Many people go to a fair amount of trouble to avoid conflict, while others seems to thrive on it. While some folks are great at dealing with conflict and keep their cool, others seem to be rather determined to make matters worse. Why people react and respond to conflict in different ways has been of great interest to psychologists and sociologists alike. The Kraybill conflict style inventory is a rather important and useful tool that can help people understand their conflict style. Furthermore, they will also realize that no one conflict style is ideal or perfect, and one needs to change conflict styles based on the circumstances.

Understanding Kraybill Conflict Style

Ray Kraybill began working on conflict resolution and its impact on peace building in the 1970s. The conflict style inventory offered by him is a result of decades of research and analysis. According to Kraybill there are five styles of responding to conflict. These are based on two crucial parameters, focus on agenda and focus on relationship. How an individual will react in a conflict depends their conflict resolution style and their perception of the agenda and the relationship.
Kraybill identifies five styles of conflict resolution. These include directing, cooperating, compromising, avoiding and harmonizing. Directing has a high focus on agenda and low on relationship. Cooperating places equal focus on both the agenda and relationship. Compromising has medium focus on both parameters. If you opt for avoiding, then your focus on the agenda and relationship is low. And finally, harmonizing has high focus on relationship and low on agenda.
Each person uses different conflict resolution styles and is not restricted to only one. For instance you do not deal with conflict with your spouse, children, team mates and your boss in the same manner. Perception of the conflict, agenda and relationship will decide on the style that is adopted.
It is important to avoid making the wrong choice and worsening the conflict. Kraybill states that listening and observing skills need to be honed in order to make the right choice. By choosing a suitable conflict resolution style an employee and team member can deal with conflict in a productive and efficient manner.
Businesses and organizations are using Kraybill’s conflict resolution inventory to help their employees understand how people deal with conflict. Once individuals understand that they do not need to handle every conflict in the same manner they will be able to deal with such circumstances in a more effective manner. While conflict resolution is required in every aspect of life, it is especially important at the workplace where people have to work together and towards a common goal.