We rely on and spend more time with our colleagues than with most other people in our lives: yet we frequently experience at work.

This is a problem that is beginning to be recognised, but it is still not being dealt with either effectively or sufficiently.

Conflict is such a broad term for what can be experienced, ranging from office gossip to outright bullying. In nearly every single office there are always going to be personality clashes at some point, and most of the time they will be fairly easily sorted out.

However, sometimes they aren't and there is often no other option than to resign. The real problem underlying this situation is that people really don't have the skills to deal with these kinds of situations. They frequently accept the problem when it is happening and then get really upset afterwards.

The Five Strategies for Dealing with Conflict

1. Avoidance
This is the most frequently used strategy along with accommodation. Here is avoided and when it does appear the person using this strategy refuses to engage in the situation.

Example: Someone making a sly comment and the person it was aimed at simply walking away.

While this obviously is not a good way of dealing with the majority of the time as it tends not to help, it is worth being considered as a strategy for when the is just not worth the effort of being addressed.

2. Accommodation
Here you take the and submit.

Example: Listening to unhelpful criticism and believing it.

Again, very frequently used especially where there is low confidence and self-esteem. This is another not very successful method of dealing with conflict, but it will do if you know that there is a solution coming soon.

3. Compete,br> This one means that you play the person at his or her own game and work hard to get your own way in the conflict.

Example: Someone starts spreading rumours about you, so you do the same in return in an attempt to discredit the power of the other person's word.

This can be very useful when the is mild and you are passionate about your stance, but can lead to a vicious circle as the escalates. Be very sure you want to use this strategy as lowering yourself to someone else's level rarely shows you in the best light.

4. Compromise
A much more useful tactic to use: here you don't give in to the conflict, but work out a solution somewhere between the two sides.

Example: Someone delegates a huge amount of work to your already over-filled plate, you respond by taking on some of it, and then recommending that this person parcel out the rest to other people.

This is the strategy of choice for most untrained managers as this is how we frequently deal with children in real life - and so it is a behaviour we all know about. This can of course lead to the obvious downfall of the actual solution leaving none of the sides happy. This is best to use when the goal is to get past the issue and move on - with the issue having relatively little significance.

5. Collaborate
The most useful tactic, particularly

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