The word communication has a huge scope; it encompasses the extent of human interaction. There are hundreds of ways to communicate a thought, and equally, many miscommunications result in the poor transference of messages. As a consequence, that word constitutes both the title of one of our modules, and the title of the ECo-C Certificate itself. It also has been the most common subject of discussion on this webpage.

And yet Communication is only one out of four modules: Self-marketing has been mentioned before. But what of Teamwork and Conflict Management? Because these two are situational, because they cannot easily be contextualised and mentioned in relation to an Erlebnis day or any such event, they have largely gone overlooked up until now.

This is actually rather sad, because both are crucial to a successful professional life. In most professional settings, individuals will be called to work with other individuals as members of the same team, and individuals will come into conflict with each other. There is nothing extraordinary about that.

Teamwork is not optional; in referring to man as a „political animal“, Aristotle emphasized the fact that human beings need to cooperate, to work together, to achieve whatever goals they sought. However, most of us have a very organic view of teams: we see them as a group of people that instinctively work together, that do not disagree. Instead, the ECo-C focuses on explaining that a successful team must be composed of many different personalities, with many views and perspectives represented. Although creating a team of very similar people could make for harmonious working circumstances, too much harmony entails a bias. It may make it easier for people to work together, but in turn, it makes it harder for the same people to integrate all possible aspects and concerns. For this reason, team building is a skill, and it is the skill of a leader.

Even so, the deliberate constitution of diverse teams has a toll, and this toll is the need for extra effort to understand one another. This brings us to conflict.

Philosophers and writers tend to see conflict as an opportunity for growth and for change, because, throughout history, it has been a catalyst for changes that could otherwise have taken centuries to happen. Even so, one’s workplace is different. Conflict may clear the air, but it can also lead to a great waste of energy, goodwill and ability to work together. As reflected by the words of Max Lucado, “Conflict is inevitable; combat is optional”. This quote suggests that conflicts that are allowed to escalate will necessarily come to haunt and damage any team of professionals, and that, if not resolved, the can have a lasting adverse impact on the team’s work. The desire to give persons enough communication skills to prevent such a thing explains that an entire ECo-C module has been headlined “Conflict Management”.