Welcome to Ben’s website!
I’m Ben Ziegler, a collaboration & conflict management consultant, based in Victoria, BC (Canada). I also work as coordinator of a seniors’ advocacy program serving Victoria-area low-income seniors.
This website serves as my personal blog, and is primarily focused on my conflict management and collaboration interests and work. To learn more about advocacy work, go here.
HOW I CAN HELP
As an independent consultant, I help individuals, teams, and organizations effect constructive responses to their ‘working together’ challenges. I do this through a variety of channels; including: individual and team coaching, mediation, workplace assessments, training workshops, and education.
Challenges I help address:
- Interpersonal skills: communications, collaboration, conflict management, x-cultural
- Team dynamics
- Destructive behaviours; respectful workplace
- Business conflicts: b2b, b2c, community-based
- Labour-management conflicts
- Building consensus across stakeholder groups
Conflict is inevitable. It’s also a growth opportunity. Effective responses to conflict improve staff engagement and loyalty, workforce performance, customer service, and employee recruitment.
My core belief is that good things can happen when diverse people can come together, feel safe in the process, and have constructive conversations about things that are important to them.
Read more information about my services.
MY EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
As a conflict management professional, I’ve resolved 600+ business, workplace, and community disputes. I spent 12 years as a mediator and mentor in the BC Court Mediation Program, and mediated, online, with eBay, Consumer Protection BC, and Attorney General of BC. I was a system design consultant to multiple BC Government online dispute resolution initiatives.
As a consultant (including previously many years in the infotech field with Ziegler Consulting, Sierra Systems, Accenture), I’ve assisted SMEs, nonprofits, and governments, and internationally, with the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO); Mongolia, Bolivia, Tanzania, Philippines. Read about my latest CESO assignment in Mongolia, here.
I’m a member of the BC Mediator (Civil) Roster, certified by the Workplace Fairness Institute, and certified in the Conflict Dynamics Profile®. I’m a member of the Community Partnership Network, an initiative of the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria.
On this website, you’ll find 400 posts I’ve authored on on conflict management and collaboration topics, along with links to my e-books and presentations.
THREE MORE THINGS ABOUT ME
Beginning in June of 2019, I’ve been coordinating a community program that provides advocacy services to seniors, primarily low-income seniors, in the Greater Victoria Region. The program provides system navigation, 1:1 peer support, and information and referral services. The program operates out of the Quadra Village Community Centre. Not surprisingly, advocacy work has many common elements to my consulting and mediation work!
In a volunteer capacity, since 2014, I’ve been a volunteer support group facilitator for the Family Caregivers of BC. Family Caregivers provides support services for caregivers who are caring for an adult; e.g., spouse, parent, friend, adult son or daughter. Currently, I facilitate a virtual men’s caregiver support group (its’ virtual in response to COVID-19). My interest in family caregiving stems from my own experiences as a caregiver for my parents.
In Victoria, where I live, affordable housing is our number one community issue. Related to housing, I volunteer as co-chair of my neighbourhood land-use development committee. It’s another way for me to apply my mediation and facilitation skills, and help bridge differences; between residents, developers, and municipal interests.
LET’S CONNECT
You can send a note to me through my contact form, or call me at 1-250-516-3936.
Thanks for being here,
