Communication for Constructive Workplace Conflict

A unique textbook for students or professionals across a range of disciplines offering a novel approach to conflict communication

Communication for Constructive Workplace Conflict describes how daily human behavior and communication can contribute to collaborative conflict management in any organization. Using the LEARN (Listening, Engaging, Acknowledging, Rapport, and Nurturing) communication framework, this practical textbook explains, analyzes, and critiques a range of individual responses to workplace friction, offers evidence-based communication strategies for effectively managing conflicts, and promotes a philosophy that builds an environment that invites active participation rather than avoidance and silence.

Designed for courses teaching organizational communication and conflict management, Communication for Constructive Workplace Conflict draws directly from the author’s 25 years of experience performing conflict research in numerous corporations, hospitals, public agencies, multi-sector laboratories, and non-profit organizations. Following the intuitive LEARN model, readers are provided with the theoretical and empirical support for managing conflicts as they emerge and creating an environment for more productive conflict in real-world scenarios. Throughout the text, concise and accessible chapters integrate key literature from disciplines including Communication, Management and Negotiation, Political Science, Psychology, and Public Administration to illustrate the impact the larger organizational context has on communication, conflict, and the social environment within organizations.

• Offers practical implications for communication in daily activities in ways that support trust-building and positive relationships
• Presents a framework based on the Communication as Constitutive of Organization (CCO) model,
• Contains theoretical and research-based explanations and diverse case studies to provide practical guidance for organizational members at all levels
• Reinforces the LEARN model with engaging, class-tested activities that allow students to practice constructive conflict communication
• Examines the impact of societal trends and how each individual’s communication either promotes or impedes collaboration and constructive conflict interaction

Featuring timely discussion of the impact of social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the roles of social media and online dispute resolution, Communication for Constructive Workplace Conflict is an excellent textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students new to the field of conflict studies or organizational communication, a valuable supplement for students of management, organizational psychology, and public administration, and a useful reference for professional mediators, consultants, trainers, and managers.

JESSICA KATZ JAMESON is Professor and Head of the Department of Communication at North Carolina State University, where she serves as a mediator for the University’s employee mediation program and teaches courses in organizational communication, public relations, conflict management, and nonprofit leadership. She has published articles in journals such as Conflict Resolution Quarterly, Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, Negotiation Journal, and Western Journal of Communication, and is the co-editor of Facilitating Interdisciplinary Collaboration among the Intelligence Community, Academy, and Industry; and Contemporary Trends in Conflict and Communication: Technology and Social Media.

List of Boxes vii

List of Tables ix

List of Figures x

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xix

1 Theoretical Framework – The Social Construction of Conflict 1

Unit One Listen 19

2 Challenges to Effective Listening 21

3 Listening as Reflective Practice 37

Unit Two Engage 55

4 Obstacles to Engaging Conflict 57

5 Changing the Rules of Engagement 81

Unit Three Acknowledge 107

6 The Importance of Belonging and Recognition 109

7 Acknowledging Team Member Contributions 128

Unit Four Rapport (Building) 149

8 Building Relationships and Trust 151

9 Building an Organizational Culture of Forgiveness 175

Unit Five Nurture 193

10 Nurturing through Organizational Conflict Management Systems 195

11 Nurturing Relationships through Online Dispute Resolution, Information and Communication Technologies, and Social Media 211

12 LEARNing to Communicate for Constructive Workplace Conflict 241

Index 259 

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