STEPS IN BUILDING A CONFLICT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMS)January 2003
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1. Begin with identifying the stakeholder group and some "rules of play": a. Stakeholders must participate b. Senior leadership must be present c. Driven by middle managers who must make it work d. Include those that may try to "end run" other stakeholders e. Establish open, honest communication about interests, not positions, and not emotional appeals 2. Then assess the current situation; ask the questions: a. How have past disputes been handled? b. Why are disputes handled this way? c. How many occur and what are the costs in terms of lawyer costs, management time and distraction, hurt feelings, failed resolutions, monetary awards or fines?
ii. Physician contract issues iii. MCO denials iv. Complaints of overwork v. Staff turnover rising vi. Insurance and liability claims rising vii. Assertions of privacy disclosures under HIPAA viii. Power imbalances over-represented among disputes e. What things would you change; why; where would you start? f. If change is instituted, who will resist and who will support and why? g. Of those resisting and supporting, answer the question: "what's in it for me?" [wii-fm] as if they were answering. Also, who will lose or gain power and will that frustrate the change; or can steps be anticipated to neutralize those who attempt to regain power? h. What gap in organizational performance could be "cured" by adopting a different approach? Is there a Return on Investment (ROI)? i. Is leadership willing to risk the chance of letting first "baby steps of change" fail, before encouraging the learning to make final changes work? In other words, will the organization allow experimentation? Or, will it need to get pretty close to the "right" solution the first time? j. Document these as "reasons to consider change." Demonstrate the need and urgency for change. This is a "gap analysis" similar to that done for other situations or special needs. 3. Initiate change process: a.Education of stakeholders about results of the assessment. Obtain their opinion of the validity of assessment information and their commitment to the process of change (the steps; philosophy; approach; milestones for review; etc.). Describe THE VISION of how it could be. Teach principles of ADR and the skills to make it successful; ask if these capacities are available or could be developed. b. Wider education of leadership; then middle management and employees: about assessment findings, about their roles, about the expectations of leadership concerning the ADR approach and the New Vision for how it will work; about the new procedures and their unique contributions, and about when to employ the new procedures (or when to use less formal procedures within departments). c. Be ready to explain how the New Vision will benefit all - even those who lose power. Be sure all understand that the philosophy is that ADR be simple to understand and use; that it resolve disputes as early, at the lowest point in the organization as possible, with least bureaucracy. And, that ADR encourages disputants to retain as much control as possible over their choice of method, as to how to resolve a dispute. d. Identify and empower a task force; let it do its work; support its outcome. Make it available to middle managers and even employees, as well as stakeholders and leadership. e. Describe expected deliverables, timetables, accountabilities, etc. Require detailed description/documentation of NEW formal and informal processes to accomplish dispute resolution within the organization; and between the organization and its external customers and stakeholders. Consider using a pilot project, if that will quiet reservations about the scope of change. 4. Install the change: a. Monitor progress through the Task Force b. Be sure that a manager is named as the accountable person for ADR - the "change champion" who is well respected and capable. c.Identify an attorney that has the required supportive skills to assist with any formal data collection in anticipation that ADR might not always work. d. Permit a first dispute to be handled as it arises; critique the results afterwards with an eye toward community problem solving. Let the accountable manager work through the situation and provide an "after action report" to the Task Force and others (as needed). e. Change any formal or informal processes as a part of the organizational learning that takes place from the first and subsequent efforts at ADR. 5. Report results to senior leadership a.Tell stakeholders what impact the changes are having - positive and negative. Keep reinforcing the need for and (hopefully) success with the changes. b.Remind them that the Task Force "has the ball." Protect them from interference in the process. c.Indicate progress as experience is gained and how it improved results (if it did). Demonstrate that the accountable person is making headway in continuously improving outcomes and coaching middle managers through the processes as they occur. Adapted from: Designing Conflict Management Systems, by Cathy A. Constantino and Christina Sickles Merchant, Jossy Bass Publishers, 1996. Concerning State-regulated ADR States have differing procedures, but the Supreme Courts of most of the States have initiated direct supervision of ADR programs and a requirement for State Registration and/or special certification of training and experience for "Neutrals." A few important points:
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