Exploring Your Approach to Conflict Management

Your score profile, indicates which conflict-handling skills you are most likely to use in conflict situations.

The five styles or skills are competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodating.

Each of the five styles is a valid way of responding to conflict. People who are adept at managing conflict use each of these different skills at different times, depending on the situation.

We've compared your scores to those of others who have taken the assessment. This comparison provides a context for your results, indicating whether you score high, are broadly in line with others, or score low for each of the five conflict-handling skills.

Remember, there is no right or wrong score. The results indicate which of the different skills you are most likely to turn to and whether there may be opportunities to use some of the other conflict management skills.

The five recognised styles of handling conflict are as follows:

Your results compared to other people

Competing – [tki_rating mode="competing"]
Collaborating – [tki_rating mode="collaborating"]
Compromising – [tki_rating mode="compromising"]
Avoiding – [tki_rating mode="avoiding"]
Accommodating – [tki_rating mode="accommodating"]

Each of the above is a valid way of responding to conflict. Skilled leaders and team members adapt and use these different styles depending on the context.

Your results show which skills you rely on most—and where there may be an opportunity to expand your toolkit.

Your Results

We’ve analysed your responses and compared them to average scores across all participants:

[tki_chart]

Understanding Your Results

The survey assesses an individual's behaviour in conflict situations. "Conflict Situations" are situations in which the concerns of two people appear to be incompatible. In such a situation, we can describe a person's behaviour along two primary dimensions:

Assertiveness – the extent to which you pursue your own concerns
Cooperativeness – the extent to which you consider others’ concerns

Each conflict style reflects a different combination of these dimensions.

Competing (Assertive & Uncooperative)

Competing is assertive and uncooperative—an individual pursues their concerns at the other person's expense. This is the power-oriented style, in which one uses whatever power seems appropriate to win one's position—standing up for one's rights, defending a position when one believes it is correct, or simply trying to win.

Your score: [tki_rating mode="competing"]

Competing involves pursuing your concerns at the expense of others. It’s useful when:

Quick, decisive action is needed (e.g. emergencies)
Implementing unpopular but necessary actions (e.g. discipline, cost-cutting)
Protecting organisational welfare when you’re confident you’re right

Considerations:

High scorers: Be mindful of team morale. Are others afraid to speak up?
Medium scorers: You likely compete when needed but don’t overuse it.
Low scorers: Consider whether you shy away from assertiveness when it’s needed.

Accommodating (Unassertive & Cooperative)

Accommodating is the unassertive and cooperative opposite of competing. When accommodating, an individual neglects their own concerns to satisfy the concerns of the other person. There is an element of self-sacrifice in obeying another person's order when one would prefer not to yield to another's point of view.

Your score: [tki_rating mode="accommodating"]

Accommodating involves setting aside your concerns to satisfy others. It’s helpful when:

You realise you’re wrong
The issue matters more to the other person
You want to build goodwill or preserve harmony

Considerations:

High scorers: Don’t let your own views go unheard.
Medium scorers: You know when to accommodate and when to hold your ground.
Low scorers: You may miss chances to show goodwill or admit when you're wrong.

Avoiding (Unassertive & Uncooperative)

Avoiding is unassertive and uncooperative. The individual does not immediately pursue their own concerns or those of the other person. They do not address the conflict. Avoiding might take the form of diplomatically sidestepping an issue, postponing an issue until a better time, or simply withdrawing from a threatening situation.

Your score: [tki_rating mode="avoiding"]

Avoiding means not addressing the conflict directly. It can be useful when:

The issue is trivial
Emotions are high and time is needed to cool off
You’re lacking influence or information

Considerations:

High scorers: Be careful not to avoid essential conversations.
Medium scorers: You avoid when appropriate, but not excessively.
Low scorers: You might confront too quickly. Use tact to reduce unnecessary tension.

Collaborating (Assertive & Cooperative)

Collaborating is both assertive and cooperative, the opposite of avoiding. Collaborating involves an attempt to work with the other person to find a solution that fully satisfies both persons' concerns. It means digging into an issue to identify the two individuals' underlying concerns and find an alternative that meets both sets of concerns. Collaborating between two persons might take the form of exploring a disagreement to learn from each other's insights, concluding to resolve some condition which would otherwise have them competing for resources, or confronting and trying to find a creative solution to an interpersonal problem.

Your score: [tki_rating mode="collaborating"]

Collaboration aims to satisfy both parties fully. It’s most useful when:

The issue is too important to compromise
You want to learn from others
You’re solving complex problems or building consensus

Considerations:

High scorers: Don’t over-invest in minor issues.
Medium scorers: You collaborate when needed, but don’t overuse it.
Low scorers: Look for win-win outcomes rather than viewing conflict as zero-sum.

Compromising (Moderately Assertive & Cooperative)

Compromising is intermediate in both assertiveness and cooperativeness. The objective is to find some suitable, mutually acceptable solution which partially satisfies both parties. It falls on a middle ground between competing and accommodating. Compromising gives up more than competing but less than accommodating. Likewise, it addresses an issue more directly than avoiding it but doesn't explore it in as much depth as collaborating. Compromising might mean splitting the difference, exchanging concessions or seeking a quick middle-ground position.

You scored [low, medium or high] for using your compromising skills.

Your score: [tki_rating mode="compromising"]

Compromising seeks a mutually acceptable solution that partially satisfies both parties. Best used when:

Time is limited
Stakes are moderate
Collaboration or competition fails

Considerations:

High scorers: Avoid over-relying on trade-offs that weaken key goals.
Medium scorers: You compromise when appropriate.
Low scorers: You may struggle to negotiate effectively or avoid key concessions.

Interpreting Your Scores

There are no “correct” answers—just preferences. Each style is a tool. Skilled conflict managers know how and when to apply each one.

You likely excel in some modes more than others, but all five are part of an effective conflict management toolkit.

Next Steps

Want to deepen your understanding and strengthen your conflict resolution skills?

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