The Exchange A Bold and Proven Approach to Resolving Workplace Conflict

A Different Approach to Resolving Workplace Disputes
Who This Book Is for
What This Book Offers
The Exchange in Brief
Stage I: Hold Private Meetings
Stage II: Develop an Issue List
Stage III: Conduct a Joint Meeting
Stage IV: Facilitate Problem Solving
Why This Book Is Different
Workplace Challenges

How the Exchange Works: A Case Study
Resolving a Dispute at Smart Alarms
Some Final Thoughts

Getting Ready
Step 1: Assess the Situation
Step 2: Clarify Your Interests, Roles, and Responsibilities
Step 3: Schedule Private Meetings with the Key People Involved in the Conflict

Holding Private Meetings
Task 1 Establish Rapport and Confidentiality
Task 2. Hear the Employee’s Perspective
Task 3 Identify the Employee’s Interests
Task 4 Discuss the Next Steps

Developing an Issue List
Issues
Impact
Icebreaker
An Effective Issue List

Stage III: Conducting the Joint Meeting
Problem Solving: Building a Solution Together
Culture, Diversity, and Other Things That Matter
Tips for Bridging Cultural Gaps

Making the Most of the Exchange in Your Organization
Using the Exchange for a Group Conflict
Stage I: Hold Private Meetings
Stage II: Develop an Issue List
Stage III: Conduct the Joint Meeting
Stage IV: Building a Solution Together
Adapting the Exchange for Disruptive People
Using the Exchange When You Are Seen as Part of the Problem
Using the Exchange in Collaborative Decision Making

Using the Exchange with the People and Organizations You Serve
Health Care
Government Agencies
Service Companies
Nonprofit Organizations

About the Exchange and Its Creators
Frequently Asked Questions about the Exchange
About the National Conflict Resolution Center

Index

Biography

Barbara Filner has been the director of training for NCRC since 1984. She has a master’s degree in teaching from Indiana University and has worked as a teacher, a labor union official, and an analyst in local and state government. She has designed and conducted workshops on mediation and conflict resolution in the workplace in both the United States and Europe. She has lived in Pakistan, India, and Egypt, and thus brings a multicultural perspective to this book. She has also co-written two books about culture and conflict, Conflict Resolution Across Cultures (Diversity Resources) and Meditation Across Cultures (Amherst Educational Publishing).

Steven P. Dinkin is president of NCRC. He received his law degree from George Washington University, where he taught a mediation clinic as an adjunct law professor. He has also taught mediation courses in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. For several years with the Center for Dispute Settlement in Washington, DC, Steve served as an employment and workplace mediator for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other federal agencies. In 2003 he moved to San Diego to lead NCRC. His experience managing a talented and opinionated staff has contributed to the realism of this book.

Lisa Maxwell has traveled all over the world as a senior trainer for NCRC, a position she has held for almost 20 years. She has trained people in The Exchange, and in mediation in general, in Mexico and other Latin American countries, as well as in Latino communities in the United States. Lisa has a master’s degree in education from San Diego State University and has developed curricula and taught courses at the high school and university levels. Lisa has worked with businesses, with the military, and with nonprofit organizations on finding creative and effective ways to manage conflicts.

Workplace conflict is a great time, energy, and productivity sapper. With The Exchange, the authors deliver an extraordinary method for resolving disputes quickly and simply and for the greatest benefit of the organization.
—Marshall Goldsmith, New York Times Best-Selling Author of MOJO and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

If you don’t learn how to resolve conflict in your workplace, your organization can never thrive. What Dinkin, Filner, and Maxwell have to teach us is worth studying and implementing. It could be the difference between having a so-so organization and a great one.
—Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager^® and Lead with LUV

Transforming society to be more collaborative, more inclusive and more solutions focused requires a methodology that works. That methodology is The Exchange.
—Michael M. Crow, President, Arizona State University

The Exchange was a highly professional, interactive, engaging and effective training that provided us all with many new techniques in problem-solving and conflict resolution. The healthcare industry has needed a program like The Exchange for many years, and I am relieved to know that we finally have a professional, well organized program to refer to when conflicts arise in our hospitals and clinics.
—Evan Burkett, Chief Human Resource Officer, Sanford Health, the largest rural healthcare system in the United States

Conflict is inherent for any group of people striving to create a result with limited resources. The Exchange helps people with a way to facilitate mutual understanding and common goals in order to move to a better place.　
—Bill Geppert, Senior Vice President, Cox Communications, Inc.