The "real world" of managing in public service has always been impacted by change, conflict, and trauma. This is what the challenge theorists in PA and org theory were trying to tell the classic theorists. To pretend we are insulated from the realities of change, conflict, and trauma (globally, locally, organizationally, and personally) is to completely miss the human component of all we do.

Note: We are each individuals with our own life experiences, work experiences, histories, and world views. Everything I say today (and in this entire class) can have an exception, a "well, but..." response to consider. Remember I'm not here to give you a cookbook. I'm here to push you to practice being the manager you want to be and foster self-awareness.

Note: Have a plan. This is possibly the most important tip for managing and leading with change, conflict, and trauma.

For me, just talking about change, conflict, and trauma can bring up anxiety. Whether you have PTSD or not, I want to encourage everyone to pause for just a moment and think through what you are going to if your anxiety rises to a level today whereby you can no longer effectively participate in the class.

Have a plan. You may need to give me a subtle hand sign like "time out" or you may need to casually step out of the room for a little while. Do what works for you. You will not be judged. It's ok to be uncomfortable; it's not ok to shutdown completely to learning or be harmed. Only you know where those lines are. [PAUSE]

Managing Change

Why change? Explain the reason the change is occurring.
Avoid referring to change generically. The organization may be changing when you think it is just a policy or department or team or individual changing.

What? Identify and discuss what change is appropriate. (structural, policy, personnel, environment- internal/ external, behavioral)

When? Plainly state when the change is happening. (constant, immediate, next month, next year)

Self-awareness tips for managing change:

Your role? Have you clearly stated your role in initiating and leading the change? Have you given the impression that "you can handle it"? People may assume you have broad shoulders and can carry the weight of the change all by yourself as a manager. Be mindful about the impression you give off.

• Decide how much you want to promote a personal attachment to the suggested change (could be positive or detrimental) Be clear about your place in the change. Are you a catalyst for change or a manager of the change process?
• Approach the change in a positive and proactive way. Sell it. If you start out relating to the change as a horrible idea then it will likely have horrible results.
• Be open to the suggested change, changing. Just like with project implementation, you may get halfway through the process and realize this is not good for the org.
• Set clear goals (not specific objectives to start, you can do this later- how you reach the goal will depend upon a number of constraints- [money, time, pressures]- and approaches- [strategic planning vs. immediate]) and define the scope. Is this a big or little change? Arguably, the more people know, the less change averse they will be.
• Praise the change when things are going well
• Coach to change when colleagues need help. Don't reprimand. (note: the word colleagues is used here intentionally rather than subordinates or employees.)
• Adopt a change mindset. Be aware that change is happening and work will not be business as usual. How might this change affect other programs in place? How will it affect the attitude of the people involved?

Change can cause conflict, but so can rigid structure

Each question you ask will probably change responses to previous questions and require the need to re-ask/"recylce" the previous question.

When? Is a crucial first question in your thinking and in the conflict dialogue. 1) You need to understand when the original conflict occurred [6 years ago or just now], 2) Often helpful to address the conflict as promptly as possible.

Who? Address the conflict as close to the source as possible. Conflict can typically only be resolved at its source.

What? Not only understanding what the conflict is about, but asking if the conflict source is human, policy, financial, or technical.

Drill down to mineral rights: 1) what is most pressing about the issue, 2) clarify exactly what the issue is and what it is not, 3) determine the current impact, 4) determine future impacts, 5) own up to how you contributed to the issue, 6) describe an ideal outcome, 7) commit to action.

Why? Typically you will want to understand why the conflict occurred or why it is ongoing. However, the real "why" may take quite some time to be revealed and even longer to be reconciled.

“Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.” - Twain

Self-awareness tip for conflict resolution: be mindful of your gut reaction to “conflict”. You may have positive, negative, or neutral feelings tied to these concepts/experiences. With this personal perspective in mind, you will need to choose a path that works for you.

There are many ways in which you can respond to conflict. Often times a multi-pronged approach is important. Meaning: do something visibly and less visibly: example, communicate with the individual or team in person, but also do not talk bad about the people or the conflict to others (silent act).

Visibly: be sure the individual or team are aware of what they may need to work on and then develop a 30-60-90 day action plan (agreement) for solutions. Simultaneously, less visibly, document the conversations you are having- when you made them aware, subsequent meetings/e-mails/reviews. Creating a paper trail is something you can do behind the scenes to manage conflict.

Action plans: (performance improvement, professional development, growth contract)
if a team member or client is failing in any one area, you need to create a plan of action to address it. Developed together- map out concrete objectives and paths to obtain those objectives with dated benchmarks.
Action plan table 1: (columns) areas for improvement, rows: obstacles, actions items, due dates, resources required, timeframe for re-assessment.
Action plan table 2: shared goals (columns), rows: strategy, evidence of goal accomplished, resources or support needed, target dates.

Who are you trying to de-escalate? Yourself? client, boss, co-worker.

Where is this happening? In public, in a meeting, over the phone, online, in private?

When is this happening? In the midst of a crisis or not? Is this reoccurring conflict or a one off?

Why are you trying to de-escalate? Why would you not want to de-escalate?

