Tag: Conflict management
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How the Ombud can help Doctoral Students
How the Ombud can help Doctoral Students A very interesting article published in 2022 in the Journal of the International Ombudsman Association (JIOA) caught my attention as it examines the specific role that ombuds may play in supporting doctoral students. For each of the past two years, CERN has hosted more than 230 doctoral students*,
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The harm that misunderstandings can cause
The harm that misunderstandings can cause The origin of the word “misunderstanding” is clear: it combines the prefix “mis-”, meaning badly or wrongly, with the noun “understanding”. So a misunderstanding is when something has been understood wrongly. Very often in the Ombud’s Office, when visitors come to see me about a conflict and we explore
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Need to step in to defuse a conflict?
Need to step in to defuse a conflict? The core of the Ombud’s mandate is to help resolve interpersonal disputes in a consensual and impartial manner. To this end, the Ombud offers mediation services, which can take the form of a facilitated conversation, shuttle mediations (good offices) or more in-depth, structured mediation. Mediation may seem
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The cost of conflicts
The cost of conflicts Conflict is part of workplace life. It is unavoidable and inescapable because we all have different expectations and needs. There are numerous causes of conflict; amongst them, perhaps the most frequent ones shared in the Ombud’s Office are: Whatever the root cause of conflicts, they have in common the fact that,
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The two faces of Janus
The two faces of Janus When I took on the role of CERN Ombud, I was not prepared to encounter what I now call the “Janus” effect. Let me give you two examples*: Adam comes to my office to share his difficulties with his supervisor, Sandra: “She’s such an ill-minded, manipulative person. She takes all
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Seven ways to protect your team from conflicts
Seven ways to protect your team from conflicts Conflicts within a team have repercussions not only for its members’ well-being, but also for the achievement of work objectives, resulting in loss of efficiency, lack of collaboration, absenteeism, damage to the team’s reputation, etc. That’s why it’s important that you, as a manager, do your utmost
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The “I need” behind the “I want”
The “I need” behind the “I want” Very often in the Ombud’s Office, I hear the word “want” rather than “need”. “I want an apology from her”, “I want the guy to be fired”, “I want to be taken off this project NOW”, or even “I want you to resolve this issue for me”. These
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The power of mediation
The power of mediation In a previous article, I underlined how conflicts may actually have a constructive impact when addressed in a timely and effective fashion. One of the conflict-resolution tools that is available to all members of the CERN community is mediation facilitated by the Ombud. Unlike a formal grievance procedure, mediation has the
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Don’t sweep conflicts under the carpet
Don’t sweep conflicts under the carpet Conflicts are a normal part of workplace life. They are unavoidable and inescapable because we all have different expectations and needs. However, depending on how a conflict is managed, it may be either constructive or destructive, hence the importance of understanding how a conflict evolves. The earliest stage of
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Conflict resolution: define your needs clearly
Conflict resolution: define your needs clearly Francisco*: “I feel frustrated because stand-by duty is not shared out fairly between the members of the team. Out of 12 people, only six, myself included, regularly do stand-by duty; the others always get out of it using various excuses. A voluntary system doesn’t work; we need a new