How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 134

THE FIVE A'S TECHNIQUE
Borisoff and Victor identify five steps in the conflict management
process that they call the "five A's" of conflict management:
assessment, acknowledgement, attitude, action, and analysis.
They assert that these five steps allow for a sustained, ongoing
process of problem-solving-oriented conflict management.
ASSESSMENT.
In the assessment step, the parties involved collect appropriate
information regarding the problem. The parties involved also
choose which of the conflict-handling modes is most appropriate
for the situation. The parties collectively decide what is and what
is not central to the problem. The parties involved also indicate
areas in which they may be willing to compromise, and what
each party actually wants.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
The acknowledgement step is one in which each party attempts
to hear out the other. Acknowledgement allows both parties to
build the empathy needed for the motivation of a synergistic
solution to the problem. The acknowledgement acts as feedback
to the other party and it demonstrates that one understands
(without necessarily agreeing with) the other party's position.
Acknowledgement goes beyond merely responding to what is
said, however; it involves actively encouraging the other party to
openly communicate its concerns. This is aided by the use of
active listening techniques and overt, nonverbal encouragement.
ATTITUDE.
The attitude step tries to remove the foundation for pseudoconflict. Stereotypical assumptions about different, culturallybased behaviors are uncovered. For example, a member of a
high-context culture may misinterpret what a member of a lowcontext culture says as being needlessly blunt or even rude.
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