Everyone knows that conflict is an ever-present dynamic in any group, business, and organization - the real question is how to deal with these dynamics. Here is a very poignant way of showing what kinds of conflict are present in the workplace and how to approach them.

Setup:

The facilitator will need to bring 3 chemistry beakers (or vases or tall glasses) to the seminar. He or she will also need to bring 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of salt, and a single glass marble.

1. To begin, fill all three beakers 3/4 full of water and line them up in front of the participants.
   
2. In the first beaker, pour in the sugar and shake while offering this:

"The first beaker represents our business (or team), and the sugar is one type of conflict that is present. We have a 'sweet' gift offered by the conflict in that it helps fuel our team, its creativity. And since the sugar is soluble, the conflict is solvable."

3. In the second beaker, pour in the salt and shake while offering this:

"This type of conflict (salt) spices up things but it reminds us that we must keep working at it. [Here, you continue to shake up the salt to dissolve it.] In order to dissolve the salt (conflict) we must always be trying."

4. In the third beaker, drop in the marble while offering this:

"Some conflict will always be present no matter what we do. You must decide on how you choose to react to it. You must decide what your attitude is going to be and if you want to continue to put energy into conflict that simply won't go away."

Purpose:

This is a neat way to visually share with your training participants the conflict that inevitably arises when two or more people enter into a relationship, whether personally or professionally. For extra credit, have the participants create solutions to the third type of conflict (the marble or "insoluble" conflict).

For tips to effectively train your people and streamline your organization, and for other solutions to your staffing challenges, visit www.traininginabox.com [1]. Sign up for our free newsletter at www.quicktrainingsolutions.com [1] to make your HR training and development life easier. Corey Nielsen designs and delivers innovative and effective training solutions for businesses through NTG, his business development and training company.

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