a few thougths on
conflict management & mediation
let's agree to disagree
Conflicts are part of everyday working life — and that’s a good thing.
Where people work together, different values, needs, personalities, and perspectives meet. When we handle these differences well, development, innovation, and clarity can emerge.
But this requires the right organisational culture. A failure culture in which mistakes are not hidden, and a conflict culture in which we encourage one another to address conflicts and take the next step in a solution-oriented way.
What sounds simple and logical is, for most of us, a significant challenge. Self-reflection and self-regulation are abilities we only develop gradually in adulthood. And the way we conduct these difficult conversations is unfamiliar to many — or we struggle when emotions run high. Some avoid these conversations altogether. Others may find the courage, but not the right words.
In a strong organisation, psychological safety is not a buzzword — it is lived. Leaders and employees feel safe enough to address conflicts early, openly, and at equal terms. This is also a core leadership responsibility. Many issues that could easily be addressed over a relaxed coffee early on, have the potential to escalate later — simply because they weren’t addressed. “It will sort-out itself", or “I’ll bring it up tomorrow, when I have more time,” are common thoughts that allow us to postpone uncomfortable topics.
We also frequently observe that many escalating conflicts share a common root cause: a lack of leadership or unclear leadership. Issues remain unaddressed, boundaries are not set, roles are unclear, or difficult conversations are postponed. This leads to declining productivity, delayed decisions, employees carrying conflicts that actually arise one level above them, strained customer relationships, and ultimately an increase in sick leave and burnout.
We support organisations in recognising conflicts early, managing them professionally, and embedding solution orientation into the organisational culture. This strengthens collaboration, reduces friction losses, and ultimately lowers costs.
When conflicts are entrenched or emotionally charged, we offer mediation — a process that creates clarity, fosters responsibility, and makes collaboration possible again. Mediation is not a sign of weakness — it is a sign of organisational maturity.
We support organisations in addressing conflicts constructively, solution-oriented, and with courage — instead of downplaying or avoiding them. Ideally, we work with companies, teams, and leaders at an early stage, allowing us to act preventively.
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Conflict Management Seminars: Leaders, teams, and employees learn to address conflicts early, facilitate and resolve them — before they escalate or become entrenched.
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Prevention: Identifying structural conflict drivers (roles, responsibilities, interfaces, leadership gaps) and strengthening the organisation’s error culture and conflict culture.
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Mediation: When conversations are no longer possible or working relationships are at risk, we guide teams or individuals through a structured mediation process towards a shared solution and a restoration of their ability to work together.
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Apprentice Mediation: We are happy to support apprentices and trainers early on — strengthening conflict competence and thereby improving training quality.
We guide people and organisations through conflict situations in a way that rebuilds the basis for conversation, enables collaboration again, and reveals the positive potential of conflict. For us, conflicts are not disruptions — they are resources.
Our psychological expertise, our organisational understanding, and our appreciative clarity create spaces in which dialogue, trust, and collaboration become possible again — and in which even difficult topics can be addressed directly and constructively.