Customer Reviews

Listening to Conflict: Finding Constructive Solutions to Workplace Disputes

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Van Slyke's inside-out approach to conflict management and resolution has not only improved my ability to manage and resolve work conflict, but it also has substantially enriched all my relationships. It taught me to be more aware of the reasons I was in conflict to begin with, starting with my own feelings about the situation, and how that impacts resolution. Most importantly it taught me to stop strugling to prove my point! Instead I've learned to use listening to create a more effective dialog that lets solutions appear naturally and positively.

I work for a book summary company. One of the books selected for summary is this book.

Wherever two human beings interact, conflict is bound to happen and therefore in organizations where people from different backgrounds and personalities intermingle, disputes are more likely to occur. This is because each one wants to hold on to his/her stand and consider accepting other points of view as clear surrender. However, Erik Van Slyke provides a meaningful guide to understanding conflict and how best to approach for ultimate resolution. Biases and prejudices give rise to incompatibility but self-awareness leads to self-mastery, which is at the base of efficient conflict resolution. Detailing the fine art of listening and the many obstacles as well as steps for collaboration and principles of interaction, the book examines all these issues capably using exercises, examples and models. By applying and observing these practices, you could help resolve conflicts at workplace and even play a neutral referee between disputing parties. Indeed the author emphasizes the need for viewing conflicts as constructive opportunities to exchange information and differing viewpoints so as to arrive at a collaborated understanding. Perhaps the benefit of reading this book lies in actually applying and implementing the guidelines provided. It definitely is worth trying.

This book offers a number of tools you can apply immediately to help with conflicts at work. The examples are practical and can even be used as the scripts for your conversations. The first part of the book challenges you to look at yourself. It helps you understand how your emotions affect, and may even create, conflict in your life. With that as your starting point, the listening approach really makes sense. It's great for work cultures that avoid or have difficulty dealing with conflict. I highly recommend this book!

Van Slyke has created something that is incredibly useful for anyone. Conflict is something everyone tries to avoid at any expense and this book teaches one how to welcome it. Van Slykes's ideas carry deep thought and resolve for the work setting and personal relationships. Thank you for something so helpful on a topic so sensative.

A provocative book with a fantastic wealth of step-by-step examples of how to resolve conflict, not only in the workplace, for which it was written, but also for families, communities, cultures, etc. where there are misunderstandings and separations that inhibit collaboration. A "must have" reference for anyone's desk and/or bookshelf!

This book gave me so much more than I expected! I bought it hoping to gain a few strategies to help me deal with interpersonal challenges at work, but it went way beyond my professional life and has helped me in my personal life too. Not only do I have a much better understanding of how to listen, but I have--or am developing--better tools to understand the meaning behind the words. And this skill is changing the quality of my relationships. The title is misleading, though. It should be called Listening to Relationships. You'll learn how to resolve conflict, but more importantly, you'll learn how to improve the relationships in all parts of your life.

In Listening to Conflict, Erik Van Slyke does a fantastic job in explaining the variables that make effective listening elusive to so many of us. This inability paves the way to disputes in all walks of life, from the corporate board rooms to the elementary playgrounds (at times it is hard to distinguish between them!), as people tend to focus more on their agendas then on attempting to understand the point of view of others. In a clear and systematic way, the author shows how to resolve disputes, workplace or otherwise. Through exercises, examples and models, Listening to Conflict will teach readers how to practice and perfect the art of listening. This skill is an absolute must for leaders, managers and all others who just want to interact more effectively with the world at large.

I found this book to have a great balance of deep, researched information with practical, easy-to-read examples of how to apply that information to life. The author is obviously incredibly passionate about what he does and it shows in his writing. Producing a book like this is no easy task. Mr. Van Slyke obviously took the time to make sure he was being exhaustive with his research but also contemplative in how that informative can be helpful to us, the reader. I highly recommend 'Listening to Conflict'!

The author of this book defines conflict as the competition between interdependent parties who perceive their needs, goals, or ideas to be incompatible. On a more basic level, the author sees it as two parties competing to achieve different objectives, with both parties needing the other, therefore, each party remains stern in their position. This result of this standoff is conflict.

The author sees conflict as a positive process that is constructive, allowing parties to share information and be exposed to a different perspective. The author believes that viewing conflict in this light, one can take advantage of the opportunities presented through conflict. The author offers some basic resolution skills as abilities needed to successfully take advantage of conflict:

· Gain as much knowledge as you can about the issues involved.

· Establish working relationship based on trust and open communication with the other party.

· Get everyone involved to cooperate on a solution instead of trying to change each other.

· Manage group processes and decii9on making by clarifying the real problem and expanding the range of options.

A complicated to read but insightful book. A must read for managers and those in charge of work groups ( or those dealing with groups of 4 year olds - same diff). Good practical solutions to frustrating situations.