Strategies:

 

• Active Listening:  It's important to listen to people and to not jump to conclusions. Actively listening to both parties of the conflict can help determine what has happened and allow us to find the best strategy to move forward. 

• Establishing Rules: Every community needs rules to help protect members. These rules can also help us in determining if someone has broken a rule or just caused a misunderstanding (or if they're so enthusiastic that they accidently cause an issue). Although rules can't cover everything, such as people getting annoyed by another member, they do help guide us on what to look out for.

• Understanding all Sides: If there are multiple parties in conflict, it’s best to learn what’s happening on each sides first. No one wants to place unwanted blame. Sometimes it could be as simple as a misunderstanding. After learning everyone’s opinion on the matter, then actions can form. 

• Understanding Personality Types: Taking into account personality types and how to approach different personalities. Some people may not intend to cause a conflict or not realise they have. Understanding personalities can help us what knowing how to approach different people, and find the best solution for those people.

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De-escalating a Conflict

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• Acknowledging the Issues: Shying away from conflict isn't going to help a community at all. Recognising to issues at hand to pursuing a way to resolve it will help the community run smoothly. Communities are meant to be a safe space after all.

• Recognising People's Feelings: Everyone is allowed to feel what they feel. Showing them that you recognise and acknowledge their feelings can help them feel heard and understood.

• Explain the Issue: Giving them the truth and explaining with as much detail and information may help them understand the situation better. 

• Giving Time to Cooldown: After tense conversations and arguments, sometimes it's best to allow people to have some space. Especially if they haven't broken any rules. 

• Guidelines and Rules: Sometimes conflicts can go against rules. The guidelines with help us determine whether someone will get a warning, or be removed.

• Distractions: Sometimes simplest solution is to distract people just as a conflict is beginning. Sending memes, cat videos, cute animals can distract people and hopefully help them move on.

 

 

Scenarios (STAR):

 

Accidental Offence

 

Situation: Two people in a discord server I moderated came into odds with each other. One person felt condescended by someone, but the person who condescended them weren’t aware of it.

 

Task: I chose to find a way to accommodate both parties and aim for a peaceful resolution.

 

Action: I read through the conversation where the conflict happened and spoke to both parties and concluded that it was a misunderstanding (and a bit of a language barrier). I chose to speak to the person who accidentally offended someone and told them the situation. They looked back at their words in the server and realised that it could cause harm.

 

Result: The person who was in the wrong apologised to the affected party and all was well again. In the server they continued to have peaceful conversations.