Many teams and organisational units are increasingly preoccupied with change processes, both large and small: personnel changes within the team, leadership changes, the reorganisation of tasks and collaboration, digitalisation and process changes – and, on top of that, day-to-day business. Everything is happening simultaneously, and not always as planned. Tensions and conflicts are inevitable.

However, rather than viewing these as a necessary evil that simply needs to be ‘managed away’ by the managers in charge, we can also see them as an opportunity, from a mediative perspective, to: 

• become aware of the real issues in our collaboration
• clarify roles and responsibilities
• view our change initiatives from a different perspective and gain new insights
• learn more about the people in our organisation and
• elaborate our own personal development.

Content

• Leadership and conflicts
  • Glasl’s 9 stages of conflict and appropriate approaches to resolution: from prevention to intervention
  • The scope and limitations of managers in organisational conflicts
  • Conflicts are the organisation’s responsibility, and with that responsibility comes accountability
  • What do I need to act with confidence as a manager?
  • Prevention: How constructive conflict management can become the norm through continuous team development, an open feedback culture and psychological safety 
• Changes and conflicts
  • An overview of current changes within your own organisation
  • The change curve – how people experience changes in organisations that they did not ‘initiate’
  • Intervention: identifying resistance early on and addressing it constructively
  • Prevention: how participation can support change initiatives

Benefit

• Gain an understanding of the need for conflict management within organisations
• Understand the specific role of a manager in organisational conflicts and recognise one’s own capabilities and limitations
• Develop individual strategies to better manage conflict-prone situations and influence them positively
• Recognise and reflect on your own attitude towards resistance in change processes
• Develop an understanding of the impact of change on employees and learn appropriate behaviours (prevention and intervention) as a manager

Language: German

Target group: All Managers, professors und deans of Goethe-University Frankfurt and RMU partner universities

This multi-module seminar is specifically aimed at managers at all levels. Together, we aim to examine the interplay between change and conflict in greater detail and explore and test the options available to managers when dealing with conflicts.

Please note: The second session of the seminar will take place on 24 June 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (in-person). The online follow-up seminar on 23 October 2026 (10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.) is a mandatory part of the programme. This provides an opportunity to reflect on your initial practical experiences from the seminar, practise communication techniques further, and explore selected topics from the seminar in greater depth.

Registration deadline: 27 May 2026 

Registration:

For employees of Goethe University: Click here

For employees of TU Darmstadt and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, please email: training.peoe@uni-frankfurt.de