As per the requirement of the assignment, I have taken the test named- What is Your Conflict Animal? As per the test result I am a Collaborating Owl - Owls are assertive in resolving disputes and try to find a solution that makes everyone happy.
I agree with the test result. In most of the conflicts I am involved my first target is to separate the situation from the people involved. I try my best to look at the conflict from the situation perspective instead of the personality of the people involved. And when I try to resolve the conflict I try to find a solution which is best for that problem instead of taking favourable decisions based on personal interests. And therefore, Collaborating Owl is the most appropriate answer as per my conflict resolution style.
Few days back I was involved in a conflict with one of my dearest friend. The conflict arose because she kept calling me on my landline phone for some eight to ten times, until I picked up the call. I was sleeping and she disturbed me in my sleep. After long and stressful working hours and sleeping disorder from last few weeks, I was feeling very tired and lethargic. I was quite irritated at her behaviour. But her reason for calling was she was really worried for me and thought something bad might have happened to me. She knew that I am not keeping very well and an emergency situation may arise anytime.
Because of my frustration and disturbed sleep, I yelled back at her saying if she was so worried for me why she didn’t come over to check for herself or called for an ambulance. She lives few blocks away and it would have been wiser to do that instead of ringing the phone. And that I will never be able to pick the call in an emergency situation anyways like if I am lying on the floor unconscious or something similar. She only replied that she was concerned and decided to hang-up the line. I tried to call her later but we didn’t have a good conversation or didn’t feel as close to her as I used to.
Today, when I analyse the situation I think we both were wrong. I realized that I reacted too badly and too much. I should have talked to her another time instead of yelling back at her right away. That moment I was not able to think clearly as I could now. I think I was thinking too fast and wasn’t considering many factors or wasn’t able to understand her.
At the same time I think she should be more open to accept feedback and analyse the situation instead of deciding to give up on such a long time friendship.
I have tried to send some sorry notes to her however; I haven’t received any reply on them. I think I will visit her in person and will talk to her. She is still a very dear friend of mine.
References
Shannon. Select Smart. What is Your Conflict Resolution Animal?, 2011. 27 March. 2012.
