SECTION A. BACKGROUND TO THE POLICY 1 The Issue of Conflict Conflict is an unavoidable part of life. The that people have and the ways that they work towards those goals are as many as there are people. Inevitably, at times, people’s goals and ways of working will come into conflict with others. Neighbourhood Houses deal with challenging issues, often within a stressful environment. As a consequence, conflict in a House will almost certainly arise from time to time. Conflict could be between members of the management committee, between staff and members of the management committee, between users of the neighbourhood house, or with other members of the local community. Sometimes the conflict may involve a combination of people from some or all of these groups. Conflict is not inherently bad. It can be the agent of constructive change. Through conflict, problems are exposed and misunderstandings are brought into the open. The resolution of a conflict brings with it the potential for greater understanding and growth for all participants in in the conflict. The key to realising this potential lies in how we deal with conflict, in both the process we use for resolving the conflict and the spirit in which we work through the process. Having a clear process for dealing with conflict is very helpful at resolving conflict but unfortunately no process can guarantee that people will work in good faith to resolve a conflict. If handled well, the negative impacts of conflict can be minimised, and at times positive outcomes may result from well-handled conflict resolution. Poorly handled, conflicts can be very destructive not only of interpersonal relations, but also of the effectiveness of the Neighbourhood House. Sometimes conflict can result in grievances and disputes where a real or imagined wrong leads to a complaint.
SECTION A. BACKGROUND TO THE POLICY 1 The Issue of Conflict Conflict is an unavoidable part of life. The that people have and the ways that they work towards those goals are as many as there are people. Inevitably, at times, people’s goals and ways of working will come into conflict with others. Neighbourhood Houses deal with challenging issues, often within a stressful environment. As a consequence, conflict in a House will almost certainly arise from time to time. Conflict could be between members of the management committee, between staff and members of the management committee, between users of the neighbourhood house, or with other members of the local community. Sometimes the conflict may involve a combination of people from some or all of these groups. Conflict is not inherently bad. It can be the agent of constructive change. Through conflict, problems are exposed and misunderstandings are brought into the open. The resolution of a conflict brings with it the potential for greater understanding and growth for all participants in in the conflict. The key to realising this potential lies in how we deal with conflict, in both the process we use for resolving the conflict and the spirit in which we work through the process. Having a clear process for dealing with conflict is very helpful at resolving conflict but unfortunately no process can guarantee that people will work in good faith to resolve a conflict. If handled well, the negative impacts of conflict can be minimised, and at times positive outcomes may result from well-handled conflict resolution. Poorly handled, conflicts can be very destructive not only of interpersonal relations, but also of the effectiveness of the Neighbourhood House. Sometimes conflict can result in grievances and disputes where a real or imagined wrong leads to a complaint.
ConflictandGrievanceResolutionInformationHandbook.docx