Conflict Resolution on the Jobsite

1. Conflict Management Skills

Welcome to the course! Your instructor, Dr. Christine Fiori, is an Air Force veteran and the head of the construction management department at Drexel University. In this lesson, Chris introduces the importance of conflict on the construction site and how to think about your conflict management style.

2. Conflict Management Styles

Every response to conflict is a mix of assertiveness and collaboration. Your job is to look carefully at situations that arise on the jobsite and decide: how assertive and how collaborative should I be to properly resolve this conflict?

3. Competing Conflict Style

The competing style can be a valuable tool in your belt if you need to get something done immediately. It can also alienate your coworkers, so should be used with caution.

4. Avoiding Conflict Style

The avoiding style can be useful if you need to buy time, or if the situation you're in isn't important. It can also lead to ignoring a problem that actually needs to be addressed in order to move a project forward.

5. Accommodating Conflict Style

Accommodating is all about listening and finding common ground. When used thoughtfully, the accommodating style can create a lot of goodwill and strengthen a team. Used inappropriately, it'll lead to you never getting what you want.

6. Compromising Conflict Style

When you compromise, you're willing to listen to others but you're also careful to make sure that you lay all of your own facts and opinions on the table so that the group can reach an agreement together.

7. Collaborating Conflict Style

Collaboration in conflict resolution takes time, and requires that you get as many opinions as possible before making an informed decision, but can create a trusting environment and buy-in from everyone involved moving forward.

8. Embracing Your Conflict Resolution Style

Conflict, when managed well, is an excellent tool for helping produce high-quality work.

9. How to Resolve Arguments Among Subcontractors

What do you do when you're thrust into the middle of an argument between contractors? Chris shows you how to resolve conflict and move work forward using collaborating, compromising, and competing approaches.

10. Managing Conflict Around Jobsite Safety Requirements

Safety is one of the areas that consistently will test your conflict and management skills. Learn how to use different conflict resolution strategies in a scenario in which a person on your site refuses to wear proper PPE.

11. Managing Conflict Resulting from a Team Member's Mistake

Just because you distribute plan updates to the team, doesn't mean everyone will read them. Sometimes you have to deal with coworkers who are upset about a mistake that's not your fault. Chris talks you through a few conflict management strategies for doing so.

12. Setting Boundaries on the Jobsite

Even if it feels satisfying to say, "I told you so" isn’t productive. Often "I told you so" moments are opportunities to practice assertiveness, establish clear boundaries for what you will and won't tolerate, and build trust with your collaborators.

13. Owning Your Mistakes

Sometimes things go wrong and it's actually your fault. Owning up to a mistake and providing solutions that move the work forward can build respect and limit the amount of time and money lost.

14. Handling Conflict About Things Outside of Your Control

Sometimes you just have to let people vent, and then stick up for your team. Here are some tips for getting your team the appreciation they deserve while keeping your relationship with an owner or other stakeholder intact.

15. Stick Up For Yourself

A little bit of joking on the job is normal, but when it goes too far you have to know how to put your foot down. Chris shares powerful stories about moments when she stuck up for herself and it benefited everyone.

16. Solve Conflict Immediately

Conflict doesn't age like a fine wine. Construction is a stressful enough industry that it doesn't pay to keep conflict and anger bottled up. When conflict arises on the job site, your job is to address it immediately.

17. Find Common Ground

One of the interesting aspects of construction is that you may move from team to team and find yourself working with different people from one day to the next. Here are some tools for how to find common ground with new team

18. Healthy vs Unhealthy Conflict

All of the conflict resolution skills and scenarios you learned in this course are useful in your day-to-day life on the job. The key is to understand what works best for you, maintain a healthy level of respect and understanding for your coworkers, and focus on the areas of conflict management you want to improve. Now get out there!