The Dalai Lama once said, “Dialogue is the most effective way of resolving conflict.” However, it is very common to react to a situation involving conflict or to move away and not address what is happening. Neither response leads to the dialogue you need to resolve conflict with dental patients or your team.
The next time you encounter conflict, remember the old adage that we were born with two ears and one mouth for a reason, and that reason is we need to spend twice as much time listening as we do talking. Understanding the other person is critical for dialogue just as it is for conflict resolution.
Questions help you increase your level of understanding regarding what is driving the conflict, and questions also drive effective dialogue. For example, if your dental patient is unhappy with the outcome of treatment, ask about the source of the dissatisfaction. Maybe something is causing discomfort or there was a misunderstanding about expectations. Instead of reacting and defending the treatment rendered, you can use questions to engage the patient in dialogue that will likely lead to an acceptable resolution.
Just as you need to gather information from x-rays, perio charting, and an exam to make a diagnosis on a dental patient, you need to also gather information to properly diagnose how to resolve conflict. Without using questions to help stimulate effective dialogue, how can you fully understand and address the situation?
The next time you are confronted with conflict, please remember to spend time listening and asking questions before trying to come up with solutions. The dialogue you generate will likely lead to a better outcome for the situation, and along the way you will probably find your original assumptions about how to handle everything were not quite right.