A hot button is an emotional trigger that upsets you. Sybil Evans provides a five-step formula for turning off hot buttons. Loaded with self-test quizzes and written with humor and empathy, the book helps you manage conflicts in different environments. Sample practical suggestion: Think of differences between people not as deficits but as assets.

Written by three experts in the field of workplace conflict resolution, this book focuses on the creative value of conflict. Sample practical suggestion: Too little conflict produces artificial consensus and implementation problems. To avoid this, encourage participants to play a devil’s advocate. Also, allow people to reflect for a day or more before a final decision is made.

Using stories and dialogues, this book presents guidelines for breaking communication patterns that lead to anger, depression, and violence. It also provides ideas for transforming potential conflicts into compassionate dialogues. Sample practical suggestion: Avoid these three thought patterns: judging moralistically, making comparisons, and denying responsibility.

This book presents a step-by-step procedure for dealing with conversations that usually cause anxiety and frustration: preparing yourself, starting the conversation without defensiveness, and keeping the conversation progressing positively. Sample practical suggestion: Accept these facts: Feelings are normal and natural. Good people can have bad feelings. Your feelings are as important as theirs.