The golden rule here is treat people the way they want to be treated not the way you would like to be treated. Discussion of the above social styles will help students understand why Bob and Mary don't respond in the same way to the same set of circumstances, and that gaining support from different people takes different tactics. The absence of conflict means that nobody cares. However, major conflicts must be resolved. The toughest concept for technical students is that conflict resolution is almost never successful when conducted on a rational basis.
Conflict resolution is an emotional experience.
A key aspect of conflict resolution, that should be discussed, is that conflicts, in any situation, must not be personalized. If they are the conflict will probably never be resolved. The material described in this paper has been presented for the past three years. It is difficult to assess its true success, but some anecdotal data seems appropriate. The project customers and the electrical engineering faculty have commented that the written and oral presentations for senior design projects have improved markedly during this period.