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SITXCOM010 Student Guide
SITXCOM010 Student Guide
SITXCOM010 Student Guide
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SITXCOM010
manage conflict
Version 1.0
RTO Works
www.rtoworks.com.au
hello@rtoworks.com.au
This resource is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as
permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission as
expressed in the RTO Works License Agreement.
The information contained in this resource is, to the best of the project team’s and publisher’s knowledge true and
correct. Every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, but the project team and publisher do not accept
responsibility for any loss, injury or damage arising from such information.
While every effort has been made to achieve strict accuracy in this resource, the publisher would welcome notification of
any errors and any suggestions for improvement. Readers are invited to write to us at hello@rtoworks.com.au.
Hospitality Works is a series of training and assessment resources developed for qualifications within the Tourism,
Travel and Hospitality Training Package.
Contents
1: Conflict in the workplace 5
2: Conflict resolution 7
3: Evaluate conflict resolution 15
Application
This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to resolve complex or
escalated complaints and disputes with internal and external customers and colleagues. It requires
the ability to use effective conflict resolution techniques and communication skills to manage
conflict and develop solutions. It does not cover formal negotiation, counselling or mediation.
The unit applies to all tourism, travel, hospitality and event sectors.
The unit applies mainly to senior operational personnel, supervisors and managers who operate
with some level of independence and use discretion and judgement to resolve conflicts.
The skills in this unit must be applied in accordance with Commonwealth and State/Territory
legislation, Australian/New Zealand standards and industry codes of practice.
No occupational licensing, certification or specific legislative requirements apply to this unit at the
time of publication.
Prerequisite
Nil.
Learning goals
Identify conflict situations.
Resolve conflict.
LET IT SIMMER
Take some time now to think about what your emotional triggers are. When have you reacted
poorly to a situation and when have you been proud of the way you responded to one?
It’s important to recognise our own emotional triggers and things that may set us off in certain
situations so we can work on avoiding these or responding more appropriately when we are feeling
stressed.
Identify it early!
The first step to resolving conflict is to identify it. If conflict is identified early – the likelihood of it being
resolved before it escalates is far greater and the situation can be handled with minimum impact to
the business.
SHARE PLATE
The types of conflict you are likely to experience if you worked in the following roles:
o Tour guide
o Travel agent
o Kitchen staff
o Wait staff
o Usher at a theatre.
2: Conflict resolution
Conflict theory
While conflicts in the hospitality industry are more commonly the result of bad service, bad food or
miscommunication, it is worthwhile to understand the background of conflict theory as it may provide
insight into reasons why people may be more likely to enter into conflict as part of human nature.
The concept of ‘conflict theory’ was first developed by Karl Marx, a German philosopher and socialist.
Marx focussed his theory on conflicts between different social classes and described that conflict
exists between classes as their interests are different and sometimes opposing. Since many social
theorists have added to the concept of conflict theory to include factors such as culture, race, religion,
sexuality, etc.
Conflict theory can be broken down into five main parts, as follows:
Signs: there are usually warning signs that conflict may occur. Warning signs will be obvious
in body language and may occur before any verbal communication. Conflict can escalate
quickly if a person does not feel that their concern is heard or acted upon. For example, an
early warning sign may be a customer enquiry about the status of their order as they feel it is
taking longer to arrive than they expected. If this cue is not dealt with swiftly, it may escalate.
Once a customer sees fault with one part of your operations, they are more likely to view other
aspects of your service through a negative lens.
Latent stage: this is the first stage of conflict and occurs before the parties realise a
conflict situation is likely to occur. An example of this stage may be that an order placed
by a customer is incorrectly recorded by the waiter. Neither party are aware that this
mistake has happened.
Perceived stage: this is the second stage of conflict and occurs when it is noticed. This
usually happens after a miscommunication or misunderstanding between parties. Each
party is aware that a problem exists.
Felt stage: this is the third stage and occurs when one or more of the parties feel an
emotion over the conflict. This may include stress, anxiety, or anger.
Manifest stage: this is the fourth stage which occurs when the conflict causes action
which can be seen.
Aftermath stage: this is the final stage of conflict which occurs upon resolution or
dissolution. Depending on how the conflict was dealt with and ended, can have either a
positive or negative impact on each party. The aftermath stage provides an opportunity to
evaluate the situation and make changes to deter the same problem from arising in
future.
Factors involved: factors involved in conflict are varied. Conflict may arise due to the factors
put forward by social theorists (as mentioned above) or due to a difference in expectations
between people (this is often the result of poor communication or bad planning).
Results: conflict should not always be viewed as bad, as it can be an opportunity to impress a
customer if you exceed their expectations. The way in which conflict is handled will determine
the result of the conflict and whether it ends in resolution or dissolution. It is important to follow
any workplace procedures in the event of conflict. Once the conflict is over, it is a good
opportunity to review the workplace procedures to see if there is anything that can be changed
or included to get the most positive results for all parties in future. The best result would be to
update any procedures where there is an opportunity to proactively put measures in place to
avoid conflict in the first place. Of course, you will not be able to avoid conflict in all scenarios,
no matter how good your procedures are.
Often it is possible to identify when conflict may occur before the situation happens. For example, it
may be a customer arrives at your restaurant and tells you they are looking for an express lunch. If
you already know the kitchen is backed up with orders and service will be slow, you can identify
that this may be a cause for potential conflict if you don’t tell the customer of the expected delay.
This puts you in a powerful position to derail any potential conflict by communicating with the
customer honestly and perhaps offering specific items on the menu that would be a quicker option.
While you cannot anticipate every source of potential conflict, when you can your actions may have
a major impact on the way the situation escalates or resolves. Therefore, being proactive is the
best way to avoid potential conflict.
For this activity, consider times when you have been able to identify a potential conflict before it
arose and how you were able to ensure it did not enter the latent or perceived stage.
Communication is key
Communication is the key to identifying, understanding, resolving, and evaluating conflict. There are
various communication techniques that can be used at each stage of conflict. These include:
Active listening: when conflict arises, before it may be rectified it is important that you properly
establish the reason for the conflict and the details surrounding it. This will assist you to assess
the impact on all parties and take appropriate action. Active listening is where you are
demonstrating that you not only hear what the person is saying, but you understand it too. A
good way to demonstrate this is by summarising and paraphrasing. When summarising, you are
taking the key points from what the other person has said and reflecting them in a succinct
manner. With paraphrasing, you are taking what they have said and explaining it in your own
words, but not cutting down the message or its intent.
Empathising with the person’s situation while upholding organisational policy: often people who
have a complaint want to be heard and felt as though they are understood. Summarising and
paraphrasing, as discussed above, is a good way to demonstrate to a customer you hear what
they are saying and understand their perspective. Even if you are unable to satisfy their request
(it may be against company policy, for example), empathising with them will often go a long way
to resolving the conflict.
Those appropriate to different social and cultural groups: understanding your audience is
important with communication. Some communication styles may be okay in some groups and
unappreciated in others (for example, the use of humour). Always use common sense and
monitor body language when communicating. If in doubt, it is recommended to err on the side of
caution.
Being conscious to communicate with all parties in a way that is sensitive, courteous, respectful,
and discreet (this will also minimise the conflict manifesting with other others).
o Assertiveness: Although assertiveness is often considered aggressive, this is not the case.
Assertiveness is ‘The honest and straightforward expression of a person’s thoughts and
feelings in a socially appropriate way that does not violate or infringe on the rights of others’
(Connelly & Rotella, 1991; Lazarus, 1973). Being assertive in conflict will demonstrate that
you are confident in what you are talking about. Assertiveness is the opposite of passive
aggressive behaviour in conflict – which is a behaviour likely to worsen the conflict rather
than resolve it.
o Negotiation: Negotiation allows you to find a balance between the concerns of each person
in conflict. Sometimes, a person who is upset will demand that their needs are met in order
to resolve the conflict. This is not always practical for the other party. Negotiating allows
both parties to discuss their requirements and find a suitable solution that works for both –
even if this means compromise.
o Appropriate communication: We all know that communication, or lack of it, can be a
common reason for conflict. Communication can also be the best resolver of conflict. As
discussed above, communication in resolving conflict and more specifically, the way you
communicate, is key.
o Acknowledging the views of all parties involved and providing them with opportunities to
express them: By providing the opportunity for all parties to express themselves it allows all
involved to see the other’s points of view as well as to identify what is causing them distress.
It also identifies the severity of the conflict and can assist to clarify the issue. Once the issue
is clarified you can then take steps to resolve it. When you acknowledge other viewpoints, it
also makes all involved feel that they are being listened to and that their opinion is valued.
o Responding to all involved parties in a sensitive, courteous, respectful, and discreet manner:
Being sensitive, courteous, respectful and discreet provides those involved with a sense of
trust and respect. They will be more likely to express their concerns and feelings to a greater
extent, knowing that what they are saying is going to be treated sensitively and privately.
