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Quick Look Course Summary:Essential Conflict Management Skills (2 days)
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Length: 2 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 10,326 EX VAT 3 Person R 7,594 EX VAT 10 Person R 5,537 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
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Essential Conflict Management Skills (2 days)
Supervisors and managers who contain conflict in their unit and keep working relationships with their manager, team and stakeholders in good order.
Conflict rises when the pressure is on: tight deadlines, shared resources, unclear roles and difficult projects. For a supervisor or manager it comes from three directions at once – from the team below, from their own manager above, and from other departments, suppliers and clients alongside. This conflict management training gives team leaders a practical strategy for all three, so that disagreements are dealt with early and working relationships stay healthy enough to get the job done.
Day one focuses on conflict inside the unit: spotting the early signs, separating personal feelings from the actual problem, choosing the right response and turning a dispute into an agreed action plan, including when and how to escalate. Day two focuses on prevention through relationships: managing upwards, keeping your manager informed, raising concerns about work quality without confrontation, building trust in the team, and liaising with internal and external stakeholders.
The course is built around role-plays and case studies drawn from typical South African workplaces, and each delegate leaves with a written relationship and conflict strategy for their own unit.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Team-level conflict contained before it reaches senior management or HR
- Supervisors who escalate the right issues, at the right time, through the right channel
- Better cooperation between departments, suppliers and clients
- Managers kept informed instead of surprised
For your delegates
- A way to separate how you feel from what the problem is
- Scripts for raising concerns with your own manager
- A stakeholder map and communication plan for your unit
- A personal relationship and conflict strategy to take back to work
What delegates will be able to do
- Recognise the early signs of conflict in a team and act before it escalates
- Separate personal feelings and assumptions from the underlying problem
- Choose a conflict response that suits the people and the situation
- Draw up an action plan to resolve an actual or potential conflict, and escalate when it is beyond your authority
- Build a constructive working relationship with your own manager, including regular progress reporting
- Raise concerns about quality of work or workload clearly and respectfully
- Develop trust and open communication within your team
- Map internal and external stakeholders and plan how you will liaise with each
Who should attend
Supervisors, team leaders and junior to middle managers who lead a team and deal with conflict upwards, downwards and across the organisation, as well as specialists who rely on cooperation from other departments, suppliers or clients to deliver their work.
Course outline
Day 1 – Conflict inside the unit
How conflict starts in a team
- Pressure points: deadlines, workload, shared resources and unclear roles
- Personal differences compared with professional differences
- Conflict with your team, with your manager and with other departments
- Early warning signs a supervisor should notice
- The cost of letting conflict run
Feelings, facts and the real problem
- How perception and assumptions shape a disagreement
- Your own triggers and reactions under pressure
- Separating emotion from the issue that needs solving
- Exercise: restating a complaint as a problem to solve
Choosing your response
- Five ways of responding to conflict and when each one works
- Self-assessment of your preferred approach
- Assertive rather than aggressive or passive communication
- Listening, questioning and summarising to lower the temperature
Resolving actual and potential conflict
- A step-by-step plan for resolving a team dispute
- Facilitating a conversation between two team members
- Agreeing actions, owners and follow-up dates
- Explaining your organisation's conflict and grievance procedure to the team
- When and how to escalate to a more senior manager or HR
Case practice
- Role-play: two team members at odds over a shared task
- Role-play: a missed deadline that is blamed on another department
- Feedback from peers and the facilitator
Day 2 – Relationships that keep conflict small
Working with your own manager
- Agreeing expectations, priorities and decision rights
- Keeping your manager informed in line with policy
- Reporting progress and results, verbally and in writing
- Raising concerns about work quality or workload without confrontation
- Disagreeing with a decision and still carrying it out
Building trust in the team
- What builds and what erodes trust
- Regular one-on-ones and team updates
- Making room for both work and personal concerns, within boundaries
- Giving feedback and advice in a positive way
- Agreeing team norms for disagreement
Stakeholders and networking
- Mapping internal and external stakeholders by interest and influence
- Liaising across departments to prevent friction
- Using meetings to build useful, mutually beneficial contacts
- Communicating with suppliers and clients when things go wrong
Information flow and advice
- Setting up a simple routine for sharing information and seeking advice from management
- Presenting clear, accurate information quickly
- Written updates that prevent misunderstandings
Your relationship and conflict strategy
- Role-play: a difficult conversation with your own manager
- Drafting a stakeholder communication plan for your unit
- Personal strategy and 30-day action plan
- Review and evaluation
How it is delivered
Two days, 08:30-16:00. In person at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online. One delegate or a group of up to about 20; case studies can be adapted to your sector. Workbook, stakeholder-mapping templates and a personal action plan included. We deliver it at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and anywhere else in South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online for teams in different places.
What our clients say
“We were particularly impressed by the quality of facilitation and the practical relevance of the content presented. The programme was delivered with professionalism, clarity, and a strong emphasis on real-world application”
“All training sessions were well-coordinated, professionally delivered, and aligned with our scheduling requirements. We were particularly impressed by the high standard of facilitation and the depth of expertise demonstrated throughout the programmes.”
“The courses was efficiently scheduled and planned around our timetable. We were impressed by the quality of training … with overall scores of 5 out of 5.”
Frequently asked questions
Can the course run at our offices?
Yes. We train on site anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online.
What group size works best?
From one delegate to about 20. Smaller groups get more role-play time; larger groups pay less per delegate – see the price table.
Is it accredited?
No. It is a non-accredited short course with a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Can you build in our own conflict situations?
Yes. Share a few anonymised examples before the course and the facilitator turns them into case studies and role-plays.
Should we choose this or Conflict Resolution and Negotiation Skills Training?
Choose this course if your supervisors need to manage relationships upwards, downwards and across the organisation. Choose Conflict Resolution and Negotiation Skills Training if they also need mediation and formal negotiation practice.
Can you run this course in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban?
Yes. We train on site at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and across South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online so a team spread over several offices can attend together.
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Monday to Friday, 08:00–17:00. After hours, we reply on the next working day – or call 011 882 8853.