Dealing with Conflict and Complaints

Not many people like to deal with conflict, do you?

Perhaps it’s the difference of opinion or if someone is getting aggressive towards you, but it’s not a pleasant experience.

So how do you deal with conflict and complaints? Do you become aggressive back when it becomes a matter of who “wins” or “loses” the argument? Or do you use cunning and well thought through communication and interpersonal skills to get you through the other end with the outcome that you desired?

In this textbook you’ll learn the key skills and the techniques to handle conflict and complaints in many different ways. From dealing with the direct and outright abusive person through to the calculated “I want to be right at all costs” person, you’ll learn the communication and soft skills to deal with all situations where conflict arises.

Sean McPheat, the Founder and Managing Director of management development specialists, MTD Training is the author of this publication. Sean has been featured on CNN, BBC, ITV, on numerous radio stations and has contributed to many newspapers. He’s been featured in over 250 different publications as a thought leader within the management development and training industry.

MTD has been working with a wide variety of clients (both large and small) in the UK and internationally for several years.

MTD specialise in providing:

- In-house, tailor made management training courses (1–5 days duration)

- Open courses (Delivered throughout the UK at various locations)

- Management & leadership development programmes (From 5 days to 2 years)

- Corporate and executive coaching (With senior or middle managers)

MTD provide a wide range of management training courses and programmes that enable new and experienced managers to maximise their potential by gaining or refining their management and leadership skills.

Our team of highly skilled and experienced trainers and consultants have all had distinguished careers in senior management roles and bring with them a wealth of practical experience to each course. At MTD Training we will design and deliver a solution that suits your specific needs addressing the issues and requirements from your training brief that best fits your culture, learning style and ways of working.

Our programmes are delivered when and where you need them! We believe that training should be fun, highly interactive and provide “real world” practical techniques and methods that you can use back in the office – and that’s exactly what we provide.

1. Introduction
   1. Overview of the Ebook
   2. Expectations as the Root of All Conflict and Complaints
   3. General Skills Required for Dealing with Conflict and Complaints
   4. Communication Styles as Barriers to Dealing with Conflicts and Complaints
   5. Techniques for Dealing with Conflict and Complaints
2. Expectations as the Root of All Conflict and Complaints
   1. Introduction
   2. What Expectations Were not Met?
   3. Using Expectations as a Tool to Prevent Conflict and Complaints
   4. Conveying the Impact of Unmet Expectations
3. Basic Skills for Dealing with Conflicts and Complaints
   1. Introduction
   2. Listening Skills
   3. Effective Communication Skills
   4. Problem Solving Skills
   5. Interpersonal Skills
   6. Persuasion Skills
   7. Customer Service Skills
   8. Integrity
4. Communication Styles as Barriers to Dealing with Conflicts and Complaints
   1. Introduction
   2. The Communication Styles Matrix
   3. Examples of Communication for Each Style
5. Tools for Dealing with Conflict and Complaints
   1. Introduction
   2. Get to It First
   3. Silence is Golden
   4. Thank Them
   5. Empathize
   6. Brainstorming
   7. Fishbone Diagrams
   8. Applying Conflict Styles
   9. The Interest-Based Relational Approach
6. Resources