Stop Work Drama in 3 Steps With Richard Birke

Sick of work drama? You can diffuse most conflicts with three simple steps.

Richard Birke is the senior vice president of JAMS Institute, a conflict resolution company.

He's a master mediator. Things have to be really bad before he heads into a workplace and usually the goal is to avoid litigation.

But we all deal with conflict in our lives. Maybe it's someone who gets under your skin at work? Maybe it's someone who lets everyone else do all the work. Or, it's someone who knows exactly the wrong thing to say.

Unsettled conflict hurts your mood and impacts both creativity and productivity. The person who suffers the most when you don't deal with drama is you.

Richard has a three-step plan to diffuse conflict. You'll change your mindset and actually get a script of what to say (or not say) to someone annoying you. Think of this as your playbook to reduce drama in your life!

On this Dying to Ask:

• How to shift your mindset when you're in the middle of a conflict
• What you need to know about your communication style to effectively deal with others
• And a 10-second tip to change the tone of an interaction