Conflict Resolution Process
About this page:
Here is our agreement for how we resolve conflicts in RnDAO
To change this agreement, refer to:
Decision-making
Conflict can range from normal and even healthy to outright destructive, what makes the difference is how we deal with it.
We identify primarily two types of conflict:
- Work-related conflicts: when our work priorities are in conflict (e.g. two parties want to use a limited resource for different purposes).
- Interpersonal conflicts: when two people are in conflict (e.g. one feels the other has been disrespectful).
Although both types are often intertwined, we can generally resolve work conflicts using our process. However, interpersonal conflict also has an important trust and emotional component that requires a different approach (see below ).
Decision-making
Tips to Handle Conflict
Conflict Resolution Approaches
Ideally, a conflict should be resolved with a simple conversation. But sometimes escalation is needed. Using too heavy an approach for a light conflict is likely to escalate the conflict, that's why we encourage everyone to try to resolve conflict in the following order:
- Feedback / coaching: If you have the conflict, provide feedback (see ) in private to the person/group with whom you have the conflict. Or if someone mentions a problem they have with somebody else, check whether they're comfortable providing feedback to the person or group and if needed, invite them to speak with a coach or offer support in helping them write / plan how to give feedback if you're happy coaching them directly.Non Violent Communication
- Mediation: if a conflict has escalated to the point the parties are struggling to resolve it between them, call upon a neutral third party to facilitate the conversation. It is essential that the mediator focuses on facilitating the conversation and avoids taking sides.
- Arbitration: when a conflict has escalated to the point that mediation is no longer viable (i.e. the parties are unable to resolve the conflict despite mediation), we can escalate to having a third party decide on the outcome. The current way to do that is for the community to decide using our process.Decision-making
List of conflict coaches / mediators in RnDAO:
Tips to Handle Conflict
First it's important to understand where someone is at on a scale between:
- I have a Tension: there's something that's causing me light discomfort but I'm not emotionally activated.
- I'm Triggered: there's something that's causing me pain and I'm very emotionally activated (likely as this experience reminds me of previous painful or even traumatic experiences).
The closer someone (our ourselves) is to being triggered, the more important it is to address the emotional side first and the pragmatic/logical side after.
Addressing the emotional side often means making sure the person is feeling heard and seen.
Some strategies to try are:
