Management & Feedback
Conflict Resolution Meeting
A conflict resolution meeting is a structured conversation between a manager or HR representative and the people involved in a workplace disagreement. It can be run with each person separately, then together. Its aim is not to find a culprit but to clarify what happened, what each person needs and what they will do differently. These questions help you keep the discussion calm and focused.
18 questions
When to use this template
- When tension between two colleagues or within a team starts to affect the work, the atmosphere or the results.
- After an incident or an argument, once emotions have cooled enough to talk.
- When informal attempts to settle the disagreement have not worked and a structured discussion is needed.
Questions to ask
Opening and ground rules
- 01What would you like to get out of this conversation?
- 02Are you willing to listen to the other person's point of view, even if you disagree with it?
- 03What ground rules would help us have a respectful discussion?
Each person's view of the situation
- 04Can you describe what happened from your point of view?
- 05When did you first notice the difficulty?
- 06What did you do or say at the time, and what effect do you think it had?
- 07How is this affecting your work and your day?
Needs and underlying issues
- 08What is most important to you in this situation?
- 09What do you need from the other person to work well together?
- 10Is there something behind this disagreement, such as workload, roles or recognition, that we should talk about?
- 11What part of this do you think you might have contributed to?
Understanding the other person
- 12What do you think the other person would say about this situation?
- 13What did you hear that you had not understood before?
- 14What do you appreciate about working with them?
Agreements and follow-up
- 15What are you ready to change in your own behaviour?
- 16What would a good working relationship look like in a month?
- 17What can I or the organisation do to help?
- 18When shall we meet again to check how it is going?
Tips for a useful conversation
- Prepare the facts beforehand and keep the meeting about behaviours and impact, not personalities.
- Stay neutral: do not take sides and do not show agreement with either version in front of the other.
- Let each person speak without interruption, and ask them to rephrase what they heard from the other.
- Aim for small, concrete and observable agreements, written down and shared with both people.
- Check what the situation requires beyond mediation: harassment or discrimination reports must follow the process your organisation has set for them.
Mistakes to avoid
- Looking for who is right and wrong instead of what needs to change.
- Meeting both parties together before each has had the chance to be heard alone.
- Leaving the meeting without written agreements or a follow-up date.
- Minimising the conflict as a personality clash when it points to a problem of workload, roles or management.
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