in this video i'm going to share how to answer questions related to resolving conflict
i'll share what to avoid and i'm also going to share an example answer and i'll break down
the strongest parts so that you can use something similar in your own interview i'm Amri Celeste an
interview coach and hr recruitment specialist with over 10 years hiring experience and i make videos
to help you get hired so if you're job hunting or interviewing do like and subscribe now whenever
i discuss conflict i find that people think of an argument or disagreement of some kind which
is fairly accurate but in order to really nail this answer it's important to really understand
the meaning of the word so conflict is defined as a serious disagreement typically a protracted one
and protracted means something that went on for an extended or very long period of time so if
you're asked about this your interviewer wants to know how you were able to solve a serious problem
or an argument that went on for some time not just a petty squabble it's also important to be
ready to answer this question in any variation or format that is asked in so let's look at the
different ways that your interviewer could ask you about resolving conflicts so that you don't get
caught out in your interview they may not even mention conflict directly in their question it
could be something like tell me about a time when you had a long-standing disagreement with a client
a colleague a customer or your manager or it could be tell me about a time when you were incompatible
with a colleague or you just had a personality clash with someone at work and those were some of
the meanings that we saw under conflict on google but it could be something as simple as how do you
handle conflict give me an example of a time you had a conflict at work give me an example of a
time when you had to resolve a serious conflict or for a management or leadership role it could be
something like give me an example of a time when you had to resolve a conflict between colleagues
or team members it might be something direct like how do you handle conflict resolution and share
examples so they might ask you for examples in the question now those questions were slightly
different but all centered around resolving conflict and even in the ones where they don't ask
you about conflict directly i can tell you that they don't just want to hear about your argument
and all the juicy details they want to know what was the situation what was the outcome and if you
were the one to resolve it then you absolutely want to include this in your answer if you use
an intermediary like hr or another manager then you can mention that too why do interviewers ask
i always look at why interviewers ask because it helps you to think about what you would include in
your answer before i even give you the example and that's what this channel's about is getting you to
a point where you can form your own answers yourself so what they want to know can vary
depending on the job but the most simple answer is they want to know if you can resolve a conflict or
a dispute now this could be to test something like your communication skills because communication
is a huge part of effectively resolving conflict which we'll look at in the answer but it could
also be a behavioral question where they want to see how you deal with challenges at work or how
you handle relationships with difficult people generally i would say that questions relating
to conflict fall under the behavioral interview question category if you're going for a role in
a team where you would regularly be involved in resolving conflict like complaints handling
or hr where you might be dealing with grievances then this could be related to that but if you are
going to manage a team or as i mentioned earlier going into a leadership position then they may be
assessing for that because if you are managing a team then at some point you will be dealing with
conflict and it could be low level conflict or something more serious in your team or department
or possibly your division what not to do when you're answering this question i would recommend
not making the conflict too light like i had a very rude colleague who never said good morning or
i had a colleague that was always late to meetings unless their lateness caused a significant
inconvenience or a negative impact that then led to a long-term conflict how to answer an example
answer to tell me about a time you had conflict at work is a colleague at work gained a reputation
for being lazy multiple team members felt they created more work for the rest of the team
by not completing tasks efficiently this went on for months and stirred up resentment and ongoing
conflict with various team members eventually this person became isolated from the rest of
the team and several team members told me they were planning to report this person to management
before we spoke to management i sat down with affected team members i explained that although
the actions of this person are frustrating things seem to have escalated over the months and the
working environment was now very toxic i thought we should communicate with this person to see if
we could resolve this conflict before flagging to management i asked if they could imagine how
it might feel to be approached by management in this way knowing that many of your colleagues had
an issue but have not spoken to you the majority agreed to wait until i'd spoken to this colleague
i volunteered to speak to this person one-on-one as opposed to an intimidating group conversation
when i sat down with this colleague they were completely aware that the mood at work had changed
towards them but they had no idea why they wanted to have a happier working environment i explained
that multiple situations have caused frustration and they explained that they were going through
a very volatile divorce which had caused a lack of concentration and focus at work but they were
glad i had spoken to them as they were not aware of what the problem was and felt very isolated
i spoke to the team members that had an issue without disclosing specifics of my
colleague's divorce i simply explained that there were serious personal issues
and we agreed to find a way to be more supportive of this person through their difficult time they
appreciated the support and over a short time their quality of work improved along with
their relationship with other team members this experience encouraged the team to communicate more
when they were experiencing frustration in future i do have another example answer to
this question in my top 10 situational interview questions and answers video so i will link that
in the description below this video sometimes it could be helpful to look at alternative answers
to give yourself a wider variety to uh build your own answer from so there's a lot of strong points
in this answer that could be transferred to your own answer so let's take a look
first of all there is the frustration with the colleague not pulling their weight to be clear
