In my experience, conflicts are negotiations that have failed to produce an acceptable outcome for the parties involved and therefore turn into personal attacks, where the apparent way to resolve the situation becomes harming the other person.

To prevent them, it is therefore useful to develop relational, negotiation, communication and collaborative problem-solving skills.

When a conflict is already at an advanced stage, however, it is possible to resolve it — or better still, to help the parties involved resolve it themselves using appropriate techniques.

Every person in a team where conflicts occur can use these techniques to recognise what to do and what NOT to do, for example taking sides with one of the parties involved or issuing ultimatums. If the whole team has a strong culture of collaborative conflict resolution, it becomes harder for individual members to trigger new conflicts.

Experiencing conflict is a bit like practising martial arts: you need to learn how to fall so you do not get hurt in the fight.