{"id":4101,"date":"2021-07-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teambuildingasia.netagedev.co.za\/resources\/four-conflict-styles-and-how-to-overcome-them\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T17:54:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T17:54:57","slug":"four-conflict-styles-and-how-to-overcome-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teambuildingasia.com\/resources\/four-conflict-styles-and-how-to-overcome-them","title":{"rendered":"Four conflict styles and how to overcome them"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content\">\n<p>As human beings, we build plenty of relationships with other humans. Whether personal or professional, relationships require care and effort. However, it\u2019s only natural for conflicts to occur because we all have different backgrounds, beliefs and opinions. Especially when emotions run high and we just want to do what\u2019s best for us.<\/p>\n<p>So, how can we resolve issues in a way that doesn\u2019t harm relationships? The Gottman Institute&#8217;s The Four Horsemen framework has identified the common damaging behaviours during conflicts and provides us with antidotes to overcome them.<\/p>\n<p>We want to share these 4 types of conflict styles with you and how you can overcome them so you can improve your teamwork and the effectiveness of your work.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Criticism<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Criticism focuses on attacking a person\u2019s character. Instead, talk about your feelings by starting with \u201cI\u201d, which sets the discussion in a positive direction.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Contempt<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This happens when one decides to take the moral high ground. Let\u2019s show appreciation. When we do so, we\u2019ll fix our eyes on the positive things we love about each other instead.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stonewalling<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Stonewalling happens when we cave into silence. Be aware of it and request a timeout. Do what helps you to relax. Once it is over, the discussion will be more constructive.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Defensiveness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Defensiveness pushes the blame away from ourselves and towards the other party. Instead of playing the blame game, we can accept our share of responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Use these tricks to turn negative conflict styles around and to resolve conflicts in a constructive way.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>PS: did you know that <a href=\"\/\">team development training helps you master conflict resolution skills<\/a>?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As human beings, we build plenty of relationships with other humans. Whether personal or professional, relationships require care and effort. However, it\u2019s only natural for conflicts to occur because we all have different backgrounds, beliefs and opinions. Especially when emotions run high and we just want to do what\u2019s best for us. So, how can [&#8230;]\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,122,129,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-indoor-team-building","category-leadership-development","category-resources"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Four conflict styles and how to overcome them - Team Building Asia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Identify four workplace conflict styles and learn practical solutions for overcoming challenges and improving team harmony. \u200b\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.teambuildingasia.com\/resources\/four-conflict-styles-and-how-to-overcome-them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four conflict styles and how to overcome them - Team Building Asia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Identify four workplace conflict styles and learn practical solutions for overcoming challenges and improving team harmony. \u200b\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.teambuildingasia.com\/resources\/four-conflict-styles-and-how-to-overcome-them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Team Building Asia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-28T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-02T17:54:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.teambuildingasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/759fdb5d3a6a570d66dac64ad40edaa5cef5beb761a7c253265c898af0f074cd-display.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Team Building Asia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Team Building Asia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teambuildingasia.com\/resources\/four-conflict-styles-and-how-to-overcome-them\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.teambuildingasia.com\/resources\/four-conflict-styles-and-how-to-overcome-them\",\"name\":\"Four conflict styles and how to overcome them - 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