By Ann Begler

A number of months ago the ACR staff sent out a notice asking for members who would be willing to spend some time working on ethics issues. I read the Email and thought, Gee; this is something I think I could do. My immediate next thought was, But I really haven’t been that involved in ACR, I’ve mostly been a lurking member; I don’t really know anyone there. I decided to respond anyway and sent a long note and my CV to Lynne Kinnucan. Her response, which parallels my now more extensive experience with other ACR staff, was immediate, appreciative and supportive. Then, several weeks later I got a note from Lynne asking if I would consider being the Ethics Point Person for the Organizational Conflict Management Section. I wrote back and said I would.

Some time passed. I began to get reports about a Leadership Team meeting, a forthcoming telephone conference and then a Leadership Team retreat that was going to be held in mid-February. The existing leadership of OCM had decided it was important to put the Ethics Point Person and Diversity Point Person on the leadership team. Unbeknownst to me that I would be there, there I was.

The retreat for the re-constituted leadership team was set to take place on the weekend of February 20^th in DC. I’d already planned a winter trip and, frankly, the last thing I wanted to do coming from ten wonderful days in Whistler, and ten days out of my office was head out for a weekend. Yet, I have to say two things drew me. First, I’d made a commitment to our Section. Second, in the weeks before the retreat there were flurries of emails about ideas, schedules, formats and I was intrigued to see who the people were who were flooding my computer with cryptic notes filled with energy and excitement. So, I went.

At the end of our weekend I agreed to write a piece for our Section about the Leadership Retreat to give you an overview of what was done, and maybe even more importantly to share some of my personal experience of the weekend. I guess the real message I want to send is to let you know that if you really are interested in this Section, there is a place for you. What stood out most for me is the level of care, professionalism, interest and teamwork that is apparent within the Leadership team. I was struck by everyone’s desire to want to know what Section members need and want, everyone’s commitment to find ways to assure inclusion and everyone’s dedication to inspire excellence within the field of organizational conflict management professionals.

My background includes being a long- time attorney, a long-time mediator and an organizational development consultant. I have served on the Board of Governor’s of my state bar association and have been involved, as many of you have, in various organizations over the years. While some of those experiences have been wonderful, others, and particularly in an organizational process sense, have been frustrating, at best. My initial experience with the Section leadership team was free of frustration and filled with energy. Our weekend was productive in terms of substantive work. It also incorporated the best of organizational thinking and acting.

A critical part of group formation is orienting. On Friday evening our work was to have dinner together. We met in the hotel lobby. I had never met anyone in our group and had had only a brief conversation with Leah. The existing leadership team received me as though I had been on the team for years.

Part of building a team is supporting the development of individual relationships within the team. I had several smaller encounters with individuals on the team. Each person was interested in what I did, and open about sharing his and her perspective about the work. I was able to talk about some organizational dilemmas I was facing with some of my clients systems, and the feedback and support I got was wonderful.

Good working relationships are supported by fun and creativity. Our dinner had many laughs. People joked with each other during our sessions about their past encounters, and jostled each other from time to time during discussions. This is a group that understands well-intended humor.

Productive work often comes when there has been skillful planning and facilitation. Our weekend was planned. We had an advance agenda. One of our team members was the facilitator for the weekend. We were kept on task, and our facilitator was flexible and responsive to shifting group needs. We ended with next steps and timetables and a schedule for future conference calls.

Strong teams recognize that the needs of individuals are important, and that the skills of individuals contribute to the overall functioning of the team. People don’t strive to be just like each other, and strength is built through member diversity. Not only was this group able to permit one of the group to be a lead facilitator for the rest of the group, but the individual work that had been done by other group members in preceding months was valued, appreciated and recognized. People who had been doing work came looking for guidance and input. Suggestions were received as support, not taken as criticism. New ideas were encouraged and incorporated.

Everyone on the team was recognized as bringing value. One member was unable to attend the retreat because of schedule conflicts. Arrangements were made to have that member join by phone, people held a consciousness about topics that fell within that person’s area, and that person had a check-in as the weekend progressed.

Whether we were talking about how to identify needs of Section members and get more people involved, how to partner with other ACR Sections or how to expand our breadth to connect with other organizational development people and organizations, the spirit was one of inquiry and collaboration and represented a sincere desire to support mutual learning and exploration.

To work well teams have to know when they need support and need to trust and use the support that is available. We are very lucky to have the skill and spirit of Lynne Kinnucan as our ACR liaison. She was totally available to us while we met, provided us with answers to questions, with an historical ACR perspective and made our housekeeping needs seamless.

And, yes, along with the best of organizational processes, our weekend ended with products that we hope will be ongoing and that will support the developing strength of our Section and your interest in becoming active. Some, but not all of the results of our labor, include:

• A decision to do a survey of Section members to learn more about members and better understand needs and wants – the survey is being re-worked, has been reviewed by all of us following the retreat and will be sent out to you at a future point. Efforts to identify how to get more comprehensive information from members at a much earlier point are also being made.

• Ongoing development and last touches on the Mutual Learning Network - In the not distant future (we hope) you will be able to access the MLN through the website and you will be able to engage in conversations with those who are successfully engaged in creating conflict management systems, and with each other

• A commitment to update the OCM website – this has gotten off to a good start following the retreat and slowly we are adding articles and Section information

• To actively collaborate with the WP section in an ongoing fashion beginning with preparations for a joint conference... The proposal has been accepted by the ACR Conference Committee'
  
• Clarification of mission, vision and structure – some of the work originally done in this area had already been tweaked. At the leadership retreat we began to work on defining committees and roles of committees, as well as defining the overall leadership structure for OCM. This is leading toward a strong leadership team with specific members and at-large members. It is also leading to the creation of an advisory council that will be comprised of people who can bring support and expertise to the Section. Each committee is in the process of finalizing goals and objectives for the committee, and the roles of the co-chairs and areas of responsibility are being elucidated.