There are 5 different styles to deal with the conflict.

1. Competing
2. Accommodating
3. Avoiding
4. Collaborating
5. Compromising

Each style is appropriate in particular contexts and learning how to be strategic when approaching conflict is ideal.

First, assess your situation: What is the most important to you? Team? Organization? Is it the goal or is it the relationship involved?

• When the relationship matters the most, use the collaborating or accommodating strategy;
• If the goal is vital to maintain, above all else, use competing or collaborating strategies;
• When the result and relationship are both relatively important to you, a compromising style will probably be most effective;
• If neither the goal nor relationship matter, avoiding conflict may be the best bet.

Accommodating

The accommodating style is unassertive and cooperative. Typically a person using this conflict mode neglects his or her needs to satisfy the concerns of the other person.

Competing

The Competing style is a power-oriented mode with the goal to win. In this mode the individual aims to pursue one’s agenda at another’s expense.

Avoiding

The avoiding style’s goal is to delay. In this mode there is indifference to the outcome to the issue and the relationship and the person withdraws or postpones dealing with the conflict.

Collaborating

The collaborating style’s goal is to find a win-win situation. Typically this mode is concerned with finding creative solutions to issues that satisfy both individual’s concerns. It takes time and effort.

Compromising

The compromising style’s is goal to find a quick middle ground. Parties find an expedient, mutually acceptable solution by having each person give up something and split the difference.

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