Involved in a dispute or difficult conflict with another person?  If so, you might be handling things the wrong way and adding to the conflict rather than resolving it.  Below are some of the top tips to having a difficult conversation with someone in order to minimize conflict as much as possible:

1. Be clear with your message and purpose.  Conflict requires openness and honesty before a resolution to it can be reached.  Be specific about why you are having the discussion and what you hope to gain from it.
2. Don’t assume the worst.  Often, conflict can be worsened because we enter into the conversation with our own ideas of the other person.  “They are selfish,” “they don’t care if they hurt me,” etc., are all mentalities that can hamper the resolution process and should be avoided if you hope to accomplish something with the discussion.  Don’t assume that the other person is spiteful, hurtful, or vengeful; assume that it is simply a matter of faulty communication and things left unsaid instead.
3. Make the other person feel safe.  When you enter into a conversation in attack mode, the other person involved will enter into it in defensive mode.  Nothing gets accomplished like this and communication is weakened by the emotional interplay occurring.  If you need to have a difficult conversation with someone, it is important that first and foremost you make them feel safe.  Let them know that you plan to listen to their side of the story and see everything from their perspective.  Only then can honest (and useful) communication happen.
4. Recognize and acknowledge emotions involved.  There’s a difference between ignoring emotions and avoiding becoming emotional.  When you ignore emotions and refuse to communicate them, you are setting yourself up to fail in the resolution process because emotions MUST be acknowledged.  However, becoming overly emotional (through tears, anger, raised voices, etc.) usually does more to hamper the conflict resolution process than help it.  Learning to walk the line between recognizing/accepting emotions and letting them get the upper hand is crucial.