The end of the calendar year brings receptions, office parties, and family gatherings, which can also bring awkward and unfortunate confrontations.

Here are some tips for dealing with such moments:

Most likely your objective is to greet friends and family and to have a pleasant time. With that intent, it’s completely fine at a gathering to simply avoid confrontations. Move on. Let it go.

But what if someone is publicly misstating things you believe to be true or expressing opinions you strongly disagree with? To be true to yourself it’s completely fine to say something like, “I disagree, but now’s not the time to get into it. Let’s move on.”

Other people may feel more comfortable with a response that acknowledges hearing the remark, but not expressing disagreement at the time. Something like, “I hear that’s really important to you.” Such a response by acknowledging the person oftentimes is enough to bring the confrontation to an end.

Overall, remember the only thing you actually control is your own reaction. You can’t stop a co-worker or relative from being confrontational. You can only mindfully control your response. Remember, it’s only for a few hours at most and you have more important things to deal with. Take a deep breath, be tolerant, and focus on things you’re grateful for.

Enjoy the holidays, the office party, and the family get togethers.

Computer-based negotiation support systems, which date back to the 1980s, are used to organize information, suggest reservation levels, gauge concessions and compromises, and evaluate offers.

Examples of such programs include the following:

1.) Adjusted Winner: Assists separating couples faced with dividing their assets separate items based on the values they assign to each piece.

2.) Cybersettle: Developed by two former trial attorneys for resolving insurance claims and credited with settling some $1.9 billion in medical billing and municipalities disputes. Here’s how it works: A healthcare provider posts demands and Cybersettle solicits counteroffers from the patient. If the patient’s offer equals or exceeds the healthcare provider’s demand, the case settles. If the two monetary figures are close, Cybersettle recommends an amount both parties can accept or reject. If no settlement is reached, the parties may use a “telephone facilitator” to help negotiate an agreement.

3.) Smartsettle: Ernest Thiessen used game theory to develop the Interactive Computer-Assisted Negotiation Support System (ICANS) today known as Smartsettle ONE™ and Smartsettle Infinity™. In Smartsettle,™ negotiators communicate via a secure neutral server on the Internet that acts as a mediator using sophisticated algorithms to suggest efficient outcomes. The negotiators may interact entirely online or face-to-face as well if they so choose.

4.) Chatbot: Walmart has taken negotiation support systems to the next level using chatbot as a negotiator tool. In a three-month pilot program in Canada, the company tested the program with 89 suppliers of goods used in its stores. Among Walmart’s issues in the negotiations were improvements to payment schedules in exchange for concessions on Walmart’s standard right to terminate clause. Walmart also authorized the chatbot to offer future opportunities in exchange for price discounts. The chatbot closed deals with 64% of the suppliers in an average of 11 days for an average 1.5% cost savings. After the pilot study, a survey of the suppliers showed that 83% were favorable with the new negotiation process.

Augmented systems are here to stay and most negotiators and mediators don’t see the technology as a replacement, but as a supplement to human communication skills.