Facilitation Guide for Effective Conflict

FINDING A WIN-WIN SOLUTION
To adopt the WIN-WIN way of thinking, it is required to:

Be willing to analyze the problem in a fair way. 

Shift the focus from the wants to the needs.

Find alternative ways to satisfy the significant needs of each side.

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A Win-Win solution is a solution that enables both sides to satisfy their significant needs.
The problem is that in order to satisfy the needs, each side insists on getting their conflicting 
wants. Thinking Win-Win requires us to shift the focus from striving to get what we want, to 
striving to satisfy our needs.
In the majority of cases, just identifying the needs is enough to get the people thinking about 
the ways to satisfy both needs. When the focus is shifted from the wants to the needs, intui-
tion takes over and in most cases it is fairly easy to come up with a win-win solution. 
Practice finding a WIN-WIN solution in the story of David and the boys playing basketball.
Story line: 
During one of the breaks at school, a group of children gathered to play basketball. 
The boys really liked to play it and enjoyed the competition and the excitement. During the 
preparations for the game, David showed up and requested to join the game. David really 
enjoyed being with his friends and did not want to stay out of the game. The problem was that 
David is not a very good player so the rest of the kids did not want him to join the game. David 
was offended and started to interrupt the game.
IN ORDER TO HAVE A WIN/WIN SOLUTION, 
AT LEAST ONE SIDE WILL HAVE TO FIND AN ALTERNATIVE WAY TO SATISFY THEIR NEED.
WANTS
NEEDS
COMMON GOAL 
WANT 
1
NEED 2 
NEED 1 
WANT 2
COMMON
GOAL
Need
Need

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Who are the sides in the conflict? What do they want? What are their 
needs behind their wants? (Why do they want it?) What is it that they 
both would like to achieve, that they both care about, their common 
goal?