Course: How to Build Conflict Prevention Strategies

Conflict Prevention , Practical Course Outline for Organizations and Teams

Start Here: Prevention beats firefighting. Always has. That comment might make some HR directors bristle; they like dashboards better than guts. Fine. But when prevention is done well it's cost saving, time saving and morale building , and people stick around.

Programme overview and objectives

A practical, applied and pragmatic programme designed to provide teams and leaders with the tools to be able to spot, defuse and prevent that sort of interpersonal and systemic conflict before it becomes so expensive or corrosive. Practical, evidence informed and Australian context sensitive. We situate prevention as both a behaviour pattern and a governance discipline: train the people, fix the systems.

Target audience and level (random)

Up and coming leaders and HR officers in medium large organisations, in the service, retail or public sectors. For team leaders with 1 to 5 years' worth of people management experience and HR practitioners responsible for policy or culture programs. Not for mediators in training, this is the front line of prevention and operation design.

Preferred duration and mode (randomised)

Six week blended program:
- One full day, face to face launch workshop (city hub e.g., Sydney or Melbourne).
- Four 90 min live virtual clinics, weekly to reinforce learning.
- One half day consolidation session (hybrid).
- Microlearning modules (5 to 10 min) in between sessions.

Results are supported by individual coaching (30 minute slots offered) for identified managers.

Delivery platform

Hybrid, In person launch to establish rapport and safety, with live virtual clinic for depth/consolidation. Realistic simulations take place face to face where possible; virtual breakout work for larger groups.

Why this mix? Face to face builds trust. Virtual clinics guarantee reach and follow up without breaking the budget. We believe passionately that: roleplay trumps passive e learning for these skills. Controversial? You bet. But the behaviour change requires messy human interaction.

Core learning outcomes (behavioural and metrics)

- Demonstrate structured early warning conversations and de escalation scripts fluently (measured by roleplay scores) by end of programme.
- Cut low severity interpersonal incidents reported to HR by 15% within six months (organisational KPI).
- Boost psychological safety scores among participating teams by 10 percentage points in post programme surveys.
- Use a simple risk assessment tool to identify when potential team level conflicts are on the rise within 30 days after change events.
- Co design and introduce at least one systemic prevention measure in their Business unit, such as clearer role matrices or decision rules.

Real world limitations and assumptions

- Cost: $895 incl. GST per head (price is based on cohort delivery, facilitator flights to hub cities)
- Minimum cohort: 12; maximum for cohort interaction can be up to 24
- Locations: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Geelong and Parramatta , hubs rotated quarterly
- Platforms: Zoom or MS Teams (for virtual); learning management system for microlearning
- Time commitment: approximately 12 to 14 hours per head over six weeks
- Confidentiality: Any workplace sensitive scenarios will be redacted with agreed privacy norms.

Programme structure (session by session breakdown)

Week 0 , Pre work (45 to 60 minutes)
- Diagnostic survey: A short diagnostic to map our main behaviours around conflict and incidents over the last month.
- Pre read: reading for later about leading drivers of conflict and a five minute microlearning element on how to look when you're listening in active conversations.
- Leader checklist: identify two places where your team might have "pressure points"

Day 1 , Launch workshop

Morning
- Welcome: why prevention matters (business case + lived consequences)
- Module 1: Map the roots of conflict
- Activity: Systems mapping , teams map recent areas of friction + trace drivers (resources, role ambiguity, culture, change)
- Outcome: Each team leaves with a one page conflict ecosystem map
- Module 2: Mental models and assumptions
- Brief input on cognitive biases, cultural lenses and miscommunication
- Exercise: reverse engineer conversations that went sideways

Afternoon
- Module 3: Pro active communication design: Building structured check ins, agendas + safe feedback loops
- Tool: a practical template for weekly risk check ins
- Module 4: Active listening and emotional intelligence
- Skills drills in exploratory questions, reflective paraphrasing & containment language
- Paired practice with live coaching
- Quick wins clinic: Participants commit to two prevention actions to trial over the next fortnight.

Week 1 , Virtual clinic 1 (90 mins)
- Early trials and initial barriers review.
- Module 5: Tracks early warning indicators and simple risk scoring, including mechanism for alerting teams to need for action.
- Tool: A six or seven item checklist to flag teams at risk plus specific triggers
- Worked example: triage three genuine problems

Week 2 , Virtual clinic 2 (90 minutes)
- Module 6: Intro to interest based negotiation and facilitation
- Emphasis on separating positions from interests.
- Scripted roleplay: manager led early intervention convo with prompt cards used.
- Microassignment: run one facilitated dialogue using the script and upload a short reflection.

Week 3 , Virtual clinic 3 (90 minutes)
- Module 7: Structural and systemic prevention
- Designing clear roles and decision rules (RACI and variants adapted for complexity).
- Workshop: draft or revise a role matrix for a participant team.
- Module 8: Policy sanity , designing fair, transparent decision making
- Templates and guardrails for consistent decisions.
- Manager toolkit: checklists for governance and escalation

Week 4 , Virtual clinic 4 (90 mins)
- Module 9: Embedding systems , training, documentation, measurement
- How to create resilient practices: handovers, onboarding, meeting rituals
- Module 10: Handling entrenched disputes , when to escalate to mediation
- Triage thresholds, legal touchpoints and wellbeing support
- Prep for consolidation session: each participant prepares a short implementation case, a concrete prevention measure they will deploy and test

Week 6 , Refinement (half day, hybrid)
- Presentations: participant case studies and learnings
- Advanced roleplays , peer and facilitator scored against a rubric.
- Sustainability planning , Monthly rhythm; Risk scoreboard; Manager support loops
- Final diagnostic , post programme survey & roleplay assessment.

