[MUSIC] Once you get to the point where you've reached the collaborative stage, there's a couple of other things that you need to do in order to ensure that you're again moving towards the resolution of conflict. One of the things that we spoke about through the module was moving from position to interest. And moving from position is basically saying the demands you make to someone or the demands you're making of the product or the decision-making process. And that is basically the position you are taking. So you are saying, maybe, this is immovable, I'm not gonna negotiate with you. I'm not gonna have it for discussion. This is my decision, and end. You may work with individuals like that. You may have even exhibited that behavior in work environments as well as in personal life. The point is, that when you're trying to get and establish the collaborative stage and you're working through that. You need to move individuals and yourself from a position to interest. This goes back a little bit to what we've talked about when you're talking about when you're trying to find out what is the core objective that both parties want to achieve that helps moving from position to interest. Once you get to the interest level, which is aligned with what your total objectives are. You need to start hashing through the interests and to find out what is actually justified with relationship to the conflict that's at hand. And what may be just being brought to the table of the subject. Once you can flush that out and separate the two to identify the interest that is related to the conflict, you're also on the next step of resolution. Some of the questions that you can ask in order to get to this stage are, what inspired them to get to that point where they're stuck in their position? Why did they get there in the first place? There may be some history involved that you're unaware of. So again, this is where you want to use your active listening skills to ensure that you explore all of the possible opportunities for why you're at that point in time with that individual. You need to ask them what's motivating them to be in that position. You also need to ask what's the reason that they have their opinion. Through all of that, you'll be able to start to destruct the situation, deconstruct the situation, in order to get to the resolution that's at hand. Asking them questions about what's their concerns if they move from the position that they're in. It's also very clear. There may be something that you're unaware of. There may be something historically done within a company that is keeping them tied to the position that they have taken. You also need to watch for obstacles that you may bring to the table. A lot of people want to focus on the reasons why things can't happen versus to try to explore the reasons why it can happen. It's a comfort zone people get into. They have their position that they've decided to take. So then they start cocooning themselves to protect themselves from anything that might suggest a different alternative approach. Part of seeking for resolution and active listening skills, you need to start separating those two. And as you are able to lower those boundaries, you're able to seek resolution. Many times, there can be a hidden agenda involved that individuals take because they might be interested in only their own success. And it can be very difficult to get individuals to move from that particular point of interest because they're tied to it. It also goes back to their comfort zone. It's a way of themselves protecting themselves. You know, what's in it for me type of behavior versus looking for a win-win solution. Sometimes you can't control these things because it becomes apart of who that individual is and what they are bringing to the table. So remember that you can only focus on the things you have control over, or the things that you can influence. Put your energies into those areas and you might be able to help divert the individual from their position of only being interested, or only finding what's best in the solution that feeds their interest. So, let's talk about choosing a solution. The best way to choose a solution, is to ensure that everybody has an opportunity to speak about what outcome they feel is best for this particular conflict. Table those, whiteboard them, do whatever you need to do in order to make sure that everybody's voice has been heard and that they can recognize that everybody is actually listening to their point of view. Now, you're gonna want to deconstruct each of those and find out what's the common position, the common point of interest, and once you do that, you can draw to a conclusion. Choosing the solution is not always easy, in fact, it's probably the most difficult thing. Once you get everybody into the collaborative stage, once everybody feels that their voice has been heard, once everybody understands that we're all moving in the same direction for a solution, it'll be easy to come to the proper solution and decision making. Once you have made that decision. That final call of action. Then you need to make sure you wrap everything up with a nice bow. And in doing that, you're going to be required to provide everybody a recap of what was done. The stages that you've gone through. So, we sought for a collaborative solution, we worked together, we listened to everybody's points of interest, and in doing so, we're now at the end where a decision is being made. You have to carry the ball all the way through to the point where you might have to do a presentation as to, Okay, the team has made this decision and this is where we're ready to move. Once you receive executive approval, then it's all about putting it into play. Once again, you will have to re-evaluate all of the steps taken place. If individuals tend to fall back into their comfort zone, you have to bring them out of that comfort zone to make sure that you move towards the solution that was all agreed upon. [SOUND]
