Dealing with conflicts, real or imagined

Submitted by Daniel Cantor Yalowitz, Ed.D. a developmental and cross-cultural psychologist and Dean of the SIT Graduate Institute located in Brattleboro, VT. Daniel has trained nearly 5,000 people with the Myers-Briggs Type index and is co-facilitator of third session of  NOFA Vermont's upcoming program, Human Resources & Labor Management for Farmers.
This program is for all those times when you’ve wanted to say something—to intervene between employees and supervisors, or your workers and yourself—but just couldn’t quite figure out what would be best or most effective in dealing with conflicts, real or imagined. It’s for dealing with times when things are not going smoothly, or your team is not working to optimal effectiveness. Driving TractorIt will get you thinking, reflecting, and enhancing your understanding of the ups-and-downs of others’ personal styles, and getting to a “breakthrough moment”. The goal is to provoke that “Aha!” moment. You will learn how to best approach differences in the ways we express and receive communications with one another. It’s first about understanding—both your workers and yourself—and then about learning to think quickly to move to practical solutions. Without anyone losing face. We are all unique in the ways we express our thoughts, feelings, and needs.  This is natural and human, and, at the same time, these differences often lead to conflict. As we come to better comprehend and appreciate personal differences with regard to style, we will begin to see clear and focused ways that  will support our workers, supervisors, and employees to become both more effective communicators and, perhaps even more importantly on your farm scene, more productive workers. We’ll explore these “gifts differing” while at the same time digging into how to reframe our ways of reacting and responding to the  challenges that come our way. Through various short exercises and activities, participants will have brief opportunities to reflect on how they can shift their ways of dealing with interpersonal issues in their workplaces while continuing to have high standards. Time will be allotted for your questions and concerns to assure that the workshop will focus on the specific needs and issues that are most pressing in supporting participants to get to the next level of effectiveness in their communications and ways of responding in moments of conflict.  As well, participants will leave the program with a packet of handouts that will enable them to remember and practice key points from this experientially-based workshop. Human Resource & Labor Management for Farmers SESSION III: workshop, “Conflict on the Team: Effective Leadership & Communication with Farm Employees”