Conflict Dynamics: Build Better Relationships

We envision a world where diverse, accomplished leaders collectively transform health outcomes. To realize that vision, we seek to expand the power and influence of talented mid-career women in health and engage with senior institutional and societal leaders to catalyze systemic change for gender equality in health leadership. We work in East Africa, India, Nigeria, North America, and Southern Africa and continue to explore outreach to other regions.

PowerUp Workshop Series

The PowerUp Workshops series are free and open to mid-career women working in public health in all the regions we work. The workshops are hosted virtually, focus on developing leadership skills, and fostering meaningful connections between women leaders in health within a regional context. The topics rotate with each workshop. We encourage women leaders in public health in each region to join us, and use these workshops as an opportunity to learn, engage with other women leaders, and build community.

Conflict Dynamics: Build Better Relationships

26 November @ 2pm-4pm EAT | 1pm-3pm CAT

Conflict is inevitable, unavoidable, complex, and can be mentally, emotionally, and physically draining, and difficult to navigate. Conflict can also negatively impact personal progress and goals, team dynamics, and workplace culture. Research shows that women in particular tend to avoid disagreement, corresponding to socially constructed norms of femininity.  Conflict can also serve a purpose. It can generate new solutions, build better relationships, and can increase job satisfaction. It is key to innovation and can be a critical component of risk mitigation. Conflict follows a predictable pathway and will diverge to become either constructive or destructive. The question for this Power Up workshop is: How do we navigate the path of conflict so that it is constructive, and we can walk away feeling positive, relaxed, and even motivated?  

In this session, for beginners and seasoned practitioners alike, we will explore the Conflict Dynamics Model by unpacking the behaviors and actions that influence interpersonal conflict. Attendees will reflect on and map out a recent work disagreement by focusing on the active, passive, constructive and destructive response pathways. We will understand how to identify our own “hot buttons” and contributions to either escalating or de-escalating a conflict. 

PowerUp Objectives

This session will unpack the behaviours and actions that influence interpersonal conflict at the workplace. You will:

1. Examine how your approach to conflict affects your health, and the health of your relationships at work and at home
2. Explore how we can shift to a more positive, constructive response in conflict situations.

Who Can Attend?

You are eligible for the workshop if you meet all the following criteria:

1. Identify as a woman;
2. Live and work in an East African or Southern Africa Country – (Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe); and
3. Are a mid-career professional working in public or global health in East Africa.

Although women at all career stages are welcome to register, we believe participants who are at the mid-career stage will benefit most since the content of the workshop has been designed with mid-career women health professionals in mind (10+ years of experience working in the health sector). 

This virtual workshop will be conducted in the English language and is free of cost.

Note: Enrolment into the workshop will be on a first-come-first-serve basis. Spots are limited—the session can accommodate up to 150 attendees. Submission of a registration form does not guarantee a spot in the workshop. Only applicants who have been accepted or waitlisted for the workshop will be contacted.