As society becomes more fragmented and polarized, the seriousness of conflict is an increasing concern. Recognizing that leadership requires the cultivation and appreciation of diverse and sometimes conflicting goals and ideas, it is essential that Extension agents have tools to manage conflict constructively.  Agents must be able to recognize and diffuse polarizing conflict before it freezes all forward progress of boards, committees and professional groups.  

Approaches to Resolving Conflicts was a professional development workshop for Extension professionals offered in April of 2019.  A workshop hosted through CEDIK and the Community and Leadership Development Department, Approaches to Resolving Conflicts  was presented by Dr. Ron Hustedde, Dr. Daniel Kahl, and Elisabeth Pohl.  This day-long, interactive workshop was held in Bowling Green, Ky., and engaged a dozen agents from across the state.  The five primary goals of the workshop were for participants to: 

1) Gain a deeper understanding of my own conflict management style and other personal qualities that influence my ability to engage in conflict resolution.

2) Describe and define different sources of conflict.

3) Describe and illustrate the process of re-framing from positions to interests. 

4) Develop techniques for responding to difficult/disruptive behaviors. 

5) Develop an understanding of, and ability to analyze and respond to conflicts.

These five goals were used as the focus for workshop development, and also served as the evaluation criteria for the workshop. On a ranking scale of 1-5, with 5 being "strongly agree", the average scores on each of these outcomes ranged between 4.5 and 4.8.  Participants noted valuable exercises were "disarming conflict", "reframing questions in response to conflict", and [learning about] "My own conflict management style and ways to diffuse conflict." In addition, final comments included: "Awesome and Informative training. Much needed", "Thank you all, it was one of the most beneficial workshops I have attended", and "This was a great in service – on the questions where I marked somewhat agree – the limiting factor is that I need to practice and I need to do more review. It is a lot to learn and process in one day."

While the results of this workshop evaluation are immediate responses to the workshop, it is encouraging to have professional development opportunities that align with the immediate needs of agents and contribute to their success in delivering effective Extension programming.