Community Health Volunteer's Training Manual - Population Council

Solve problems quickly
Conflict Prernclonnt MnMarernctMnnt reoolclon
Solve problems quickly; do not sweep problems under the carpet. As soon as you notice
a problem, talk about it; find solutions to it and settle everyone’s mind on the issue. These
prevent rumours through the informal communication channels and further conflicts are
avoided. The team also learns to manage the conflicts when they try to solve conflicts. We
will learn more about solving problems in the next section.
Resolving conflicts
Managers and other people have used many methods and strategies to solve conflicts. In
most homes the norm is not to talk about the issue and allow it to die a natural death. Others
go through litigation where one person wins. Box 1.5.4 lists the different methods. Find
out from your field trips how volunteers, communities and families solve their conflicts and
problems as they work.
The first eight methods of resolving conflicts have been used by many groups. In Ghana,
some communities prefer the ‘Fa ma Nyame’ ‘Kwei mpa wε’ (leave it to God’) method of
conflict resolution. In this case, groups in conflict situations are encouraged to do nothing at
resolving the conflicts but let God do what He pleases! Is this an effective way of resolving
conflicts? Which methods of conflict resolution are common in your community?
Box 1.5.4: Methods of conflict resolution
1. Dominance and suppression
“I won’t allow any discussion on this matter”
2. Force/Coercion
“I ‘m the boss, do as I say!”
3. Avoidance
“I’ll do nothing; the problem will solve itself!”
4. Compromise
“Let each of us give in on some of the ideals”
5. Arbitration
“Let’s get a third person to judge the case”
6. Litigation
“Let’s fight it out in court”
7. Bribery
“I’m giving this gift, in exchange you must give up the issue”
8. Interactive resolution
“Let’s take this problem as the team’s problem and find a solution to it.”
Managing conflicts
From all that we have learnt in this unit, we can see that conflicts have to be managed all the
time because they will come any way. It all starts with the team setting, certain rules for its
existence and for conflicts, and each team member deciding to abide by those rules. Below is
a sample set of rules a team made for managing conflicts.
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