Introduction
Conflicts are an inevitable part of human communication. Conflicts arise between both individuals and groups of different sizes. Thus, the ability to respond to a conflict in a rational way is of particular importance for both personal and professional communication. According to Picard (2002), there are five basic conflict styles (patterned responses to conflicts). As McCollum views it, (Murphy and Banas, 2009), response to the conflict is characterized with two basic magnitudes, namely assertiveness and cooperativeness. Assertiveness reflects the degree to which a person seeks to protect his own rights and interests in a conflict, while competitiveness concerns the degree to which a person is looking forward to satisfying the needs of another person. My experience of responding to conflicts testifies to the fact that my ubiquitous divergence managing style is accommodation. Accommodating person's behavior is characterized by relatively low degree of assertiveness and the high degree of cooperativeness.
Conflict Explanation
The story I would like to use to substantiate my point is an ordinary one. I was traveling with a friend to the seaside. While I was seeking to get to place early, my friend, who tends to have issues with his sleep and is really nervous about it, wanted to take a later train to be able to sleep longer. Despite the fact that I thought it would not be very hard for my friend to get up earlier, so that we have more time at a place, I felt that I might not have understood the extent to which he is sensible about the sleep-related issue. Therefore, I draw near my friend and told him that I understood his issue and we were able to go to the place of our rest later than it was initially planned. My friend looked thankful, and I clearly feel that the issue that caused the conflict was of significant importance for his psychological comfort.
Analysis
My main goal about this trip was having good rest with my friend. If I had persuaded my friend to go, earlier and he would feel bad which might result that my rest would be spoiled by misunderstandings in our communication. My friend's goal was similar to mine; he also wanted to have a good rest. This is why my accommodation to his interests was concerned with both his and my interests, because it helped us preserve good relationships and not feel disappointed. The fact that I realized is commonness of our goals, and interdependence in relation to it, which played the most important role in my choice of strategy.
Examination
I used accommodation tactics. In cases, when parties' goals are compatible, accommodation method can help not only to resolve the conflict, but also to make the relations between conflict parties more trustful. At the same time, it is important not to use accommodation too often so that other people do not think that you are unable to protect your interests and start using this to their own advantage. To conclude, one needs to act according to the situation.
Conclusion
In the case under study, I was satisfied with my tactics, because I reached my initial goal, namely had a good rest with my friend. However, this tactic cannot be used in relationships too frequently so that it does not become an unhealthy habit. At the same time, it is crucial for each person to realize that it is impossible to protect their interests in relations with all the people at each possible point. That is why, effective usage of accommodation tactics requires thorough understanding of the scope of the issue and its importance of a conflict party.
References
Ellis, R. (2002). Communication skills stepladders to success for the professional. Bristol, UK:
Intellect.
McCollum, S. (2009). Managing Conflict Resolution. New York: Chelsea House.
Picard, Ch.E. (2002). Managing Interpersonal and Small Group Conflict. Ottawa: Dundurn
