Conflict Coaching

Conflict coaching is a one-on-one, confidential service offered by the Office of the Ombudsman that helps you build these qualities through techniques and tools to resolve the dispute at stake.

In a structured and supportive process, an assigned member of our team works with you one-on-one to help you understand your situation more clearly, develop your options, and prepare to act effectively.

Our Office can act as an impartial sounding board, someone who can help you think through a situation with greater objectivity than is possible when you are in the middle of it, and who can help you strengthen your capacity to handle it.

Generally, given the right support and tools, visitors are able to deal with workplace situations with some skills and integrity. We are here to help you do that.

Conflict coaching can take place over a single session or across several conversations, depending on the complexity of the situation and what feels most useful to you. The other party is not involved, and there is no obligation to take any particular course of action.

What can conflict coaching help you with?

Preparing for a difficult conversation

Whether you need to address a performance concern with a peer, push back on what seems an unreasonable request from a supervisor, raise a sensitive issue with a colleague, or have an honest conversation you have been avoiding, conflict coaching can help you prepare. We can work with you on how to frame your message clearly and constructively, how to anticipate the other person’s likely reactions, and how to stay calm and focused when the conversation becomes uncomfortable.

Learning how to give or receive feedback

Feedback is one of the most important, and most mishandled, aspects of professional relationships. Conflict coaching can help you develop the skills to deliver feedback in a way that is honest, specific, and respectful, and more likely to be heard rather than defended against. It can also help you process and respond to feedback you have received that felt unfair, confusing, or demoralizing.

Gaining clarity on a situation you are struggling to read

Sometimes the most valuable thing a coach can offer is allowing you to see the situation from a different perspective. If you are caught in a difficult dynamic, our Office can help you examine the situation from multiple angles, surface assumptions you may not have realized you were making and identify what is within your control.

Building confidence to act

Many people who come to the Office of the Ombudsman seem to have a sense of what they need to do, but feel paralyzed by uncertainty, self-doubt, or fear of the consequences. Conflict coaching can help you test your thinking, strengthen your resolve, work through potential obstacles and step into a difficult situation feeling more prepared and grounded.

Exploring how to set boundaries

In situations where a colleague’s behavior is affecting your wellbeing or your ability to work effectively, coaching can help you think through and rehearse how to communicate your boundaries clearly and professionally, without escalating the conflict or jeopardizing the working relationship unnecessarily.

The audio story below brings this service to life through an illustrative case scenario.