what makes this a conflict is that it went on for some months and created resentment and a difficult
working environment in your own answer you can use any example with a client customer colleague or a
manager for example a client or customer with a long history of complaints that you resolved
maybe a colleague that you clashed with or a manager that did something that irritated you
on a consistent basis that ended up damaging your working relationship with them and you took steps
to resolve and repair it so there are five key skills represented in this answer and you can
focus your answer on any one of them or multiple to strengthen your answer and i'll show you how
number one is behavioral logic in this answer it's very clear what this person's motivations
were and why they took each action whether or not you agree with them there were clear behaviors
demonstrated in relation to resolving the conflict one thing to bear in mind is that when it comes to
resolving conflict there's no one way or right way to go about it people have different behaviors and
personalities and when you're resolving conflict they can and do respond in different ways but
when you're answering this question you can show a clear behavioral logic behind your actions which
basically means explain why you took each step this shows what your behaviors are in relation
to conflict resolution two is emotional maturity in this answer this person doesn't give in to
mob mentality and go along with other colleagues which could have been the easy option it takes a
lot of emotional maturity to go against the crowd especially when that crowd is irritable so this
person took active steps to resolve the conflict and showed emotional intelligence and caution
with their approach in your answer it's important to show that you took a balanced approach
and that you're emotionally mature enough to step outside of any anger or frustration you
or others were feeling to try to understand the other person with an open mind if this has given
you any value so far do leave a comment below and let me know i would highly appreciate any
key takeaways so i know what's been most useful for you three is open communication
communication should always heavily underpin your approach when you're talking about conflict
upset or disagreement and should basically be the theme of your answer this is especially important
if your answer involves an example where multiple people as well as yourself were involved in the
conflict in this answer this person sat down with the team and communicated their feelings
about how this person seemed to have spiraled affecting the working atmosphere and that was
before they even communicated directly with the colleague they explored all direct communication
before making this person feel uncomfortable by reporting them they also volunteered to speak to
this person separately one-on-one as people tend to clam up when they're approached by a group
it's a little more intimidating and due to this approach the colleague opened up and revealed a
very personal and deeply stressful situation that they were going through skill four is empathy this
is such a powerful skill when handling conflict because it's very difficult if not impossible to
resolve a conflict if you're only thinking about yourself and the outcome you want as opposed to
what the other person might be experiencing so this person not only showed empathy but
encouraged empathy by asking the team members to put themselves in the shoes of this person
to imagine how it would feel and once you're doing this you're visualizing yourself in a situation
where you feel people ganging up on you and it's easier to feel empathy being able to invoke
empathy in others is an incredibly powerful skill when it comes to resolving conflict
in your own answer you can do this by showing how you ask the person that you had conflict with
to imagine a scenario that was affecting you negatively or how you asked others to do the
same like in this answer they also demonstrated showing support for this person while they were
struggling skill five is discretion now it doesn't mention in this answer that this person asked the
colleague to keep the disclosure of the divorce a secret but it's a highly personal situation and
this person showed measured judgment and discretion by not disclosing specifics to the
team but still giving them enough information that it affected change to the way that they
treated that colleague if discretion is required in the job that you're going for then i would say
that it's paramount that you demonstrate the skill of discretion in your interview if it's
not required in the job then it's still a useful skill because discretion actually shows initiative
it shows that you have the good sense to understand that disclosing certain information
can affect other people negatively but if it's not required then it's just a bonus skill not
essential six is patience i know i said there were five but i realized that patience is also a skill
that's demonstrated in this answer in this answer this person encourages patients from the wider
team while they speak to this person then again while they offer support and give this person
time to improve patience is really a bonus skill that is incredibly helpful when showing how you
approach conflict resolution if you're getting value from this i would really appreciate a like
it is incredibly impactful and ensures that this video will be shown to more people looking for
interview answers on conflict resolution now as you can see on the right of this answer are the
words situation task action result and this is because i use the star method also known as the
star technique to answer this question situation task action result is what star stands for
and it's a brilliant framework to use if you're interviewing it helps you to form well-structured
well-thought-out answers that are also concise so if you're job hunting or interviewing you
do need to know how to use it in this example the situation and task was the ongoing conflict
the colleague not completing tasks properly and stirring up resentment among the team the actions
were approaching the team and the colleague and the ultimate result was that the team members
decided not to go to management and the colleagues work and relationships improved you can check
out one of these two videos to get a clearer understanding of the star method both include
example answers but this one is more focused on an in-depth understanding of the method itself
and this one is more focused on forming interview answers using the star method so i'll link both of
those videos in the description below this video now if you liked that interview answer you'll
probably like my top 20 interview answers guide it covers answers to really tough questions like what
is your greatest weakness and give me an example of a time when you thought outside the box it's
completely free and you can get yours by clicking the link in the description below this video thank
you so much for watching if you haven't do like and subscribe and i will see you in the next
video you