Conflict Culture Assessment
What is the Conflict Culture Assessment?
All organizations have conflict. Conflict is a normal, healthy part of the human experience and an inevitable part of people working together towards a common goal. However, all people respond to conflict differently. As a result, organizations develop an overall culture regarding the ways the organization as a whole respond to conflict.
Organizational culture can be assessed across two main dimensions: active versus passive and agreeable versus disagreeable.* The matrix of these spectrums results in four broad categories: dominating (active and disagreeable), collaborative (active and agreeable), avoidant (passive and agreeable), and passive-aggressive (passive and disagreeable). Additionally, organizations can take a more proactive or reactive approach to conflict, even across the above categories. Unlike the previous two dimensions, which assess how a conflict will be handled, this dimension explores risk factors for future conflict. The Conflict Resolution Center’s Culture of Conflict is designed to assess where the organization falls as a whole on these spectrums to identify the current conflict culture and explore opportunities to align the conflict culture with the values of the organization.
How do we assess an organization’s conflict culture?
Organizational culture often operates below the surface and requires a deep-dive into the organization to understand. To do so, we aim to identify the ‘artifacts,’ or the way the culture manifests in small ways throughout the organization. This could include everything from policies to relationship dynamics to even the decoration. However, to make the assessment more manageable we focus on four key tactics:
Interviews with key stakeholder. This includes CEO/ED and those staff with the most authority in the organization. This can vary between organizations depending on structure, size, and role.
Listening Session(s). These are group sessions for staff and stakeholders to share their insights without “key stakeholders” present. The group setting allows the consultant to gather more broad data.
Surveys. These are conducted with the Board of Directors (if applicable), staff, and/or other stakeholders. These surveys gather additional data, especially for those unable or unwilling to join a listening session.
Policy review. Much of an organization’s culture shows up in their policy. By examining policy we can better understand how an organization has or has not considered conflict.
What do we do once we’ve completed the data gathering?
We condense all of that data into a single, confidential report with clear recommendations on how to shift the organizational culture towards the goals of its leaders. We then work with our clients to create a “for distribution” report and provide ongoing support in the implementation of recommendations.
* This theory was first proposed by Michele Gelfand, Lisa Leslie, and Kirsten Keller in “On the Etiology of Conflict Cultures” in Research in Organizational Behavior 28, 137-166 (2008) and has been expanded on since.