When I want to reflect on conflict at work and see what I can do better, I dip into one of these gems.
Resolving Conflicts at Work: Ten Strategies for Everyone on the Job (book) by Kenneth Cloke and Joan Goldsmith. This is easily the best book I have read in ages. So many goodies for moving forward out of conflict.
The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers, and Coaches (book) by Roger Schwarz. What has facilitation got to do with managing and conflict? Everything.
These next books are also good but not in the same class as the previous two.
Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition (book) by Kerry Patterson.
Beyond Bullsh*t: Straight-Talk at Work (book) by Samuel Culbert
Concerning Micromanagement
My Way or the Highway: The Micromanagement Survival Guide (book) by Harry E. Chambers. A key driver of micromanagement is anxiety. How can sources of anxiety by identified and weakened?
For reflection
And here are some “slow burn” books that are worth chewing over.
Images of Organization (book) by Gareth Morgan. Recently updated this is a classic. We understand organisation through metaphor. Organisation as “machine”, as “mind”, as “cultures”, as “psychic prisons”, … all the metaphors have strengths and weaknesses. This book provides lots of insights for reframing conflict.
Influence (Collins Business Essentials) (book) by Robert B. Cialdini PhD. Wow. Everyone must read this book at least once every two years. Compliance practitioners are across this material. We need to be too!