Personal development kit

Conflict at Work Playbook

The cost of a conflict is set by the handling, not by the disagreement. This kit works on exactly that: the working manual for raising issues early, staying steady under heat, negotiating on interests instead of positions, and closing conflicts so they stay closed, built on the published research behind the free Conflict at Work Check and matched to its four areas.

$69USD

One-time purchase, no subscription. Instant download.

Built to the TrueStep HR standard

  • The 12-page Playbook: what conflict costs and the two dials behind every style, how to read your check result and its gap read honestly, a chapter of moves for each of the four areas, the traps that undo the work, and a 30-day plan
  • The Conflict Conversation Planner: one specific conversation planned start to finish, a one-page map of the conflict, the opening scripted word for word, the moves for whatever comes back, and the close that makes it stick
  • Conflict Scripts and Templates: eight verbatim scripts for the moments that decide a conflict, raising it early, answering heat, the interest question, the joint escalation, plus an agreement note template in Word
  • The Action Workbook: every check read logged over time, live conflicts with agreements and check dates, practice reps, and a dashboard that shows the current state, in Excel or Google Sheets

The kit gives you the moves, the plan, and the record. The judgment calls in the room stay yours, and it names what never belongs in a peer conversation.

14-day money-back guarantee. If it does not help, email us and we refund you.

One-time purchase Instant download Editable files

A personal development tool. The check reads are your own scenario play and self-view, never a measure of any other person, and nothing in this kit belongs in a hiring, selection, or evaluation decision. Anything involving possible harassment, discrimination, threats, or safety goes to HR or qualified counsel the same day, outside this process.

Not the right fit? Take the 60-second match.

Buying for clients or multiple entities? The White-Label tier is in the license.

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Editable filesExcel, Word, PDF
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What you get

Four working files, built to be used together

Read the Playbook chapter for your weakest check area, log the read and your first live conflict in the Workbook, plan the conversation with the Planner and hold it within two weeks, and open the Scripts when the moments come. The Start Here maps the order.

PDFStart here

Start Here

A one-page map of the kit and the order to use it: Playbook first, starting with your weakest area, then the workbook log, then the conversation you have been avoiding planned and held within two weeks, then the scripts for the moments in between.

PDFRead first

The Playbook (12 pages)

Ten sections: what conflict costs, with the research numbers, and the two dials behind the five handling styles; reading your check result, including the gap read between your self-view and your scenario play; a chapter of moves for each of the four areas, Raising It Early, Staying Steady, Working the Problem, and Repair and Follow-Through; the conversation itself; the 30-day plan; the six traps; and the boundaries, what goes to HR and how the moves change upward.

PDFPlan the conversation

The Conflict Conversation Planner (4 pages)

One specific conversation, start to finish: a one-page map of the conflict with both interests and your default-style risk, the opening scripted word for word, the moves for heat, new information, restated positions, and deflection, and the close, with the recovery moves if it goes sideways.

DOCXWord

Conflict Scripts and Templates

Eight scripts with the words close to verbatim: raising the issue early, answering heat with a paraphrase, naming the loop and taking the break, the interest question, taking a grievance list, repairing after you went sharp, naming a returned pattern, and the joint escalation. Plus the agreement note template and the check-in agenda.

XLSXExcel

The Action Workbook

Six tabs: a Start Here, the Check Log that holds every read and gap read over time, Live Conflicts with agreements and check dates, Practice Reps, a computed Dashboard, and a Definitions reference. Works in Excel or Google Sheets.

How it works

The method, in the order the work runs

Read your handling honestly, run the moves on live situations, hold the conversation you have been avoiding, close it in writing, and re-check after a month. The kit structures each step; the words in the moment are yours.

STEP 01

Read the read

Take the free Conflict at Work Check, log the bands and the gap read in the workbook, and take the gap read seriously: the research finds most people rate their conflict handling higher than the people around them do, and the check is built to surface exactly that.

STEP 02

Run the first moves

Open the chapter for your weakest area and start its first two moves on live situations, logged as reps. Whatever the weakest area is, install the paraphrase reflex and the one-week rule: they carry every other move.

STEP 03

Hold the avoided conversation

Pick the conflict you have been sitting on and run the Planner on it page by page: the map, the scripted opening, the moves for what comes back. Hold it within two weeks, in a channel with tone, never a message thread.

STEP 04

Close it in writing

Three sentences the same day: what we agreed, who does what, when we check. Log the agreement and the check date in the workbook, and actually hold the check-in, especially when things seem fine.

STEP 05

Re-check and keep it

Re-run the check at day 30 and log it next to the first read. The honest test is not the band; it is whether the gap between an issue appearing and the issue being worked is shorter than it was a month ago. The workbook holds the trend.

The standard

Conflict skill is handling, and handling is learnable

The expensive conflicts follow a pattern: sat on until they are big, run hot until nobody can think, traded as positions until rank decides, and closed on good feelings that unravel in three weeks. The fix is not a personality change. It is a small set of moves, run deliberately on live situations, with the record kept. That is what this kit operationalizes.