Key content and materials

- Participant workbook (20 to 30 pages) including templates, scripts, checklists and case studies.
- Facilitator guide with timings, learning objectives, coaching cues.
- Microlearning library: 8 x 5 minute modules (active listening, check ins, risk scoring).
- Customisable templates: role matrix; incident log; debrief form.
- Short videos , good/bad conversations (Australian workplaces).

Learning approaches and activities

- Experiential roleplay (core).
- Systems mapping and case clinics.
- Peer coaching triads.
- Microlearning reminder system.
- Action learning: participants conduct a local implementation and report back.
- OPTIONAL one on one coaching for high impact cases.

Assessment and measurement (practical, audit compliant)

- Pre/Post diagnostic survey (psych safety/confidence/incident frequency)
- Roleplay scoring rubric (behavioural anchors for listening/neutrality/containment)
- Manager observation checklist (3 and 6 month follow up)
- Outcome metrics: incident logs, HR case severity, Turnover in participating teams
- ROI framing: projected cost savings from reduced incidents vs facilitator pricing. Utilise the conservative estimates.
- Qualitative: case studies of participant's application at 3 months.

Facilitator profile and accreditation

- Senior facilitators with operating experience , ex HR leaders, seasoned consultants, mediators , 10 + years' practical experience. We prefer facilitators with proven experience in the Australian public or private sector.
- Co facilitation model: content specialist + behavioural skills coach.
- Quality assurance: session recordings reviewed for ongoing quality improvement.

Execution support for HR and business leaders

- Sponsor engagement: executive sponsor to sign off on measurement and accountability.
- Manager commitment: managers are agreeable to a 6 to 8 week follow up cadence.
- Communications plan: internal launch comms, microlearning rollout and post program newsletters.
- Budget line items: facilitation, travel, venues (for both the launch as well as throughout the program), LMS hosting, materials.

Scale and sustainability

- Train the trainer module for internal roll out (2 day electives).
- Digital library for on demand refresher modules.
- Yearly refresh: repeat cohort of leaders, plus an annual "prevention forum" for sharing case studies.
- Integration with performance frameworks, include prevention behaviours in performance conversation/s and role descriptions.

Risks, common pushbacks and mitigation

- "No time for training" , mitigation: modular microlearning for managers, short practical sessions and clear ROI examples.
- "Managers should not be mediators" , position: Managers are first responders; the training is about triage, containment and referral, not adjudication.
- "We've tried team building" , distinction: prevention is about governance and routines, not events.
- "E learning is cheaper" , it is. But cheaper isn't always effective. We prefer blended investments which create a change in behaviour.

Two opinions I think you'll disagree with (and I'll defend)

- Let line managers take responsibility for early spotting and containment of conflicts within their team. "When H.R. owns it all, problems fester," he said. Some counsel doesn't like this; however, accountability trains faster replies.
- The shift in conversation habits is still fastest through roleplay. Watching a video? Helpful. Doing the awkward conversation? That's where change happens.

Measuring and evaluating , sample indicators

- Short term: roleplay competency score (baseline → target improvement 30%).
- Medium term (3 months): minor HR incidents reported falling or rising (target 15% reduction) as a measure for increased skill use.
- Long term (6 to 12 months): retention and engagement level change of team members belonging to pilot cohorts compared to averages across the Business.
- Economic: estimates on cost savings due to decreased case management combined with decreased production downtime. Use conservative multipliers for forecasts.

Why prevention pays (quick economics note)

It's not nice to have to invest in early intervention and prevention. In terms of mental health and productivity, the World Health Organisation calculates that a US$1 investment in treatment for common mental disorders leads to a return of US$4 in better health and productivity. Prevention works to keep situations from unnecessarily escalating or becoming more costly (in the way of formal action). Common sense prevention saves both human and financial cost.

Delivery Logistics Check List

- Room setup for launch: can we have an environment that has flexible furniture, with rooms that support breakout space and AV.
- LMS set up to support microlearning and diagnostics.
- Admin help scheduling coaching participants, collecting implementation deliverables from participants
- Navigation links in client systems
- Confidentiality agreement for participant case submissions

Follow up and sustainment

- 90 day check in webinar (30 to 45 minutes) to own progress and iterate.
- Quarterly prevention forum for alumni to share playbooks and troubleshooting.
- Optional governance sprint: HR + 3 department heads meet to operationalise revised role matrices and decision rules.

Finally , for what it's worth , our design philosophy

This is not theoretical or academic fluff. It doesn't swap the tidy models for neat tools: scripts, checklists and a small number of governance levers you actually have hope of pulling. We favour doing less, better. Simplicity scales. Systems matter. And decent managers, backed with practical help, can make prevention stick. We will help you design the first pilot and then step back , because prevention only works when the Organisation itself can own it.

Understanding conflict and resolution techniques are essential skills that complement this prevention focused approach.