One comment I hear frequently as I teach instructor level workshops is, “I wish I would have had this de-escalation training when…” my children were young, I was still married, I first started working with people with disabilities, etc. While the focus of our training is on helping staff and caregivers provide safer workplace environments by using a positive behavior support approach to reducing workplace conflict and building and sustaining healthy relationships with their coworkers and people served, many of the concepts and skills taught are applicable to all human relationships.
One of the most important concepts related to this whether managing conflict in the workplace or in one’s personal life is to seek to understand what we need, assess what the other person needs, and then try to work together with them to get as many of those needs met as possible. Too often in conflict situations we become so focused on what we need that we ignore the other person’s needs. This often results in further escalation of the conflict. The self-management and communication skills needed to engage in this win-win approach to conflict are at the core The Mandt System philosophy and training.
Over the past 27 years that I have been certified in The Mandt System, not only have I seen the positive effects on the quality of life of co-workers and people served, I have also experienced improved relationships with my wife, family, friends and others in which I have contact. I truly consider it an honor to have the opportunity to share these ideas with others.
Doug ZehrVogt – Mandt System Faculty
