Guidelines for Agency Dispute Resolution Coordinators

Key Elements in Integrating DR in an Agency

"Integrating dispute resolution" refers to creating a conflict resolution system within a governmental context that works efficiently. That is, a system that allows the agency to take full advantage of DR or other collaborative processes where most appropriate. There is no one way to do this, and no foolproof system. The hallmark of instituting an agency DR program should be flexibility to develop a program that serves the context, the issues and the parties.

In getting started, DR Coordinators should bear in mind the following key elements to launching a successful program:

Collaborate. Take a collaborative approach to designing and implementing a new DR program. State agencies have learned that a DR program based on input from internal and external stakeholders will face less resistance and have a greater probability of success than one that is imposed on them.
Get help. Implementing DR is not a one-person job and it requires involvement of people from many different parts of an agency. It often requires initiating some "culture change" within a bureaucracy. One useful way to share the work and give others an investment in program success is to include them on a working or advisory group. Often there are other DR resources in state government such as centralized state DR offices that can provide consultation and technical assistance. See the PCI Directory of State DR Programs to identify resource centers in your state.
Get high level support. New governmental programs tend to thrive only when they receive support from top-level leaders. DR Coordinators should seek a statement from the agency head or other high-level leader championing the use of DR and asking agency personnel to cooperate with the DR Coordinator. They should also seek leaders' visible involvement, such as coming to training sessions to explain the importance of DR, especially when it is mandatory. These and other conspicuous efforts by top agency officials can be very effective in promoting the program.
Analyze where DR can be most helpful. Getting a program off the ground will be easier if it is designed to help agency personnel deal with the tough issues, problems, and disputes they face. Begin by exploring systematically which of these issues or disputes will be most amenable to DR methods. This analysis or assessment may be undertaken as part of developing an overall agency plan, but may also be done in the context of assessing a particular program or conflict for its DR or collaborative potential. (Read more on assessment in the section titled Some Basic Steps to Initiating DR in an Agency in this report)
Use pilot programs. Pilots offer a manageable way to address basic issues, find and deal with "bugs," and provide success stories. (Read more on piloting in the section titled Some Basic Steps to Initiating DR in an Agency in this report).

There are a few keys to successfully introducing DR in a state agency, no matter what kinds of issues or disputes the program will be designed to address. They are:

Use a Collaborative Approach. Collaborative program design will increase buy-in and program quality. Collaboration involves identifying internal and external stakeholders at the earliest possible opportunity and involving them as much as possible in conceptualizing a new program. Agency leaders, staff and users need opportunities to provide input and feedback, and to have a sense that their input makes a difference.

Building support within an agency involves engaging others. It is not only important to find leaders at the highest level of the agency, but also to identify champions among highly respected peers and co-workers. Leadership with government agencies is not only vertical but horizontal.

Collaboration includes working with stakeholders to determine how to:

use DR to meet agency needs,
educate the relevant actors about these methods and how they may can be employed,
determine how to meet resource needs,
identify barriers to effective conflict resolution, and
identify incentives to overcome the barriers.

A useful resource on this topic is Developing a Collaborative Design Approach, Part I, Chapter 1, in the Federal ADR Program Managers Resource Manual.

Provide a Framework. Depending on the nature of the DR program, it may be useful to formulate policies or program guidelines setting forth the agency's purpose for instituting DR use. These guidelines can:

Declare high level agency support and gain attention within an agency and the public it serves,
Identify sources of delay or inefficiency in existing procedures,
Establish implementation goals, incentives and timetables,
Begin the process of educating agency personnel about DR and its utility, and begin to change agency "culture" to encourage informal efforts to prevent and resolve conflicts.

At the same time, it is important that these policies and guidelines not be overly prescriptive about the DR methods themselves. After all, the benefits of DR often have to do with informality and flexibility in dealing with the unique nature of the context, the issues or the parties.

Useful resources on providing a framework include the Oregon Department of Justice's Statement of Policy on Appropriate Dispute Resolution and the New Mexico DR Council's core values that agencies are asked to adopt as part of their DR plans. The New Mexico values are based on the Principles for DR Provider Organizations, developed by the CPR-Georgetown Commission.

In addition, it may be important to develop certain kinds of policies to guide the use of DR within the agency or across agencies. These policies should be reviewed with the agency's legal staff. If a number of agencies are involved in implementing DR, it will be important to coordinate policies across agencies. Such policies may include confidentiality, document handling and record keeping, intake procedures, quality assurance, conflict of interest and other ethical issues. See Chapter 7, Ethical Considerations, in the Federal DR Program Managers Resource Manual.

