Cover Illustration: Tiara Kobayashi-Bautista.
The Conflict and Peace Specialist can be a resource that provides a neutral, private, and independent resource to assist the UHM community in navagating conflicts, disputes, or complaints on an informal basis. We serve as a conflict coach, educator, intermediary, mediator, facilitator, information gatherer, or simply as an active listener. The UHM community is welcome to voice concerns, evaluate situations, and identify options on how to proceed.
Conflict Coaching
Conflict coaching is a focus on assisting either an individual or a team to work through a specific conflict and/or learning conflict management skills to be more effective in handling conflict generally. The conflict coach works with you (or your team) to determine what your concern is regarding your dispute, others’ role in the dispute, and your role in the dispute, along with your desired outcome. Once that has been assessed, the coach can provide support, emotional guidance, and practical teachings about how to move more effectively in and through this conflict, and, ideally, in future conflicts.
Facilitation
Facilitation is a collaborative way to manage small or large group discussions to assist groups of people to identify and solve problems, make decisions, and complete tasks. Facilitation encourages a cooperative environment so that the group can fulfill its purpose as easily as possible. Facilitation creates a climate that invites creative thinking, protects individuals from criticism, and generates ideas so the group can reach its goals.
Honest Dialogue
Honest dialogue involves structured, sustained, face-to-face meetings of individuals representing two or more social identity groups who have a history of conflict or potential conflict. They are intended to foster increased understanding of commonalities and differences between and among groups, develop dialogue skills to better communicate and work through conflicts, and form alliances and empower groups and individuals to take collective action for social change.
Mediation
Mediation is an informal, private process in which an impartial third party — the mediator — helps people: 1) Talk through their differences, 2) Explore and negotiate options, and 3) Craft agreements that are fair, realistic, and durable. Mediation is voluntary and requires flexibility. The mediators ensure a safe and respectful process for everyone involved.
Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is a deliberate, disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it. The components of every strategic plan will vary according to an organization’s culture and needs but generally include: 1) Explanation of the planning process, 2) Foundational information (an institution’s mission, vision, values), 3) What your organization wants to achieve (goals, strategic issues, objectives, etc.), 4) How your organization will achieve its goals (strategies, tactics, actions, etc.), and 5) How your organization will measure success.
Illustrations: Tiara Kobayashi-Bautista.