What's New
Lessons For Mediators From Corporate Leadership (2/08/10)
Jan Frankel Schau I was always a bossy little girl. So it was with great interest that I read an interview in this morning's New York Times of Susan Doeherty, who leads the United States Sales, service and marketing of General Motors. Her natural demeanor was instructive for me as a mediator in these ways.
New Ombuds Book Out (2/08/10)
Jeff Thompson For those interested in the ombudsman role and perhaps thinking of entering the field, this book surely is a must, right? I am trying to get my hands on one to do a book review but be warned... Chuck Howard's "The Organizational Ombudsmen" is 600+ pages! Hey, to be a (good) ombuds, you must have a full understanding of everything and anything ombuds and ADR related so get reading!
Woman Bites Dog—Acknowledging My Part At Work (And In The Park) (2/08/10)
Lorraine Segal ?My clients and I often wish we could remake our co-workers and managers in our preferred image. But, the reality is that we generally have little or no control over the words and actions of others, even if there are negative consequences for us. So, I encourage my conflict coaching clients to look at their share, however small, in a problematic interaction.
Downsizing Resentments At Work (1/25/10)
Lorraine Segal Is resentment poisoning you at work? I have witnessed clients, parties in mediations, and colleagues filled with resentment toward a co-worker, supervisor, or employee. Sometimes these feelings persist for years, only expressed indirectly, with inevitably negative consequences on the individuals, their productivity, and their leadership skills.
Recognizing Ineffective Team Patterns (1/12/10)
Maria Simpson Sometimes teams are stuck in ineffective communications patterns that aren’t even recognized although they may be having significant impact on the team’s success. These patterns can be focused on such issues as relationships, processes, behaviors, or resources. Even if you are sure your team is working well, it might be useful to step back and take a look at the patterns of communications on these issues and see if any can be improved.
The Importance Of Making A Mess At Work (1/11/10)
Lorraine Segal For many years I put immense energy into avoiding errors and messes or defensively pretending I hadn’t made any. I finally started to understand what this artist knew intuitively, that mistakes are valuable. If we are unwilling to risk making a mistake, we also risk lessening our creative ability to solve problems.
Becoming Human At Work (12/28/09)
Lorraine Segal Do we see others at work as human, or do we fit them in a convenient slot based on their professional role or our hasty judgment of them?
Should HR Professionals Work Up The Courage To Negotiate Competitively? (12/28/09)
Victoria Pynchon Check out Kris Dunn's recent blog post at the HR Capitalist Retail and Religion - Now Inhibiting the Negotiation Skills of an HR Pro Near You...Though the reasons given for our negotiation hesitancy are insightful and, I believe, spot on, the post moved me to more or less use the HR Capitalist Blog's comment section to write today's post.
Labor-Management Lessons For The Larger ADR Community (11/23/09)
Jerry Barrett Labor-management mediation can claim an institutional history from 1913 to the present, almost a century of existence. Any organization with nearly 100 years of continuous existence with a full time staff of mediators, an extensive body of experience and training ought not to be ignored.
Mediating Employment Disputes (11/09/09)
Steve Mehta Many employers are now agreeing to use mediation as a form of resolving disputes with employees. In fact, over the last 10 years, mediation has become the most popular form of alternative dispute resolution used both inside and outside of the court systems.
Conflict Management Coaching at the Transportation Security Administration (10/19/09)
Cinnie Noble, Scott Becker, Sam Slosberg In 2003, the Transportation Security Administration, (TSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, initiated the development of an Integrated Conflict Management System (ICMS), as part of an innovative Model Workplace Program. A Conflict Management Coaching Program (CMCP) emerged early on as one of the many unique service delivery components of this ICMS. This article discusses how this innovative program was designed and addresses how the CMCP has emerged as an integral component of TSA’s ICMS.
