What I learned

I learned not to hate conflict, which is inevitable, but to handle conflict smartly. I learned easy tools like STLC to combat conflict. I learned how negotiation and mediation takes place to settle conflict among disputing parties. I also learned how conflict can corrupt the working environment. Reversely, when working professionals deal with conflict sensitively they can create a positive working environment.  I learned the most important thing that I don’t have to feel bad if someone gets angry on me for no reason because now I can pacify myself that it is not me, but the angry person must be having a bad day. I learned techniques to calm myself by drinking a glass of water, easy breathing, counting numbers to get the temper back in place and then think rationally before responding wildly in a conflict. With the help of this class, I can manage my kids’ disputes efficiently, which is a big achievement in itself.

Strengths and Weakness

Strengths

• The very fact that I signed up for this class is that, I love Internet based courses, which offer flexibility to work at my convenience. I am a full time mom and homemaker so this class fitted my schedule perfectly.
• The teacher creatively encouraged use of technology not just limited to the conventional d2l platform offered by SJSU for online classes, but she asked us to blog on blogspot, set wiki space for online workshop presentations, upload workshop videos etc.
• The teacher of this class was always available for any help required with the subject matter every week twice with her office hours and also with prompt replies over the emails. 
• All the assignments we did for this class enhanced our knowledge about conflict, but most important was the workshop experience, which gave me a chance with hands on implementation of the techniques required for resolving conflict among any age group at home or work.
• The suggested book for this course “Managing conflict through communication” was easy to read and understand.
• Since, most of the postings were based on personal experiences, I enjoyed reading different posts on the same topic and got to know ideas with others’ perspective of thinking about conflict.

 

Weaknesses

 

I did not see any major weakness of this class because everything worked out well in terms of knowledge, project, quizzes, rapport with the teacher, and replies on classmates’ posts.

 

I will definitely recommend this class to everyone because this class prepared me to face the biggest challenge of resolving conflict in my private and professional life.

Negative Views about conflict

Most people think of conflict negatively with the fear of losing relationships, and saving their own face. Most people also do not realize that not just communication but they also need to change their attitude, beliefs and emotional reactions to face conflict positively. I think as people increase their knowledge about conflict they will definitely fear it less because then they realize that conflict is here to stay, and we have to change our self in thinking about conflict positively to prevent from draining with stress, tension and anxiety that comes with conflict. Most people are unaware about the fact that keeping ourselves calm and composed is the first step towards resolving conflict. Secondly methods like STLC give a clear picture of ideas about the conflicting issue from both sides and analyze the situation fairly. Lastly conflict needs to be resolved with focus on the issue where the difference of opinion arises over concentrating on personal differences. I am pretty sure that not everyone can link conflict and creativity together, which leads in drawing multiple opportunities from conflict and resolve it with mutually satisfying solution. I am one such person, who always thought of conflict negatively because I associated the mental trauma and tension that comes along with conflict. However, conflict management class gave me a positive outlook about conflict and taught me that we can learn to resolve conflict creatively by thinking  “out of the box.”