Have you ever wondered how to communicate well to manage conflict? We often think of conflict as inherently bad, but instead, if we think of it as normal and natural, could there be such a thing as collaborative conflict management? It turns out that although we often shy away from conflict, it can actually be useful when we know how to handle it well. In particular, when we approach interactions with a mindset of Listening, Engaging, Acknowledging, Rapport building and Nurturing—that is, using the LEARN framework—we not only build trusting relationships, we also contribute to a workplace culture of collaboration that makes it easier to have difficult conversations when conflicts arise. Listen to this episode for a fascinating and thought-provoking conversation with Dr. Jameson about her research over the past thirty years on workplace conflict, and how you can more effectively manage yourself and others in these situations.

Dr. Jessica Katz Jameson bio:

Jessica Katz Jameson is Professor and Head of the Department of Communication at North Carolina State University. She studies organizational communication and conflict management, with special attention to third party intervention, the roles of identity and emotion in conflict, and interdisciplinary collaboration. She is author of Communication for Constructive Workplace Conflict (Wiley), which received a 2023 Outstanding Textbook Award from the National Communication Association Organizational Communication Division. Her work appears in outlets including Journal of Applied Communication Research, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, Negotiation Journal, and Western Journal of Communication. She is a community engaged faculty fellow and serves as a volunteer mediator for the State of North Carolina and NC State University. Jessica received a Ph.D. in Communication from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Works referenced in the episode:

• Jameson, J. (2023). Communication for Constructive Workplace Conflict. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

Euwema, M., & Giebels, E. (2024). Conflict management and mediation. Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035331536

Peterson, R. S., & Brown, G. (2022). Disaster in the Boardroom: Six Dysfunctions Everyone Should Understand. Palgrave MacMillan.
Peterson, R. S., & Mannix, E. A. (Eds.) (2003). Leading and Managing People in the Dynamic Organization. Erlbaum.

Jones, T. S., & Brinkert, R. (2008). Conflict coaching: Conflict management strategies and skills for the individual. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

“Conflict Coaching: Adding a Critical Forum to Help Fix the Fuss”

Tricia S. Jones, Prof. Temple University

Where It Began – the Micro

Communication Scholar; Focus on Interaction Analysis and Stochastic Modeling in Divorce and Child-Custody Mediation (1985, 1989)

• Nascent ADR Field (Pound Conference 1977; burgeoning court mediation programs; fueled by need for responsive legal systems)
• State Justice Institute Grant (1996); Under-Utilization of Mediation; Concerns About Mediation Efficacy
• Building Conflict Management Systems and Processes to Empower Parties
• WHAT WAS MISSING? A Theory-Informed One-on-One Third Party ADR Process

CONFLICT COACHING: PURPOSE, PROCESS, SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS

PURPOSE – CONFLICT ANALYSIS FOR STRATEGIC ACTION AND EMPOWERMENT

PROCESS – Theory Into Practice; CCM MODEL (Jones & Brinkert, 2008)

• Narrative Theory; Narrative Mediation

• Drivers of Conflict; Identity, Emotion and Power

• Visioning; Construction of Future Narrative

• Skills Development for Implementation

SYSTEMS CONTEXTS AND APPLICATION – Developing CC for Systems Fit and Support

Conflict Coaching Applications – The Macro Workplace

• Federal Sector
• ADRA 1996, mandated
• Conflict Coaching included as Third Party Process under MD-110 and ADRA Inclusion in most Fed Agencies
• Increasingly Used as Pre-Mediation Process
• International Organizations
• United Nations, Secretariat and UNHCR
• World Bank, in Mediation Program Services
• Private Sector Ombuds & ADR, HR

Community Mediation

New York, NYUCS/NYSDRA (similar statewide systems in Maryland (MACRO), Heartland Mediation Association, Georgia, etc.
62 County Community Mediation System; over 1,000 conflict coaches since 2013; infused in all areas of service (family, court, youth-based)

Special Education

CA SELPAs, CADRE (OSERs National TA Organization)
Special education conflict coaching throughout CA and CADRE national pilot project 2025-2027

Challenges/Opportunities and Catalysts
Challenges and Opportunities

• Mediation-centric field (then more than now)
• Maintaining frame of Conflict Coaching as ADR process rather than counseling/ “coaching”
• Getting caught in “only one best model” dynamic
• Understand and respect limits of the intervention

