Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

First of all, interpersonal conflict, to me, is what happens when there is a disagreement between two parties.  This disagreement could cause the two parties to have negative feelings or attitudes towards one another and could also lead to physical conflict.

During National Service, I experienced an interpersonal conflict between two of my men in my unit. One of them, CPL Ahmad (not his real name), was the platoon's toilet cleaner. CPL Ahmad was not happy with a platoonmate called LCP Ah Seng (once again, not his real name) whom he suspects is leaving nasty surprises in the cubicles and not cleaning up after himself. As the platoon's toilet cleaner, CPL Ahmad has no choice but to clean the toilet spotlessly before any area inspection. He found this very unfair as the responsibility of keeping the toilet clean was his and not the entire platoon's.

One day, CPL Ahmad had enough of LCP Ah Seng and took a mop from the toilet and mopped LCP Ah Seng's bed. A heated argument filled with beautiful Hokkien words ensued. Hearing the commotion, I came to see what was going on. I stopped the argument and requested the two of them to tell me their individual accounts of what happened. CPL Ahmad admitted to what he had done and LCP Ah Seng also admitted to being the one leaving nasty surprises in the cubicles. I punished both of them by making LCP Ah Seng the new platoon's toilet cleaner and I had to give CPL Ahmad an extra duty.

What I learned from this was that, if one happens to have a conflict with someone, he should do his best to resolve it by talking and expressing his concerns or disagreements with the other party. If the other party does not want to co-operate or compromise, he, in this case CPL Ahmad should take the matter up to his superiors, in this case, me. If LCP Ah Seng does not want to co-operate with CPL Ahmad, taking the matter up to someone of authority would be more effective as that someone would be able to set ultimatums or punishments if LCP Ah Seng is still uncooperative. CPL Ahmad definitely should not have took matters into his own hands and mopped LCP Ah Seng's bed. Such an act escalated the conflict and further deteriorated the relationship between the two of them.

How would you resolve such a conflict if the other party is adamant and remains uncooperative?

Once again, I'll end with some lighthearted humour.