What We Do

 

We offer two categories of services, both of which are geared to fostering greater well-being in workplaces and personal relationships. Within each category is a range of specific actions that we can take on your behalf. The first category encompasses learning better communication. We design and deliver workshops and trainings in effective interpersonal dynamics, and we work one-on-one in coaching for difficult conversations or personal skill-building. The second category involves processes of mediation and conciliation. We act as the intermediary in ongoing conflict situations, particularly those where parties are entrenched in oppositional positions. In some cases, we negotiate on and fight directly for your interests.

All of which is to say, we can support you in a wide variety of ways.

Often, clients will approach us with a set of facts that they find difficult. They describe relationships that are estranged, where conversation has become difficult, tense, angry. They will ask for our input on how to go about improving the situation. We evaluate their needs and objectives and outline various steps that we can take together. Sometimes, for example, we agree on an in-house training in order to enhance leadership efficacy. Other times, we might facilitate conversation among team members who seem to have lost the ability to co-exist.

In situations where we act as intermediary, the goal is to create a bridge between the oppositional sides. The role of the mediator in these cases is to listen actively; to ask questions that guide the discussion; to protect the process from incivility or overwhelming emotion; to discover areas where needs or interests may coincide; to look for creative solutions, and to create written agreements at the end of the process. In our experience, the interposition of a third, and neutral, party will propel the conversation toward constructive dialogue and identification of common ground.

We may decide to combine various tools. We could start with individual coaching, for example, in order to help you clarify your ultimate goals, such as protecting relationships, prioritizing a particular outcome or moving forward with speed. You then may proceed with a facilitated dialogue or mediation to bring closure to the situation. Sometimes, we work with clients on pre-empting a disagreement that is brewing on the horizon.

Here are some of the ways that we can help you:

Coaching:
We coach, one-on-one, in the context of conflict management. Coaching can include clarifying objectives for dealing with a conflict situation, rehearsing for conflict communication, support during contentious conflict processes, and strategy and goal facilitation.

Facilitation:
We facilitate group and one-on-one dialogue, particularly in the context of difficult conversations. Facilitation includes creating and protecting the parameters for the discussion, ensuring that all parties have uninterrupted time, maintaining civility and guiding toward options for agreement.

Mediation:
Mediation is similar to Facilitation and also can be more structured, particularly if the parties are ordered by a court to engage in the process. Any time that people find themselves unable to engage in productive conversation themselves, a mediator, acting as neutral, will benefit the outcome.

Training and Workshops:
We offer in-house trainings and workshops in conflict management competency and conflict communication, including how to communicate effectively within a conflict situation, how to navigate difficult conversations and how to create a group dynamic that is healthy and conflict competent.

Our work with you rests upon four foundational principles.

While we offer a variety of tools and trainings, we are guided in all of our work by four foundational principles:

Confidentiality:
Everything we talk about, from the minute we meet in our first complimentary session, is 100 percent protected and confidential. Our meetings are safe space.

Non-Judgment:
Every one of us has faced difficulty and complicated circumstances in our lives. We approach every client with empathy and compassion.

Self-Determination:
We offer the expertise and guidance, but it is you who drive the decision-making on objectives, methods and timing. Unlike litigation and other court processes, there is no third party who will determine your outcomes.

Uplift:
Our goal is to uplift your well-being by addressing negative interpersonal dynamics. We infuse positivity into our work by valuing integrity, cultural humility and emotional depth.

And some of the ways we have helped others:

  • Facilitated difficult conversations within community settings around political beliefs and pandemic protocols. These conversations were attended by, in some cases, hundreds of people who had strong attachment to their positions and high emotion.

  • Mediated family dynamics including parent-teen communications, particularly in cases of relationship breakdown following divorce.

  • Mediated intergenerational transfers of family business, working alongside financial experts, and with the goal of protecting relationships as well as assets.

  • Mediated work-family balance agreements within families and prepared individual family members to negotiate their workplace flexibility requests.

  • Coached individuals one-on-one on personal goal achievement and accountability, including objectives around wellness, relationship and clarity in making choices.

  • Coached individuals in navigating interpersonal dynamics within partnerships, including self-advocacy skill-building and rehearsing.

With all of these tools and techniques at the ready, isn’t it time to get started?

Effective communication serves five interests in our lives: to inform, to express feelings, to imagine, to influence and to meet social expectations. And when these interests are met, we discover the harmony and peace that underlie our general well-being.