When I was 18 years old, I had no interest in school. So, I went to work at National Steel Car, in Hamilton, Ontario. The company made railway cars. The scale of the operations was huge, overwhelming for me. At the time, I felt a boy among men. Yet, as a (Steelworkers) union member I was […]
Union-Employer Collective Agreements emphasize rights over power
September 4, 2017 by · Leave a Comment
My “Expressing Feelings” Algorithm for Difficult Workplace Conversations and Problem-Solving
August 29, 2017 by · Leave a Comment
“Never mind all that feelings stuff, let’s just do it”. Just do it. Just do the work. If only life were so simple. In the workplace, jointly solving problems often involves difficult conversations, and conflicting views. Difficult conversations won’t go well unless feelings are surfaced. We have to have those conversations. Change happens, finding solutions to […]
Make Conflict Your Organization’s Strategic Advantage
August 7, 2017 by · Leave a Comment
Recently, I helped a nonprofit mediate an internal conflict. The conflict involved people who were avoiding each other, because of the conflict. People often avoid each other because of conflict. However, when the employees are co-workers who need to work together, the cost of this avoidance can be high, on morale, collaboration and productivity. Alas, workplace conflict […]
Shalom: Dispute and conflict and educational moments in a nonprofit board
July 31, 2017 by · 4 Comments
Disputes are conflicts, our differences, brought to light. In 14 years of mediating business and community disputes, I’ve observed that a dispute is also, as often as not, a proxy for a hitherto unexpressed conflict, be it a gap in communication, a feeling that somethings not quite right, here, a hot button pushed… the list […]
It’s the leaders’ responsibility to confront sexual harassment in their workplace
July 24, 2017 by · Leave a Comment
Culture starts at the top of the organization. The bottom line is that its the organization’s leaders who must take responsibility, lead the charge, for making the workplace safe, free of unwanted sexual harassment. Sexual harassment in the workplace is pervasive The American Heritage Dictionary gives the sexual harassment definition as: The making of unwanted […]
How conflict grows from “something’s not right, here” to “see you in court”
July 18, 2017 by · Leave a Comment
It’s crazy how something that’s a minor annoyance to us can mushroom into a full-blown dispute. Apart from my own mushrooms, I see this all the time, as a mediator. One party has a gut feeling that somethings not quite right. Before the dust has settled on that feeling, its magnified into something bigger. They […]
Manage your Workplace Conflict Fires as if you were a Forest Fire Control Expert
July 12, 2017 by · Leave a Comment
A good part of my home province, British Columbia, is on fire. I’m grateful, in more ways than one, to those who are fighting those fires. Due to the hot and dry conditions, there are hundreds of forest fires currently active, many of them out-of-control, across British Columbia. 14,000 people have, so far, been forced to […]
Seven Tips for Mediators based on insights from the climate change discourse
July 5, 2017 by · 1 Comment
I was at a social gathering the other night. My conversation partner was lamenting that their message, they work for an environmental agency, wasn’t getting through. Paraphrasing my friend, “All the facts are there. The planet is at peril. People still don’t get it, though. They carry on, as usual.” Alert to a timely opportunity […]
