Conflict: does it HAVE to happen?
IAP2 Australasia’s Conflict in Engagement course has attracted a wide range of interest this year. Course discussions show that many of our members seem to find themselves in a perpetual cycle of typical and unexpected situations which can undermine best endeavours to capture the input of ‘those affected by a decision’.
Is it valid to expect conflict to happen in some form and if so, what can we do to prepare so that ‘those affected’ feel they have been heard and we, as practitioners, feel we have produced an outcome for the client, or our organisation, that is viable? And yes, that the engagement process is engaging and enjoyable for us as professionals?
Conflict in Engagement invites you to recognise that conflict might occur and how you can prepare and design your program so that you can adapt when dealing ‘in the moment’. We look at the models of how conflict develops when 1:1 and how you can recognise the warning signs of a possible escalation. It will always be difficult to deliver messages that some people don’t want to hear – and so we feel some comfort from Covey’s concept of the Circle of Influence that reminds us that it’s not always our fault, our issue or within any power we might have, to change the situation. As always, engagement discussions are about ‘playing the ball, not the person’ – and leading by example!
Learning from others – participant perspectives
We thought it was worth sharing student insights from a recent Conflict in Engagement course.
Annie Bedroosi, (R), joined NSW’s Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) Communications & Stakeholder Engagement team 18 months ago on a Sydney transport infrastructure project, told us that her favourite conflict engagement tool is silence; allowing for the emotion to subside before engaging. After a lengthy career in the Australian Border Force (now Home Affairs) & Department of Immigration and Border Protection, where she was the front-line in many situations that became volatile quickly, Annie counselled us that cranky people do seem to follow the ‘conflict model’ of escalation and then, when they realise you are not going to argue back, they STOP. True, the person will STOP AND LOOK AT YOU. You wait and then, in a soft voice and with a measured pace, you respond. This also gives you time to think about your response. Annie promises it works if you have the confidence to wait and continue the conversation.
Isabel Bryce, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and Annie Bedroosi, RMS
Complicated situations that prompt conflict
We often hear of situations that create conflict within communities even though they were not intentional – it’s just the way we’ve lived and worked. In the last few months we’ve read of conflict over water rights escalating again and other issues in the natural resources sector that are pitting community groups against each other. Isabel Bryce (L)from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is based in Townsville and has found herself in this kind of situation, where fertilisers used by farmers can run off into the waterways and ultimately to the reef, impacting on reef water quality. You can see how the interests of key stakeholder groups, like farmers, can be at conflict with others, like recreational fishers and tourism operators, who depend on the Great Barrier Reef being pristine. Having the title of ‘engagement officer’ can often land you in a challenging situation.
Sometimes – well after the event – you just have to laugh
While the examples of situation and strategy were useful, and participants have taken away a list of effective tools, IAP2A trainer Lucy Cole-Edelstein was able to end the day with a recommendation that we will always remember: know the neighbours well AND know if they are good at something in particular… especially if they are very, very, very, good at something upon which their international reputation is based. She recounted what ‘was to have been a simple and short’ engagement project, where the identity of a local was realised when his film, portraying his view of the proposed change in policy, went viral from his Facebook page – and thus affecting the engagement process. Alas, the project was simple because it was really short – over before it started!
Let’s hope your end-of-year celebrations create goodwill and if in doubt… try silence!