Session Summary
Session Hosts:
- Stan Torrie, AACM Executive Committee
Guest Presenters:
- Dr. Usha Maharaj MD LMCC CCFP
Recommended Resources
- Session Recording
- Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
Author: Joseph Grenny, et al - Managing Conflict: A Practical Guide to Resolution in the Workplace
Author: David Liddle - Take the Thomas-Kilmann Instrument | Improve How You Resolve Conflict
- Lucy Barnes: The Dreaded Drama Triangle | TED Talk
- About The Empowerment Dynamic - Center for The Empowerment Dynamic
- The Tenth Man Rule: How to Take Devil’s Advocacy to a New Level
- Academic Medicine
- Conflict Management & Prevention Resources – CMA
- Violence Prevention Guides for Community Clinics - Doctors of BC
Session Highlights & Themes
Session Objectives:
At the end of this webinar, you will be able to:
- Identify/recognize early signs and sources of conflict within healthcare settings
- Develop effective strategies for responding to and navigating through a conflict resolution process
CUS Communication Tool:
The CUS communication tool is well known and a way to take a pause in a situation when you are not sure how to proceed.
- C: First, state your concern.
- U: Then, state why you are uncomfortable.
- S: If the conflict is not resolved, state that there is a safety issue. Discuss in what way the concern is related to safety. If the safety issue is not acknowledged, a supervisor should be notified.
BBETTER Model
This simple technique developed by Dr. Amanda Brisebois can be used to help you pause and regain control in the moment. You can use all the steps in sequence, or even just one, to transform an uncomfortable situation into a proactive one.
- B - Breath. Pause: take a breath
- B - Believe positive intent, recognize boundaries
- E - Examine your emotions
- T - Timing. Is this the time and place?
- T - Think. Think about what the other party is experiencing
- E - Engage in neutral, open-ended questions
- R - Reflect, regroup, and return
Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn
When our limbic system perceives a threat, we typically respond in one of four ways:
- Fight: Your body's way of facing any perceived threat aggressively.
- Flight: Your body's urge to run from danger.
- Freeze: Your body's inability to move or act against a threat. This often appears as being 'unfazed' from the outside, but internally, the person can't think or speak.
- Fawn: Your body's stress response to try to please someone to avoid conflict, saying or doing anything to make things okay again.
Key Takeaways
- Avoid Avoiding conflicts: avoiding conflict often escalates the problem. Putting strategies in place to mitigate conflict, or dealing with conflict early increases odds of reaching an agreement
- Clarity: conflict can help teams define roles & responsibilities, accountabilities, and resourcing; conflict can bring about solutions that increase clarity and reduce conflict in the long run.
Practical Tips for Clinic Managers
- Reframing for Success - Reframing is a powerful concept widely used in coaching, conflict resolution, and mediation. It involves shifting someone's perspective from a narrow, often negative view to a broader one that allows for multiple perspectives.
- Reframing Our Thoughts: Reframing needs to start in our own minds before we even begin talking.
- Reframing Our Words: Once we've reframed our thoughts, we can apply the same principle to our words. By formulating neutral, goal-oriented questions focused on the "what and how," we can break free from negative thought patterns. This preparation helps us listen more effectively and engage in proactive, constructive conversations.
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