Fundamentals of Understanding Workplace Conflict (SHRM and HRCI Credit)
This comprehensive 14-hour workshop builds upon foundational conflict resolution concepts from our 4-hour introductory course to tackle the sophisticated challenges of workplace disputes. Participants will move beyond basic techniques to develop skills in understanding multi-layered conflicts, de-escalating tensions, developing mutual understanding between employees, and maintaining resilience even in high-stakes situations.
Why This Training
Workplace conflict often stems not from what is said, but from what goes unspoken. This training helps participants move beyond surface-level fixes and into the heart of what drives conflict. You’ll learn to slow down, understand what’s really happening – for yourself and others – and engage more effectively with the people and systems around you.
What You’ll Learn
Through experiential learning, case study analysis, and reflective practice, participants will explore how emotional responses, individual and organizational conflict styles, core competencies, and the situational context intersect to either fuel or resolve workplace tensions. The workshop emphasizes developing both the internal awareness and external skills necessary to bring the best of yourself for sustained effectiveness in workplace conflict.
Who Should Attend
This training is designed for professionals at all levels who are ready to engage workplace conflict in a more effective and human-centered way. Whether you’re in leadership, support, or team-based roles, this course delivers practical value you can apply immediately and build on over time.
HR professionals, managers and team leads will gain frameworks to handle complex interpersonal dynamics and leave with new tools to address tension early, reduce misunderstandings, and shift from managing conflict to facilitating resolution. Outcomes include stronger team cohesion, greater morale, and fewer disruptions to productivity.
Consultants and executive coaches will deepen their ability to support clients and colleagues in navigating high-stakes conversations. The Understanding-based model offers a durable alternative to adversarial approaches, with strong relevance for internal workplace matters.
Employees and cross-functional team members will gain confidence and clarity in how to address issues directly and constructively, even without formal authority. This empowers healthier work cultures and more resilient communication.
Why it Matters
Organizations lose time, money, and talent when conflict is mismanaged or ignored. This training delivers a strong return on investment by helping participants:
- Reduce time spent on repeated, unresolved conflicts
- Increase engagement and trust among coworkers
- Retain high-performing staff through better communication
- Build a more responsive and humane workplace culture
Participants consistently tell us this training transforms how they see and handle conflict – not just at work, but in every part of life. It is a powerful foundation for anyone seeking to make conflict less costly and more meaningful.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Navigate Conflict-Laden Conversations: Apply the understanding-based concepts and tools to real-world conflicts in the workplace.
- Analyze and De-escalate Complex Dynamics: Examine multi-layered workplace conflicts by identifying hierarchical differences, cultural dynamics, power imbalances, and team and systemic factors that contribute to escalation. Work with these layers in a way that builds trust.
- Facilitate Perspective-Taking: Use a structured process to understand different viewpoints before engaging in problem-solving, even in situations with deep-seated animosity or mistrust.
- Manage Personal Reactions: Recognize and regulate their own emotional responses to conflict, maintaining effectiveness even when personally challenged or activated. Allow tension in a more deliberate and confident way, whether the tension is generated by others or within themselves.
- Address root causes: Use a step-by-step approach to address root causes of conflict rather than just surface symptoms.
Format & Details
Date & Time: February 13, 2026, 9:00 AM – 2:30 PM Pacific Time (includes two 15-minute breaks)
12:00PM – 5:30PM Eastern Time
Location: Live Online (Zoom)
Cost: $985
CE Credits: 14 hours SHRM & HRCI
4-hour Introduction to Understanding Workplace Conflict prerequisite required
*Note: Both the 4-hour Introductory course and 14-hour course may be booked together. Select the ticket “BOTH PROGRAMS – 4 and 14-hour” ticket to register for both programs with a 15% discount.
SHRM and HRCI Certification
The Center for Understanding in Conflict is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDC) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.
This Program has been pre-approved for 4 recertification continuing education credit hours toward aPHR®, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™, and SPHRi™ recertification through HRCI.
About the Center
The Center for Understanding in Conflict pioneered understanding-based mediation and is one of the first and only nonprofit conflict resolution training organizations worldwide.
Since 1982, the Center has trained more than 10,000 professionals worldwide, including leaders from the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation, Intel Corporation, Roche, SAP and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Our approach is rooted in real-world practice, human connection, and the belief that conflict can be a doorway to transformation.
Trainers
Helen Chen is a mediator, trainer, and conflict coach with deep expertise in workplace conflict. A former employment attorney at Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, she represented workers in areas ranging from retaliation to occupational safety. She later trained both employers and employees across sectors through the Labor Occupational Health Program at UC Berkeley. Today, Helen supports organizations through mediation and conflict coaching, with a focus on improving work relationships and conditions. She is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and trained in mediation by the Center for Understanding in Conflict and others.
Catherine Conner has trained mediators and collaborative professionals since 2004, bringing decades of real-world experience in conflict resolution. Her private practice focuses on family law mediation and collaborative practice, and she brings her strong background in alternate dispute resolution into the workplace setting. She is a founding partner at her law firm and has been recognized nationally for her excellence in the field. Catherine’s extensive experience in building bridges between conflicting parties informs her dynamic, practical teaching style.
Pat Lau served as a workplace mediator at Intel Corporation for 14 years, where he co-founded and led the company’s internal Collaborative Mediation Program. Under his guidance, this initiative helped resolve complex conflicts between coworkers, managers, and teams. Pat is a nationally recognized trainer and presenter on workplace conflict, with published work in the Corporate Mediation Journal and Managing Conflict (2nd ed.). He brings a systems-minded approach to mediation from his prior engineering career and is committed to helping professionals understand and shift conflict dynamics from the inside out.
Additional Notes
Registrations received fewer than 72 hours before the program will be accepted at the discretion of the training team due to role-play and logistics needs.
For questions, contact us at [email protected]
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