How do you deal with conflicts within your community?

[Shortie]

Dealing with conflicts within an online community shouldn't always be difficult but in most cases they are. Depending on the kind of conflict that arises, there will be different ways in which you can approach these conflicts to ensure a smooth resolution with no further escalation. 

How do you deal with conflicts within your community? Is there anything specific you do that you find helps? 

 

[JoelR]

There is such a broad range of conflict that it's hard to find a one-size-fits-all solution, but there are some good questions that can be asked back in helping to guide you:

• What is the scope of the conflict and who is involved? What is their past history of contributions? 
• Is there spillover to the rest of the community?
• Does this impact or touch upon my community's culture? 
• Is there a precedent for this?  
• How quickly or decisively does this need to be resolved?  

[Nomad]

My communities are small and there have been on conflicts between the users or among the staff. However, I have seen a lot of communities where conflict arises. Some of these conflicts were well managed but some conflicts became so terrible that the member/staff had to leave the community. I have also been a victim and I stopped using the community because I was not satisfied with how the community owner handled the conflict

[Destiny]

Dealing with conflicts within a community is never easy depending on the kind of conflict you are dealing with. 

I have seen some conflicts that have been dealt with swiftly that most community members barely noticed anything was happening and others where it caused a big issue within the community and gave the community a bad look. 

Dealing with conflicts within a community should always be done professionally, swiftly and discreetly if possible. 

[Toni]

Rarely do I see conflict within my community and whilst it doesn't happen often, there is always a chance that it could happen. 

I have things in place to ensure that if a conflict should arise and needs to be dealt with, it is done promptly and away from community members as much as possible. Conflict is never good in a community and it can often lead to a bad reputation. 

Swift action is what I like to see when it comes to conflict. 

[Maria]

If you are trying to manage conflicts and if you do not want to hurt your community, you should never take sides publicly. You need to make conflict management private so that other users are not involved. If people start taking sites between the two parties, it can go out of control

[Toni]

Having conflict within a community is not something any community leader or admin wants to see and it is something they would much rather avoid if at all possible. 

When it comes to conflicts within the community, I prefer to deal with them swiftly and discreetly and I prefer to see them dealt with that way within communities where I am an active user.