Students attend the conflict resolution break-out session to learn how to deal with issues that may arise on their staffs.

According to Diana Hadley, communication is key when resolving conflict.

On July 13, students attending the High School Journalism Institute attended break-out sessions to further expand upon their skills on newspaper staff. Among these sessions ranging from story ideas to editor roundtable was conflict resolution. Lead by Diana Hadley, students attendees learned to address and resolve conflicts that may come up on their newspaper staffs.

(left to right) Clark and Diana Hadley begin an exercise in which verbal communication is not allowed.

To begin, Hadley and her husband, Clark, performed an exercise in which there could only be non-verbal communication. In the exercise Hadley had to follow her husband’s lead who represented an editor in a leadership position. Hadley said often times conflict will arise between a staff writer and an editor. Hadley said it is important to recognize who is in the leadership position and communicate effectively with that person.

“I think that that’s important too because not all of us will be a boss but most of us will have a boss,” Hadley said. “Learning how to communicate with a boss and figuring out how you can be most successful under whatever circumstance it is, is really important.”

After the opening exercise, students sitting in on the class shared some of the conflicts that arise on their staffs with many of the conflicts revolved around editor and staff relationships. Hadley said as an editor it is important to find the best way to communicate with their staff and understand it may not be the same in all situations.

Diana Hadley leads conflict resolution break-out session.

“I think that editors need to try to communicate effectively on staff,” Hadley said. “Although some editors try to do that in group, others may find that they’re better leaders one-on-one, so they need to explore the different ways they need to communicate with others.”