Managing Conflict In The Workplace

Programme Summary

Workplace conflicts will threaten an organisation achieving its mission, vision and strategic plans.   The CPE Certificate in Managing Conflict in the Workplace is a highly specialised Continuing and Professional Education (CPE) programme for the Caribbean region to assist in developing skills among supervisors and managers. It requires that all students complete four (4) courses for a period of thirty contact hours per course, a sum of one hundred and twenty (120) contact hours. Each course is inter-related beginning with the initial courses of Managing Conflict and Communications and Models of Conflict and ending on the application of Conflict Resolution Skills and Managing Diversity in Conflict. In our aging Caribbean societies the work environments have changed, from the disgruntled customers to disgruntled older worker who is more willing to avoid conflict rather than resolve it.  This programme has therefore been designed to strengthen the conflict management skills of supervisors, mentors or managers within their organisations where conflict is an unavoidable norm. Ultimately, this programme seeks to provide the student with an opportunity to travel on a holistic journey of conflict management that enriches stress management and prevents burn-out.

Programme Aims And Objectives

At the end of this programme, the participants should be able to:

1. explore conflict as a communication phenomenon that enhances the organisational functioning of conflict situations.
2. discover the tools of communication that are most helpful to resolving organisational conflict.
3. explore how different conflict handling styles affect interpersonal and group dynamics of an organisation.
4. provide a holistic understanding of three strategies to resolving conflict within an organisational setting: mediation, negotiation and arbitration
5. develop a highly skilled and competent conflict manager capable of applying their knowledge of resolving conflict in diverse circumstances such as age, gender and nationality

Programme Structure

This Continuing Professional Education programme in Managing Conflict in the Workplace is designed to offer students a solid foundation to the multidisciplinary tenets of conflict and shall strengthen the conflict management skills of supervisors, mentors or managers within their organisations where conflict is an unavoidable norm. The structure of the programme also enhances intellectual growth and promotes student success.

 

Course Codes	Course Titles	Continuing Education Units
Semester I
TBA	Managing Conflict and Communications	3.0
TBA	Best Practices in Conflict Management: Models of Conflict	3.0
Semester II
TBA	Best Practices in Conflict Management: Conflict Resolution Skills	3.0
TBA	Managing Diversity and Conflict	3.0

 

Who Is The Programme For?

Supervisors, Executive Officers, Managers and Assistant Managers are those primarily targeted for the programme. Some consideration would be made for lower managers who worked in the same organisation for over ten years and their roles and responsibilities include mentorship. 

Entry Requirements

On entering the programme the student is expected to have valid organisational experience. They should either be operating at the level of an administrator of the organisation or be knowledgeable of the organisational mission, vision and goals to understand how the organisation functions under conflict situations.

When Will The Programme Start?

Contact your nearest Open Campus Country Site on the start date for the programme. 

How Do I Apply?

Kindly contact an Open Campus Country Site location nearest to you for further information on the application process.

Programme Duration

The duration of the programme is one academic year.

How Much Will This Programme Cost?

The cost for this programme may be obtained at Open Campus Country Sites.  Please contact your nearest Open Campus Site for information on the cost for this programme.

Assessment Structure

Throughout the programme the students will be exposed to ongoing practical assessments as well as a final written examination at the end of each course. These practical assessments of 40% include reflective journal writings, role plays, analysis of conflict case studies, and the creation of videos. They will be encouraged to complete the online Myers-Briggs Type Indicators on Personality Types and interact intermittently with the Thomas-Kilmann Instrument (TKI) Whiteboard. The final examination will consist of a varied format with multiple choice, short answers and essay sections valued at 60%.  

Course Of Study

Managing Conflict and Communications: Managing Conflict and Communications is a designed to equip students with a positive understanding of what conflict is and the role communication plays in the conflict cycle.  Students will be encouraged to consider conflict as an unavoidable symptom of all working relationships that can evolve out of their interactions or be created to enhance the functioning of the organisation. In this course students will learn that conflict is a healthy aspect for organisational development which can be detected, predicted and managed by effective communication techniques.

Best Practices in Conflict Management: Models of Conflict:  This course is structured to provide students with a deeper understanding that conflict responses can be measured. They will be exposed to the conflict style inventory of Thomas-Kilman which is a tool developed to measure an individual’s response to conflict situations through their level of assertiveness and cooperativeness. By using this tool students will appreciate how conflict models emerge and how they escalate to their advantage within an organisational setting. In order to be successful in their role as manager students will be exposed to self-care techniques to avoid manager’s burn-out from conflict situations.

Best Practices in Conflict Management: Conflict Resolution Skills:  This course is designed to provide students with an understanding that organisational conflict is unavoidable as managers, mentors or supervisors. Within all organisations strategies of mediation, negotiation and arbitration are applicable to resolving conflict especially in aging Caribbean societies. Although these strategies have unique and distinct characteristics the student will be exposed to particular conflictual situations where they are complementary.

Managing Diversity of Conflict: Our world of work is more diverse than ever in our Caribbean history. Diversity exists when groups of people bring their own backgrounds and experiences to an organization or workplace. Some changes that have impacted on the population are also impacting on the work environment such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and mental/physical abilities. This course seeks to enable the student to value diversity in conflict situations and builds competency of managers to embrace diversity along a path of self-discovery.