Preventing conflict escalation

Training Theme

This training helps to understand and defuse escalating conflict by identifying three key factors: competitive personality, emotional wounds, and attribution of responsibility. It provides practical tools to handle each situation—negotiating with competitive personalities, encouraging the expression of feelings, and clarifying intentions to avoid mutual accusations—while avoiding the trap of “buying peace.” The goal is to maintain healthy professional relationships.

Training Objectives

In this online course, you will learn how to:

• Defuse conflict escalation by separating the source of conflict from its inflation.
• Identify escalation factors: petty “revenge”, competitive personality, emotional wounds, attribution of responsibility.
• Negotiate with a competitive person.
• Encourage the expression of emotional hurt.
• Clarify the parties' intentions to avoid escalation and avoid buying peace by giving in to “escalators”.
• Strike a balance between intervention and the autonomy of the people involved.

Target Audience 

Anyone who has to deal with conflicts

Training Content 

This module contains 4 parts:

DISCOVER

• Identify your personal challenges and motivations for change.

LEARN

• Expert video: De-escalating a conflict (8'08)
  • Separating the source of the conflict from its inflation; understanding the forms of escalation
• The small revenges of everyday life (interactive exercise)
• Quiz and TRUE/FALSE on behaviors that aggravate the conflict

ANCHOR

• Distinguish between the different types of conflictual behaviour:
  • The competitive personality
  • Emotional wounds
  • Attribution of responsibility
• Use concrete examples to define your own commitment to change.

Additional resources

• Downloadable document: Coaching memo sheet (PDF)