Skip to main content

Ombuds 20:5 / Four Ways of Seeing

Twenty minutes to take a few deep breaths, learn about ombuds services for faculty and staff, and pick up a conflict engagement tip. That’s the idea behind Ombuds 20 and last week the session began with a “Beginning Again” meditation led by Alexis Steptoe from NC State Wellness and Recreation. This fit with the conflict engagement tools focused on how to anaylze a situation from multiple perspectives – “The Four Ways of Seeing” and the “Difference Analysis Worksheet.”

The ombuds can help you navigate your workplace experience, support empowerment, connect to other resources, and coach you through the process. The office is independent, confidential, informal and impartial. If you want some help and not sure where to turn or want an independent and confidential space to discuss a situation – Go Ombuds !

The “Four Ways of Seeing” is a planning tool that invites you to consider a situation from multiple  prespectives – how we see ourselves in a situation, how we think others see us in the situation, how others see themselves in the situation, and how others see us in the situation. With these four prespectives in mind it allows you to consider action steps to address the issue. 

A second tool, the “Difference Analysis Worksheet” also invites multiple perspectives from individual to ogranization, includes review of positions versus interests, preferred outcomes and action items. This tool, once completed, provides a broad consideration with depth that can form the basis of a plan to address your situation.

This week (4/22) we’ll use the “Difference Analysis Worksheet” on a specific issue and explore what a conflict engagement plan might be like. Join us at noon on Wednesday, April 22nd. Check out the faculty and staff ombuds office webite for session information. Hope you can join us!