“Should” “Should” is a devious little word. It seems so useful on its surface, but it complicates communication and impairs relationships whenever it appears. Take the sentence, “You should have notified me about this.” In this example, the speaker tries to indicate what someone else ought to have done, which…
This week, Rick Buccheri, ADR Vantage’s Director of Programs, facilitated “Navigating DEI in ADR Practice”, an engrossing discussion among ADR practitioners and program managers exploring how issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion affect the practice of alternative dispute resolution. It was an in-depth conversation, and a great opportunity for…
According to organizational culture experts and authors of the best-selling book Leading with Gratitude, Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick, “showing gratitude to employees is the easiest, fastest, most inexpensive way to boost performance.” In fact, when employees receive appreciation and feel grateful in the workplace, they are more likely to…
Research Project Summary Report At ADR Vantage, we help people work better together by improving communication and collaborative decision-making at the intersection of multiple fields of practice. Our team includes over 160 professional practitioners who are experts in the fields of Conflict Management, Organization Effectiveness, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and…
When I first heard this question, I didn’t quite understand what it meant. How could someone suffer paradox? I remember it well. I was in the initial weeks of completing my certification program to administer the Key Polarity Indicator, or KPI. (I would eventually become part of the first cohort of practitioners…
Many clients seek out our facilitation services to help their team or department work through a challenging problem, to realign their strategy to a new set of organizational priorities, or to simply help them navigate a difficult conflict situation. In all these instances, creativity is necessary to find new approaches…
“I know…” Words matter. They really, really, really do. Yet, we often toss around words and phrases that convey something unintended without considering the impact of those words and phrases. Take the frequently overlooked example, “I know”, as in “I know you didn’t mean anything negative by it…” “I know”…
I never liked Spring cleaning. To me, it always represented a weekend of heavy chores and time away from relaxation and fun. But this year, cleaning feels necessary. As the pandemic forced many people indoors, we converted our living spaces to workspaces and stayed home more than ever before. Now,…
From our Managing Director, Tara Taylor… When I first learned to mediate, I felt like there were so many “not to dos”. Things I was not supposed to say or do, in an effort to maintain my neutrality, to avoid making judgements, and to allow self-determination for the parties. In…
When I was growing up, I never liked it when my grandmother forced me to apologize for something, I’d done to aggravate my younger sister. In fact, most of the time, I just grumbled a quick “I’m sorry” just so my grandmother would leave me alone and let me get…