Catalysts, Tidbits and Inspirations

• Meet Their Need (understand the system; honor the need)
• Follow the Heat (engage the emergent energy)
• Find and Nurture Champions of Innovation (Kings County – Brooklyn Criminal Courts)
• Dedicate Yourself to Theory to Practice
• Leverage Fertile Fields (don’t expend energy and resources in the desert)
• Build Partnerships Outside the “Tower”; the “academy” may not be the best incubator
• If “They” Build It “They” Will Come (and Learn to Let Go)

In this two-part episode, we first talk with David Brown about his work as Executive Director of the Civic Coalition to Save Lives and efforts to reduce gun violence across Philadelphia, which declined by 41% from 2023 through 2024, but still has a long way to go. Prevention, intervention, and enforcement (PIE) are three pillars of violence prevention; these pillars require collaboration with communities. So how do those working to prevent gun violence engage with the community with intentionality and with respect?

In part two, we talk with Dr. Jennifer Midberry, Associate Professor of Journalism in Klein College, about how she conducts research that addresses the ethics of journalistic coverage of gun violence. She will address her own research as well as talk about methods that rely on community members to understand issues of trauma and media coverage related to gun violence in a large urban setting.

These episodes were originally conducted as a webinar sponsored by the Conflict Management Division of the Academy of Management as part of host Deborah Cai's work as a CM Division Scholar in Residence.

In this two-part episode, we first talk with David Brown about his work as Executive Director of the Civic Coalition to Save Lives and efforts to reduce gun violence across Philadelphia, which declined by 41% from 2023 through 2024, but still has a long way to go. Prevention, intervention, and enforcement (PIE) are three pillars of violence prevention; these pillars require collaboration with communities. So how do those working to prevent gun violence engage with the community with intentionality and with respect?

In part two, we talk with Dr. Jennifer Midberry, Associate Professor of Journalism in Klein College, about how she conducts research that addresses the ethics of journalistic coverage of gun violence. She will address her own research as well as talk about methods that rely on community members to understand issues of trauma and media coverage related to gun violence in a large urban setting.

These episodes were originally conducted as a webinar sponsored by the Conflict Management Division of the Academy of Management as part of host Deborah Cai's work as a CM Division Scholar in Residence.

Jenifer Mackby is a Consultant at the National Academy of Scientists and the InterAcademy Partnership, where she is co-director of a project on a Biological Weapons Convention Scientific Advisory Body. She is also a Non-Resident Executive Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, and a Senior Advisor at the Partnership for a Secure America. Previously, she was a Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Senior Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, and a Senior Political Affairs Officer at the United Nations. She has led projects on U.S.-U.K. Nuclear Cooperation, Asian Trilateral Nuclear Dialogues, Debating 21st Century Nuclear Issues, and a Russian-European project on bioterrorism, among others. She served as Secretary of the negotiations on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the Working Group on Verification of the CTBT Organization Preparatory Commission, a Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention, a UN Conference on Outer Space, and the Environmental Modification Convention Review Conference.

Ms. Mackby was selected as Rapporteur for numerous international meetings, including the OSCE, European Commission Interparliamentary Conference, Wilton Park, and a study on Strengthening the IAEA. She has written extensively on international security and non-proliferation and co-authored or contributed to eight books, including: The Nuclear Tipping Point: Why States Reconsider their Nuclear Choice; Detect and Deter: Can Countries Verify the Nuclear Test Ban?; The Final Test; Global Biosecurity: Towards a New Governance Paradigm. She has written articles for theNew York Times, Newsweek, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, The Nonproliferation Review, Arms Control Today, and other journals. She is fluent in French and Spanish, and has spoken on the above subjects at meetings in Austria, Canada, Chile, China, Japan, Jordan, the Netherlands, Qatar, South Korea, Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S.

Mary (¨Mara¨) J. Waller (Ph.D., Univ. of Texas at Austin; MS, Univ. of Colorado - Denver; BBA, Univ. of Oklahoma - Norman) is Senior Research Scholar at the Department of Management, Colorado State University, past Senior Fellow at the U.S. Army Research Institute for Behavioral & Social Sciences, Professor Emerita at York University (Canada), and the 2024 INGRoup McGrath Award recipient for lifetime achievement in the study of groups. Her program of research centers on improving our understanding of team effectiveness during crises and critical situations.

"Crisis-Ready Teams: Data-Driven Lessons from Aviation, Nuclear Power, Emergency Medicine, and Mine Rescue” coauthored with Seth Kaplan. Published by Stanford Business Books (2024).