Eden Minucci, Legal Operations Partner, and Janelle Chapa, Director of Operations, sat down to discuss conflict resolution and how to handle it. The conversation has been lightly edited. You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/qSi2M3rrvjw

Eden: In the conflict resolution process we follow there are four different quadrants. Today, we are going to go more in-depth with each of those quadrants compared to our last blog post. Janelle, why don’t you tell us a little bit about the culture we have created and what it is compared to what it isn’t as well as what are our options when we are communicating with each other?

Janelle: Candor is what we are all aiming for. Candor is kind and helpful. However, there are 3 other quadrants that you could fall into when having a conversation when in actuality, you’re not. One of those quadrants is obnoxious aggression. This may contain accurate feedback, but it’s not communicated in a kind and caring manner. Another way to describe this is brutal honesty. Another quadrant is renewing empathy. Renewing empathy is not sharing any kind of feedback. This is obviously unhelpful and can even be damaging to the interpersonal relationships you have with that peer or coworker. Lastly, you have manipulative insecurity. This lacks truthfulness and creates a toxic workplace. This can also be referred to as backstabbing.

Eden: Oh, so when you talk about somebody behind their back but are really nice to their face. Feedback should be kind and helpful, its intent is always growth and it is always expressing something that is accurate but doing it with kindness and empathy.

If your firm is interested in learning more about this process or would like to do a tabletop exercise around this ideology, fill out this form and someone from our team will reach out:

Brutal Honesty & Conflict Resolution Part 2