Top Five Reasons Why Working With External Dispute Resolvers Makes Sense for Organizations

Here’s a question you may have asked yourself: “If we have internal dispute resolution procedures and people with HR and problem-solving skills, why would we need an outsider to help us navigate conflict?”

This question is top of mind when the JAMS Pathways team engages with organizations. Whether working with an organization as a whole or a particular division, our starting point is learning about your needs, challenges, resources, and systems. We conduct a deep dive at the outset by exploring where things stand, what the goals are, who the stakeholders are, what works well, and what is falling short.

Our aim is not to supplant the processes that are already in place but to enhance your workplace conflict resolution management by understanding interests, identifying obstacles, and crafting a tailored path forward. We help you strengthen your existing system while stemming burgeoning tensions so everyone can spend less time focused on conflict and more time on work.

Here are five ways external dispute resolvers such as the JAMS Pathways team make this happen: We focus attention on the problem and your commitment to resolving it; we bring dispute resolution expertise (over 40 years!); we foster organizational learning; we encourage perspective-taking; and we move the task of problem-solving from your desks to ours. Let me offer a little more detail about each of these aspects.

Attention

We focus attention on the problem and the path to a solution. When faced with conflict, it is easy for organizations to split into camps: those on one side of the issue, those on the other side of the issue, and those in-between. An organization that proactively involves third-party dispute resolution services elevates the perceived importance of the issues and the organizational commitment to resolving them. This focuses the organization: People start to pay attention because the organization has sent a very clear message that it is paying attention. Rather than just another meeting to rehash long-standing tensions and conflicts, interactions become facilitated opportunities to listen and learn from those with strong perspectives on the issues and, importantly, from those in the middle.

Experience

We bring over 40 years of experience focused on understanding problems and working with parties to identify solutions. And while we’ve resolved many conflicts, we don’t take a cookie-cutter approach to our work. We employ our experience in designing processes to fit the problem, handling difficult situations and people, and sequencing conversations and events to build a foundation for resolution. We figure out who talks to whom, when that happens, and which dispute resolution techniques are needed to do so. From navigating apology and forgiveness to having difficult conversations, we provide training and skills-building workshops to equip teams to make the most of the opportunities to move forward.

Learning

We foster environments where people feel comfortable sharing and speaking up, informing a greater understanding of the problem and a more comprehensive approach to resolution. Neutrality and confidentiality are essential to this.

We bolster confidence in the neutrality and impartiality of a process because we have no stake in the outcome. Instead, we are committed to dispute prevention and resolution, crafting a process designed to resolve the problem. Confidentiality further bolsters our ability to connect differently with those impacted by conflict. From one-to-one exchanges to organization-wide meetings, our flexibility helps us see to it that the process fits your needs. Our approach enables us to foster workplace harmony, even in the most challenging circumstances.

Perspective-Taking

We bring a different perspective by virtue of being separate from the organization, which enables us to view the conflict and resolution paths differently than insiders. Further, we elicit and encourage different perspectives among parties to the conflict. We hear from different vantage points and challenge people to consider alternate explanations for what happened. This approach is vital to fostering a collaborative environment where teams can explore new solutions without defensiveness or resistance.

Problem-Solving

We facilitate problem-solving. While HR has many responsibilities aside from resolving conflict, our sole responsibility is to work with your organization to navigate conflict. We know how to build agendas and schedules, facilitate meetings, and keep people engaged. With a focus on enhancing team collaboration, we provide tools to manage conflict effectively and skills to bolster your team’s ability to handle future differences. From systems design to facilitation to training, our interventions help your team focus their time and energy on their work rather than conflict.

External dispute resolvers such as the JAMS Pathways team focus attention, contribute experience and knowledge, foster learning, encourage perspective-taking, and facilitate problem-solving. And once we’ve done all these things, where does that leave you? One organization reflecting on the impact of our work noted that we helped them bridge conflict, celebrate shared interests, and, through a process designed specifically for them, talk again about what matters most: their work.