Personal Sensitivity and Conflict Resolution
One area of interest to all, because it happens so frequently, is Conflict Resolution. Conflicts happen for various reasons. A difference in character or personality, a difference of opinion, sometimes just because someone can and possibly because something is wrong.
The BIG question is how well do you as an SEC, DEC, EC or even just an Operator handle these events. For some it is very easy to have your buttons pushed and maybe the people doing the pushing know exactly what it takes to do so. For others it just happens. All of us need to learn what it takes to push our own respective buttons and when we notice them being pushed to take the time to calmly handle the situation. At other times the need to forcefully handle the situation is also needed. But the key to doing so is always being under control at least outwardly in your presentation. Then working out the problem such that either one or both parties understand what is wrong or what is right and come to a compromise if necessary.
In a stressful situation such as Emergency Operations, these events ratchet up tremendously and can cause devastating results internally if not handled correctly. The last thing you need in an environment like a shelter is for someone to go off half-cocked . It just sets the tone for the rest of the evening or day and ruins everyone else's concentration on the task or tasks at hand. Take some time to think about your own situation and how well you personally handle things in general and then more specifically look at different aspects of how past issues got resolved or did not get resolved.
With the permission of the Wisconsin SEC I have copied a PowerPoint Presentation they did last year on this subject as part of their training. It demonstrates some issues and ways in which issues can be or should be handled. That file is available either for viewing online or you can save it to your own computer for viewing later and is found in the Download Section of this web site (Personal Sensitivity and Conflict Resolution WMN.ppt)
