1. Do I want to invest the time/energy to turn it around? You may not want to, but have to, because you work together, or it's a friend of your spouse, you work in the same community, church, etc.
2. Will the friend want to work through the conflict? You will need to assess whether your friend will want to work through the conflict.
3. Will you discuss the friendship with a friend things ride for a while? Sometimes a cooling-off time can have a better long-term effect than doing something in heat of the moment, because people feel they have to do something. But if you write an angry e-mail, don't hit send. If you directly confront a friend who may not be ready to hear something, the friendship may be prematurely catapulted to an end over something that may not seem like a big deal in hindsight.
4. Try conflict resolution techniques.
A. Try to understand the words that caused the conflict.
B. Listen carefully to one another
C. Agree to disagree. One of the reasons you're friends is that you aren't exactly the same.
D. Validate the relationship. Let them know you want to stay friends.
E. If appropriate, say 'I'm sorry.'
5. If you save the friendship, don't dwell on the resolved rift.
