News and Articles

When to Confront – What’s Your Measuring Stick?

Most people dread having to confront a conflict at work or at home. Unfortunately, ignoring the conflict will not cause it to disappear. At some point the conflict will need to be addressed to allow people to work and live together well and to avoid permanently damaging the relationship. Determining when to raise and issue […]

Turning Conflict into Collaboration

Conflicts are part of almost every interaction, be it between individuals or businesses. The differences in habits, attitudes, convictions and individual preferences ensure that no two entities operate in the same way. The usual outcomes of conflict Depending on the importance of the relationship between the parties, the possible outcomes of conflicts include: • Avoidance: […]

The Best Ways A Manager Can Strive to Overcome Workplace Conflict

Although a dispute often arises from a single incident, it can easily become an ongoing conflict situation if not quickly resolved. The presence of an unresolved conflict in the workplace can drastically impact an entire team of employees. This can result in a decrease in morale, lower productivity and an overall toxic workplace atmosphere. Common […]

Stitt Feld Handy Group & Windsor Law: Celebrating 25 years of partnership Windsor Law Access

Read this article about our long standing relationship with Windsor Law School and about Allan Stitt. To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and instructor-led online sessions. To improve your negotiation skills […]

Solving workplace conflict starts with self-awareness

Getting to the root of problems means understanding everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, including one’s own Originally published in:Canadian HR ReporterNovember 8, 2004 Dealing with office conflict is one of those management tasks with high risks, low rewards and seemingly no end in sight. Negative patterns can develop despite a manager’s best efforts. Standard approaches become ineffective, and breakthroughs […]

Maclean’s magazine – Higher education

Overcoming our brain’s shortcuts

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS What do cows drink? Your final answer may have been “water” but was “milk” the first thought that came into your head? If so, that’s an example of a mental shortcut that your brain took without you even knowing it. This is a simple example of the ways in which our brains […]

Testimonials about our Live Online Training

Hear what graduates are saying about the Stitt Feld Handy Group Virtual Instructor-Led Online Training. It is as effective, practical and fun as ever. To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and instructor-led online […]

How to Start a Difficult Conversation (Video)

Elinor Whitmore provides advice and guidance on how to start a challenging conversation with a difficult person, on a difficult issue, or both. To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and instructor-led online sessions. […]

Webinar: Health and Safety During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Does your workplace meet the Health and Safety standards to re-open after the pandemic? Do you know what to do if an employee suggests they don’t feel safe returning to work? As an employee, if you don’t feel safe, do you know what to do? How do Health and Safety requirements apply for people working […]

Sunk Cost and the Sunk Cost Fallacy

Individuals commit the sunk cost fallacy when they continue a behaviour or endeavour as a result of previously invested resources (time, money or effort). This fallacy, which is related to loss aversion and status quo bias, can also be viewed as bias resulting from an ongoing commitment. For example, individuals sometimes order too much food […]

Feedback vs Criticism – Do You Know the Difference?

Oliver Martin walks us through how we communicate with people when challenges arise, demonstrating some tips and techniques for providing effective feedback. To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and instructor-led online sessions. To […]

How to Prepare For a Negotiation

How will you know whether to say “yes” or “no” to a deal? Allan Stitt shows how to prepare effectively for a negotiation to get great results. To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person […]

Coaching – Broadening Insights into Challenger

Elinor Whitmore shows how a workplace coach can help an employee better deal with a challenging person in their world by broadening their perspective. To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and instructor-led online […]

How to Become More Persuasive in a Negotiation

Allan Stitt provides tips on how to persuade others in a negotiation. The mirror-image principle of openness to ideas allows others to hear us more effectively. To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and […]

How to Confront Difficult People

Conflict resolution in difficult conversations requires firm but clear messages. Elinor Whitmore shows how to confront a difficult person with an issue they have been ignoring. To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and […]

How to Get a Good Deal in a Negotiation

What are the key characteristics that define a good deal for us? Peter Dreyer examines how we can define a good deal in a negotiation, or dispute. To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person […]

What Triggers People in a Difficult Conversation

Elinor Whitmore examines how our values, traits, identity, and self-image can be major triggers of defensive reactions, turning us and others into difficult people. To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and instructor-led online […]

Yes – Able Frame of Mind

Negotiate and communicate without damaging the relationship and creating pushback. Paul Godin shows how to put the opposing negotiator in the right frame of mind. To learn conflict resolution skills that you can use at work and in your personal life, please visit our Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop page to learn more about upcoming in-person and instructor-led […]

Feedback or Criticism: What’s More Effective

To optimize the performance of the team, a manager has to let the team members know what is expected of them. The broad guidelines given at the beginning of an assignment may not be enough to ensure a smooth flow. By providing periodic assessments and timely feedback to team members there is a greater likelihood […]