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Lynne Richardson
Mt. Sinai School
of Medicine

Conflict Management

C

onflict is part of life: an inevitable consequence

of interacting with other people. In both our

professional lives and in our personal lives, we

are constantly faced with statements, actions, needs,

drives, wishes, demands, or positions that are incom-

patible with or opposed to our own. Conflict can

create stress, produce anxiety, adversely affect per-

formance, decrease productivity, and disrupt the work

(or home) environment. It can be difficult to decide

how to respond when faced with conflict. We often

react emotionally or reflexively, without thought or

conscious decision. Learning to deal effectively with

conflict requires that we learn to control our response,

choosing the most appropriate strategy for the partic-

ular situation.

Responses to Conflict

Response to conflict can be described along two dimen-

sions: assertiveness and cooperativeness. Assertiveness

is the extent to which you attempt to satisfy your own

concerns. Cooperativeness is the extent to which you

attempt to satisfy another person’s concerns. There are

five well-described strategies for managing conflict,

which comprise varying combinations of assertiveness

and cooperativeness. They are competing, accommodat-

ing, avoiding, collaborating, and compromising.

Competingis assertive and uncooperative; you

pursue your own concerns or interests exclusively.

This is frequently characterized as “I win/you lose.”

CHAPTER 1 • THE LAB COMMUNITY 115

Learning to deal effectively with conflict

requires that we learn to control our

response, choosing the most appropriate

strategy for the particular situation.