Create incentives. An agency's existing incentives and disincentives for using DR will affect the ultimate success or failure of any DR program. DR Coordinators will want to develop strategies to take advantage of existing incentives and to overcome disincentives. Incentives may include complying with DR statutes or executive orders, saving time and resources, developing long-term solutions, and improving working relationships. Disincentives are likely to include resistance to change, lack of resources, and concerns about loss of control or power.

In a collaborative approach, it will be important to identify and recommend appropriate new incentives. For instance, a number of federal and state agencies have created incentives to encourage use of dispute resolution by changing hiring and promotion practices, adding job performance rating categories for dispute resolution, and establishing awards programs.

For information about how one state is proposing to overcome barriers, see the Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium's State Administrative Dispute Resolution Pilot Project: Report to the Governor.

Outreach through Marketing, Education and Training. While the concepts underlying DR are not extremely complicated, they are new for many people. Outreach, education, and training, are critical to obtaining support among potential users, agency officials, and leaders. Thus, many DR Coordinators spend much of their time meeting with agency personnel to identify DR opportunities, making presentations to agency groups, and identifying and fulfilling training needs.

In preparing to talk with agency leaders and staff, it is important to think about the most effective ways to communicate the message. Governors, agency directors and other government officials are likely to be more receptive to information when it comes from someone they know and respect. Focus on engaging champions in helping deliver the message. One of the best ways to do this is to share success stories that illustrate the benefits of these processes.

Craft the message carefully. Many people do not respond positively to being asked whether they have problems dealing with conflicts and disputes. "Conflict resolution" and "dispute resolution" are not terms used by most people. They may prefer talking about "problems" and "issues." Some have found that the best way to market collaborative methods is as a way to address issues, not as a process for resolving disputes.

Outreach efforts may vary from short briefings or oral presentations to written outreach initiatives such as brochures. Outreach should be based on a thorough knowledge of the target audiences and should be responsive to the types of resistance that can be anticipated given the audience.

Educational activities range from general efforts to inform agency personnel and others about the existence of a DR program to developing particular types of skills. Different audiences will require different types of education or outreach. Audiences may include:

agency or other political leaders,
senior management,
governmental program managers and legal personnel who are actively involved in the DR program,
agency clients, the regulated community, and publics, and
potential mediators or other neutrals in agency cases.

For advice on structuring different educational and training activities, see the Federal DR Program Manager's Resource Manual Part 1, Chapter 2, Creating a Comprehensive DR Training Program, and the Electronic Guide to Federal Procurement DR, an online resource for procurement professionals to design and administer DR programs for their agencies.

Provide resources-including access to competent neutrals. A key task is to identify the resources required to enable the agency to use DR successfully. This aspect of a DR Coordinator's role has received little systematic attention. Essential resources include money, personnel, space, computers, etc. Here especially, DR Coordinators should not hesitate to get help in implementing a program, from key personnel within their own organizations, from counterparts at other agencies who are managing new DR activities with inadequate resources, or from other state DR centers. For useful information on this topic, see the Federal DR Program Manager's Resource Manual, Part 2, Chapter 6, Obtaining Resources and Developing Contracts.

Once an agency has designed a DR program, one of the most pressing needs will be deciding how to provide access to competent neutrals. Neutrals can come from a variety of sources-within the agency, within other agencies, or from the private sector. Experienced agencies have learned that drawing from any one source has both advantages and disadvantages relating to cost, acceptability, speed of acquisition, knowledge, and skill level. The Federal DR Program Manager's Resource Manual Part 2, Chapter 3, Obtaining Neutral Services has step-by-step guidance for selecting neutrals.

Selecting or providing access to neutrals raises issues about ensuring quality providers. While some programs rely on rosters, other agencies, shared neutrals, expedited contracting mechanisms, or private practitioners, DR Coordinators may want to consider making choices available from more than one source in order to increase parties' chances of quickly finding an acceptable neutral. The PCI website on Assuring Quality in DR Practice and Programs offers detailed guidelines on selecting neutrals and approaches to quality control.

DR Coordinators themselves may be asked to provide neutral services. They will need to examine their own roles and potential conflicts of interest, and how many hats they can comfortably wear. For a useful discussion of this topic, see What Hat Do I Wear Now?: An Examination of Agency Roles in Collaborative Processes, by Wondolleck and Ryan.

DR Coordinators who contract with private neutrals may wish to examine standard contracts that other entities have developed for this purpose, such as the Oregon Department of Justice's Personal Services Contract for Mediator/Facilitator Services. Some additional policy and practical issues to consider are set forth in Chapter 6 of the PCI Practical Guide to Consensus, "How to Select and Work With a Facilitator."

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