Self-awareness tips for de-escalation:

1) Know what your goals are for what you want/need to get out of the situation before going into it. These may be guided by your organization's mission statement, the task at hand, or policy. You may want to state these goals clearly at the onset of the conflict in order to ensure you have "expressed your intentions" and all parties are clear.
2) If possible, know your audience. Be aware of how others prefer to receive feedback or manage conflict.
3) Decide who you want to be at work. Are you willing to be a change agent? Are you willing/able to accept the potential results/consequences of conflict?

De-escalation Techniques

• State your goals, know your audience, decide how attached you are to the outcome.
• Don’t embarrass others. Give people an "out" from the conversation or to responding in the moment if it is appropriate.
• Ask questions instead of making statements: “Can you help me understand...” “That’s really interesting, can you explain the situation/your concern a little more?” “For you, what might be the ideal resolution to this situation?” “This matter is very important to me, may I have some time to think about it and get back to you?”
• Getting to yes? May or may not be the goal. This is not about "winning". The general rule of getting to yes is to get two generic "yes" replies and then the third yes will be automatic. However, trying to get a "yes" by asking "wouldn't you agree?" is pretty blatantly leading. Aim for questions about the weather or sports. Anything not related to the conflict. Goal is to show you have alignment with them on at least two things.

Adjust tone and level of your voice.
• Broken record of key point.
• Adjust body language to deflect energy (turn, lean back, show hands).
• Remind all involved that this is an ongoing dialogue. Lay the ground work for conflict resolution in every conversation. Each conversation builds on the previous one. You don’t start with a blank slate. Conflict will not be totally de-escalated or resolved in one conversation.

There are different definitions of trauma.

“an experience that causes physical, emotional, psychological distress or harm. Event that is perceived and experienced as a threat to one’s safety or to the stability of one’s world.”

“experiences that cause intense physical and psychological stress reactions, which could be a single event, multiple events, or a set of circumstances experienced by an individual as physically and emotionally harmful or threatening, and have long lasting effects to the individual.”

Historical trauma, Transgenerational trauma, ACEs: adverse childhood experiences

Different ways to experience trauma. Your employees may experience trauma in several ways.

Acute trauma. It is a traumatic event that often occurs without warning and over which the employee has no control. (accidents, getting injured, downsizing, lay-offs, violence or terrorism, whether in the workplace or the surrounding community)

Other forms of trauma include: Chronic trauma, episodic trauma (flashbacks/triggers), secondary/vicarious.

Coping mechanisms?
Relief humor?
Shock, numbness, denial?
Fear, anxiety?
Performance guilt? (didn't help others)
Dissociation?
Hypervigilance?
Inability to relax?
Loss of trust in others?
Avoidance of reminders of the trauma?
http://www.govtech.com/em/health/Trauma-and-How-It-Can-Adversely-Affect-the...

Why focus on trauma in a management class? Why should organizations care?
66% of the general population has been traumatized at some point. 80% of workers feel stressed on the job. When you combine a traumatic experience and stress, the risk for adverse workplace behaviors can be high.

When people know they can bring their pain to the office, they no longer have to expend energy trying to ignore or suppress it, and they can more easily and effectively get back to work. Absenteeism, behavioral issues, productivity.

Realize that your coping mechanisms may be other people's triggers.

Allow time and space to breathe if asked or if you see the "tells" of anxiety. (frozen face, tense muscles, repetitious motions with hands or legs, shaking, sweating/hot flashes, dilated pupils, looking down/no eye contact, dizzy, headaches)

Full information. If a co-worker asks questions it may be because they literally cannot move forward without knowing the info.

Resilience: using the recognition of being traumatized to grow/learn.

But how do you move into the mental capacity to learn? Safety: reinforce that what was happening is not happening in this moment. Options: remember your alternatives, you are not trapped.
Encourage hope without belittling reality, connect, share, time, self-care.

Remember that there is still a lot of stigma around trauma and that most of us had not had life circumstances to enjoy the luxury of even seeing ourselves as traumatized: our reality of danger or oppression simply is. Can't treat what you don't see. Can't name what you've never been given words for.

Have you ever felt completely safe? If so, how far back in your life do you have to go? If not, have you named why you've never felt safe? Do you recognize that as trauma?

Employee Assistance Programs can be useful. Pros and cons? Voluntary vs. mandated? Confidential? Real Costs?

Have their back. For me, trauma informed practices are very similar to allyship.

Empathy is not sympathy. It is compassion.

http://www.guidetoallyship.com/

The Don’ts
•Do not expect to be taught or shown. Take it upon yourself to use the tools around you to learn and answer your questions
•Do not participate for the gold medal in the Oppression Olympics
•Do not behave as though you know best
•Do not take credit for the labor of those who are marginalized and did the work before you stepped into the picture
•Do not assume that every member of a marginalized group feels oppressed


The Do’s
•Do be open to listening
•Do be aware of your implicit biases
•Do your research to learn more about the history of the struggle in which you are participating
•Do the inner work to figure out a way to acknowledge how you participate in oppressive systems
•Do the outer work and figure out how to change the oppressive systems
•Do amplify (online and when physically present) the voices of those without your privilege

Avoid nodding your head incessantly like a bobble head; this can make people feel rushed.

Avoid focusing on what you are going to say next. Your reply is not as important as creating space to listen.

Allow for silence. People will say more if you let them.

Listen to their story.