Conflict is hard, disruptive, and common in the workplace. This course will cover systems and skills for conflict management in the union and non-union workplace. Participants will identify, and provide critical analysis of, competing positions and options that exist in workplace conflict, including the interplay between law, individual case resolution, and public policy. It will prepare participants to use dispute resolution skills and support or design dispute resolution systems within the workplace. It will teach participants how to manage stakeholders and identify tools to resolve conflict so parties can move forward. Because conflict arises across different industries and workplaces, it will include material from a broad spectrum of fields. Professional skills like communication, advocacy, and ethics will be developed throughout the course.Â
The course will consist of lecture, discussion, and simulation exercises. Because ADR is fundamentally different than litigation, to best understand ADR simulation exercises provide an opportunity to see and participate in ADR. Simulations in this course include arbitration, mediation, and negotiation. They reinforce the skills necessary to consider all sides and consequences in a workplace dispute and will include instructor feedback.