The same issue, raised early and worked on the interests, is a Tuesday conversation. Raised late, run hot, and traded as positions, it is a month of damage. Every move in this kit shortens the distance between the issue appearing and the issue being worked.
The hours are real and rising. The reference research found workplace conflict consuming 2.8 hours per employee per week in 2008, and the 2022 follow-up found the average had roughly doubled. The Playbook opens with the numbers, because the case for practicing this skill is arithmetic.
Conflict carries no automatic upside. The major meta-analysis found even task conflict correlating negatively with team performance on average. Handling quality is the variable, which is why the kit trains the four handling behaviors instead of celebrating healthy debate.
The self-view gap is the interesting part. In the reference study, 31% of managers rated themselves skilled at conflict while 22% of their employees agreed. The free check reads your scenario play against your self-view per area, and the workbook tracks whether the two converge.

The kit names what is not a conflict-skill problem

Most workplace conflicts are squarely yours to work. Some situations only look like peer conflicts, and the kit marks them, so the right channel handles them promptly.

Anything involving possible harassment, discrimination, threats, or safety goes to HR or qualified counsel the same day, not into a peer conversation A person who is chronically hostile across many relationships is a performance matter for management and HR, not a technique problem for you to solve harder After two direct attempts, an issue blocking shared work escalates jointly, framed with the other person, never as a dossier Upward conflicts use the same moves with a different risk calculus, and the Playbook spells out the difference

Who does what

The kit, you, and the debrief each carry a specific part. Here is the split, stated plainly.

  • The kit carries the structure; you carry the reps. The moves, the planner, the scripts, and the workbook organize the work. The paraphrase under real heat and the opening said out loud are the parts only you can run, and they are what move the bands.
  • The kit scripts the openings; the listening is the skill. The frameworks organize what you say. What you do with what comes back, the constraint you did not know, the heat, the restated position, is the craft, and the Playbook trains exactly that.
  • The kit holds the record; the record keeps you honest. Reads logged over time, agreements with check dates, and reps on real friction are what separate a changed pattern from a good intention.
  • When you want a senior read on the live one, the Debrief carries it. Thirty minutes with Greg Best, SPHR, on your check result and the specific conflict in front of you, ending in what to do first.
Is this for you

Who it is built for

Who this kit fits, and where to go if that is not you.

Built for

  • Anyone sitting on a work conflict right now, a colleague they route around, a negotiation stuck on positions, a conversation they keep rehearsing, who wants it worked and closed properly.
  • A manager or team lead who just ran the free Conflict at Work Check and wants to act on the result, especially a Reactive area or a Blind spot gap read.
  • An HR leader or owner equipping managers whose conflicts keep landing on HR three weeks later than they should have.

If you are looking for

Questions

Before you buy

What format are the files and can I edit them?
The Playbook, the Conversation Planner, and the Start Here are print-ready PDFs, the Action Workbook is an Excel file that also works in Google Sheets, and the Scripts and Templates are an editable Word file. Everything is yours to keep and adapt.
Do I need to take the free Conflict at Work Check first?
It is the natural starting point, because the Playbook chapters map to its four areas and the workbook logs its reads over time. But the kit stands on its own: if you already know you sit on issues too long or run hot in the room, start with that chapter and plan the conversation you have been avoiding.
Is this for managers only?
No. The moves work peer to peer, downward, and, with the adjustments the Playbook spells out, upward toward your own manager. The scripts and the planner are written for any working relationship where a disagreement is costing you.
Can I use this for hiring or performance reviews?
No. This is a personal development tool. The check reads are your own scenario play and self-view, never a measure of any other person, and nothing in this kit belongs in a hiring decision or an individual performance evaluation. The kit states that boundary out loud.
How is this different from a free article about conflict styles?
An article tells you the five styles exist. This is the operating system: the specific moves per area with the words to say, one real conversation planned start to finish with the opening scripted, eight verbatim scripts for the moments that decide a conflict, and a workbook that holds agreements with check dates and tracks your reads over time. It is also honest about the hard parts, like what to do when you are the one who is flooded.
What is the refund policy?
Digital products are covered by a 14-day money-back guarantee. See the refund policy for the full terms.
What happens after I buy?
Checkout delivers an instant download link, and a receipt with the same link arrives by email. Open the Start Here page first: it maps the four files and the order to use them, starting with your weakest check area. Questions? Email support@truestephr.com.
Can I expense this purchase to my business?

Most customers buy TrueStep HR tools for business use, and a tool you use for work often qualifies as a deductible business expense. Whether it does for you depends on your situation, so confirm with your accountant or tax professional. Your receipt arrives by email at checkout and works as documentation.

Free guide

The 6 red flags to check before you discipline or fire someone

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The method behind this

This kit is built on the published research. Read the basis yourself:

Get the kit

Make the next conflict cost less than the last one

The moves per area, one conversation planned start to finish, the scripts for the moments in between, and the record that keeps it honest, in files you keep.

$69
One-time purchase, no subscription. Instant download.