Abstract:

Organizations today continuously operate in challenging environments. These are often situations of conflict, crisis, and change. Moreover, parts of organizations are often in different settings. Managers however, have to coordinate conflict management measures in a team reporting to them and, at the same time, a change and innovation process of another area that also reports to them. Here experience is needed in order to keep an overview. The question of where exactly the respective organizational unit is situated is essential to determine whether the next steps have a stable foundation. This is because the respective action strategy must fit the context. Acting with an inappropriate strategy increases the problems and creates frustration among employees. To prevent this, a solid diagnosis is needed. This is complex, as many disordered, or even hidden perceptions and contexts must be recognized and analysed. However, the effort involved is worthwhile, as "business as usual" can often throw teams, divisions, and even entire organizations into chaos. This paper deals with different diagnostic tools for conflict, crisis and change situations to identify the right action strategies for the respective context. It also raises the question whether dealing with conflict, crisis and change situations is a finite or permanent endeavour. The diagnostic tools shown should help the reader to have a quick and targeted approach to manage conflict, crisis; and change in the future. All these considerations translate into education that needs to be prepared to adapt to the current situation. Moreover, this situation is exacerbated by the ongoing COVI-19 pandemic.

Keywords:

Conflict management, crisis, diagnostic tools.