Heifetz et al. suggest the following seven steps to orchestrate conflict:
Prepare: Before leading a conflict resolution session, leaders must "do their homework." Investigate the stakeholders' interests and fears. Discover what people want .
- Establish ground rules: Group members should establish rules that will protect those for whom conflict may be uncomfortable. People should know in advance how to handle disagreement, how to bring their problems into the open, and how to respect dissenting views.
- Get all views on the table: Encourage everyone to bring their concerns into the open. Create a process for disclosing ideas, fears, and even discomfort. In particular, invite participants to share the concerns of those who are not in the room. What do their constituents want?
- Orchestrate the conflict: This means facilitating a conflictual discussion effectively. You may want to interrupt the discussion occasionally to rephrase what you hear and articulate people's positions as you understand them. When necessary, declare a break!
- Encourage acceptance of losses: Remember that in Adaptive Challenges, some loss may be inevitable.
- Generate experiments: Conflict resolution may require creative thinking. Remember that you are chartering new territory - Adaptive Challenges, after all, require new and untried solutions. Heifetz et al. recommend that you come up with various possible solutions and commit to trying them for size.
- Institute peer consulting: Group members should be responsible for ALL solutions - not only for the solutions that impact them. Encourage members to help, support, coach, and encourage one another for the benefit of the entire group.