them without having to think about it. Everyone will maximize their learning experience if you commit to participating completely in the interactive learning experience.

Give everyone the freedom to pay attention.

To make sure that your group gets the most out of the event, ensure that everyone is free from work responsibility for the duration of the workshop. Let supervisors and co-workers know that attending the workshop is important and that the participant should be considered to unreachable for most of the day. If the person attending the conflict resolution workshop is forced to divert their attention from the meeting, it dramatically decreases their ability to learn. Having to shift their attention between work and learning destroys the continuity of the experience and may cause them to miss vital information. Allow them to turn their cell phone or Blackberry off for the day!

Don’t expect people to be "fixed".

I have had people "sent" to my conflict resolution workshop to be "fixed" because they are exhibiting bad behaviors and their coworkers were complaining.

There are two reasons why this is not the appropriate solution for dealing with a disruptive employee: (1) people usually resent being made to attend and are not open to what is being taught, (2) most conflict resolution workshops are not designed to change people, but rather are created to provide universal skills that can be used in a wide variety of situations. Individual counseling or coaching will provide a better solution for helping a person who displays difficult or unhelpful behaviors.

Everyone should attend.

Everyone should attend a top quality conflict resolution workshop at least once in their career. The skills gained from investing a day or two will benefit them for the rest of their life.

To learn more about conflict resolution, download my free 10-Day Conflict Resolution Email Series at Conflict Resolution Tools.

(This article copyright 2010 and may be used with full credit given to author.)