(9/22/09)
Keith Seat
The president of Florida Keys Community College has brought in a professional mediator to address staff concerns in several days of mediation sessions, culminating in a public session which will be webcast. Concerns range from complaints of staff intimidation and retaliation by the president to over-reporting the number of students for purposes of state funding.
KeysNet (August 29, 2009)
Mediation Disguised In The Dispute Process For Public Works In Qatar (7/06/09)
Chandana Jayalath Parties prefer a mechanism that does not call the employer as their ‘disputant’ may be because the employer is everybody’s paymaster or the potential source of future jobs. Parties also appreciate speedy, flexible and fair outcomes, rather than too formal procedures that are time and money consuming. Consequently, parties have realized the importance of solving their conflicts of opinion, both commercial and contractual, at the ‘employer’s level internally. This is where in-house settlement comes into play in the context of public works in Qatar.
ACRG-NY July Recap: World Bank’s Office of Mediation Services (7/06/09)
Jeff Thompson For those who miss the monthly NYC-DR Roundtable Breakfast meetings sponsored by ACRGNY and John Jay College due to schedules (yes, we are all very busy conflict resolvers) or due to locations (I guess everyone can not be in New York City), I plan to write a recap of each gathering I attend. I hope you enjoy, and feedback is always welcome!
Ombudsman ADR: The 6 C’s Of Sociocratic Peace Building (6/15/09)
Clayton Gilman The 6 C's; communication, complaint, cooperation, consensus, consent and coordination act as mental milestones for facilitators and mediators in group oriented conflict management scenarios. Increasingly the Sociocratic process of self governance is gaining popularity in all sizes and types of groups in North America and is becoming the preferred structure for processing issues, disputes and complaints. The 6 C's support this process between small to very large groups.
(4/15/09)
Keith Seat
Over 135 plaintiffs claiming sexual abuse as children by a doctor entered into mediation in March 2008 with the hospital they claim failed to stop the abuse. The court hoped the mediation would be concluded by the end of 2008, but it may continue for months more. The doctor worked for the hospital from 1963 to 1993 and died in 1998. Large amounts of child pornography were found in 2007 in the doctor’s former home. State legislation is being considered which would extend the statute of limitations when new evidence is uncovered that could not reasonable have been discovered previously, which could impact about 40 to 50 plaintiffs.
Hartford Courant (March 8, 2009)
Contextualizing Disruptive Behavior in Health Care as a Conflict Management Challenge (2/23/09)
John Ford Disruptive physician behavior has been defined by the American Medical Association as “personal conduct, whether verbal or physical, that affects or that potentially may affect patient care negatively.” It is assumed that disruptive behavior by health care workers impacts quality of care and patient safety. How best to respond to disruptive behavior is less clear. This article explores the utility in framing disruptive behavior as a conflict management systems challenge.
(1/21/09)
Keith Seat
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported a 15 percent increase in job bias charges last year, for a total of over 95,000 private sector filings in fiscal year 2008. Its National Mediation Program obtained nearly 9,000 resolutions in FY 2008, a 2% increase for the year. In addition to non-monetary relief, the EEOC recovered $124 million for complainants through mediation. The mediation program maintains its very high user satisfaction rate of 96.5 percent. Employers continue to enter into Universal Agreements to Mediate with the EEOC, with the total rising by 14 percent during 2008, to 1,450. In its Federal Sector Mediation Program, the EEOC noted that parties in over 18,000 EEO cases in federal agencies participated in alternative dispute resolution, which was nearly half of all cases.
National Underwriter Property & Casualty (December 8, 2008) (Subscription Required); EEOC FY2008 Performance Report
(1/07/09)
Keith Seat
Delaware is the second state to enter into a Universal Agreement to Mediate with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, following New Mexico in October. Based on Delaware’s formal agreement to resolve disputes through mediation, all eligible discrimination charges filed with the EEOC naming Delaware as respondent will be sent to the EEOC’s mediation unit.
US State News (November 19, 2008) (Subscription Required)
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