This will also assist to build meaningful workplace relationships and customers will be more
likely to become regular or repeat customers when they feel respected.
o Minimising the impact of conflict on other colleagues and customers: By minimising the
impact of the conflict on others a business is able to continue to provide services to
customers and the reputation of the business will be of a higher standard. There are not
many that enjoy conflict and you may find that customers will leave the business if they are
faced with a conflict situation when they are present, which can negatively impact the
business’s reputation. This is why it’s important to move away from a busy area if possible
so different viewpoints can be discussed away from other customers wherever possible.
WHAT’S COOKING?
Customer: try your best to escalate your complaint into a conflict. This will test the worker’s conflict
resolution skills. Choose a complaint from the following list:
Worker: your customer will push for the complaint to escalate into a conflict. Use your best conflict
resolution skills to resolve the conflict at the earliest opportunity. Be sure to consider the constraints
of your role and know when it is appropriate or not to have the manager involved.
Manager: you may or may not be required to step in. Wait for the worker to address you. While you
wait, this is a good opportunity for you to observe the roles of the other participants so you can
provide constructive feedback to the class at the end of the exercise. Feedback from all three
rounds should be recorded for a group discussion with your trainer at the end of the exercise.
WHAT’S COOKING?
For this activity, stay in your group of three. You will each take turns in playing the part of
‘manager’, ‘team member’ and ‘observer’. The manager has a dispute to be raised with the team
member. Continue this task until all three people have had a turn of at least two of the roles.
Manager: choose a dispute from the following list:
lack of competence.
Team member: imagine that this is a real-life scenario and that the job you are in is important to
you.
Observer: carefully observe the interaction between the manager and team member. Take notes so
that you can lead a discussion with constructive feedback at the end of the round.
WHAT’S COOKING?
For this activity you will need to use the Complaints Handling Policy and Procedure you used for
the role play activity you completed earlier in this topic.
Thinking back to the scenario you were involved in; suggest at least two changes you would make
to the policy and procedures to improve them. Make these suggestions in a group discussion.
How will these changes help to avoid conflict in the future?
SHARE PLATE
In your group of three, identify and discuss instances of conflict where you believe it is appropriate
for the following third parties to become involved, and what the intended resolution would be by
involving that third party:
counsellors
mediators
police.
Next, consider and discuss the following situations where personal safety of customers or
colleagues may be threatened. What assistance would be required for each scenario?
The consequences for not following policies and procedures can be costly and leave workplaces
open to litigation.
Read the following article on The Importance of Policy & Procedure: A case study of an
investigation and the policy and procedure shortcomings it revealed.
Article: https://www.convercent.com/blog/the-importance-of-policy-procedure
Take any notes and summarise what you have read for future reference.
WHAT’S COOKING?
First, read the following article on a serious conflict incident that happened in a Melbourne
restaurant. Consider how you would respond if you were a worker at the restaurant at the time of
the incident. What would you do?
Article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-23/milos-novakovic-sentenced-for-party-brawl-
murder/11441076
Next, in your group of three, your trainer will provide you with some scenarios of serious conflict
situation to allow you to practice how you would respond. Imagine that you are either the
perpetrator, a worker at the restaurant or a witness. Take turns allocating roles to yourself to fit
each scenario. How would you respond to these scenarios?
At the end of the activity, as a group, fill in an incident report, considering the information within the
complaints handling policy and procedure you used in previous activities. Try to capture all the
information that needs to be recorded. Also consider whether there any changes that should be
made to the complaints handling policy and procedure to make the reporting process clearer for
any future incidents.
For this activity, you will work individually to develop a threshold test that will help to understand
when conflicts need to be recorded (the threshold test). You should clearly list the considerations
that make up your threshold test and the reasons why, weighting, and any other relevant
comments.
When developing your threshold test, consider:
the potential risk that each type of conflict poses to a person or workplace, or on the reputation
of the business
the types of details required to be recorded (this may include detailed notes of the incident,
persons involved, cost, resolution, etc.).
SHARE PLATE
Now that you have an understanding of some types of conflicts that can happen in a hospitality
setting, as well as how to handle and record them, in your group of three, think back to the conflict
scenarios role-played above and de-brief on how well you think you responded. Consider all
elements covered in this unit and discuss whether there is anything else that you could have done
to resolve and record the conflict. Write notes for future reference.