conflict resolution and mediation
Impartial, informal and effective support for resolving conflict.
Negative conflict in the workplace can be disruptive to well-being and productivity
We have a team of trained conflict resolution experts and accredited mediators who are skilled at addressing and resolving workplace conflict at the earliest opportunity in order to prevent it causing more serious, lasting damage.
Mediation is ideally suited where working relationships have broken down and there is a need for a constructive ongoing working relationship between the individuals involved.
Its aim is to move parties beyond the often entrenched positions they have adopted so they focus on the interests and needs that are driving the conflict, leading them to formulate their own resolution.
At ibex gale we have developed a deep understanding of team dynamics and a set of conflict resolution strategies which can be tailored to tackle the most intractable disputes.
We can manage the entire process for you, and if the informal attempts fail, we have the internal capability to adopt a more formal approach to resolution of the conflict.
David Major heads up our conflict resolution and mediation services, so please get in touch with him if you would like a confidential discussion.
Frequently Asked Questions
At ibex gale, our process involves an up-front ‘Discovery’ phase where we complete an enquiry led process to understand the underlying issues. We then work with the individuals and/or teams experiencing conflict to assist in navigating a course, together, that stands the best possible chance of success. We support people to use the mediative approach to take their historic negative experiences and build on those to transform their ability to work together more productively and collaboratively.
• Individual feedback and coaching sessions to raise individuals’ awareness and take responsibility for their part in sustaining the conflict – this ownership and self-reflection is vital for creating commitment to whatever follows.
• Traditional mediation to support fractured relationship repair between two or more individuals.
• Team sessions that follow a variety of formats, often including key leaders in part or all of the sessions, ranging from those run as practical workshops to clarify, map and agree roles, responsibilities and behaviours through to far more complex relational psychology-based team coaching sessions.
• Separate relational mediative sessions, held with a compassionate and supportive yet very unambiguous clarity, which allow us to challenge the unproductive and disruptive factions that can sometimes exist within teams and often go unchallenged.
• Individual intensive developmental leadership coaching.
• Team learning sessions on relevant themes such as Psychological Safety, Non-Violent Communication, Systemic Thinking, Trust and Understanding the Dynamic Impact of Power in Teams.
Often there might be signals such as failures in communication, cooperation and understanding differing perspectives or personal styles, which affect the day-to-day functionality in the workplace. Acting quickly is crucial to allow people to explore solutions to avoid issues escalating into complaints, and to safeguard productive working relationships that enhance the well-being and engagement of everyone concerned.
On occasion, there may be deep running conflicts that extend over may years, sometimes decades, that have simply been left to go unaddressed, but recent experiences have resulted in these becoming more of an issue for a wider team, group of stakeholders or the organisation. The idea of trying to tackle these issues can feel overwhelming and insurmountable, but our approach allows for even the most deep seated and extensive timescales to be supported.
We work closely with the sponsors of this often difficult, uncomfortable work, also involving key stakeholders, to co-create interventions in a highly collaborative, non-judgemental and emergent way. These issues are often complex and have developed over many years, so are systemic in nature and have been neglected, rationalised and not dealt with because of the difficulty in confronting them. Because of this complexity, it is crucial to allow the pathway to emerge rather than following a formulaic approach, so we work together on sustainable solutions that are developed with the organisation, rather than imposed from outside.