Dear In Practice,
I spent the past year working with two members of a functional team who, with my assistance, have gone from being avowed enemies to collaborating colleagues. They landed in my office after their supervisor suggested the ombuds office as a resource for their escalating relational tensions.
Deadline extended for responses to Sunday, January 25th, 2026.
Dear In Practice,
by Reese R(ai)mos
Director - University Ombuds Office, Virginia Tech
To understand where we’re heading, it helps to look back. Two decades ago, I read Ray Kurzweil’s The Singularity Is Near, where he predicted an exponential rise in technology that would culminate in artificial and human intelligence merging around 2045. Some called him unrealistic; others, like Bill Gates, praised his foresight. Whether you see him as a visionary or a dreamer, there’s no denying that AI is rapidly reshaping our world, and, for Ombuds, our profession.
Rather than debate the timing of the “singularity,” it’s more pressing to examine what AI is already doing to our practice. Across fields, technology is transforming how information is created, managed, and used. In July 2025, for example, a robot trained solely on surgical videos autonomously performed a major phase of a gallbladder removal at Johns Hopkins. That’s no longer science fiction, it’s our present.
As Ombuds, we often find ourselves supporting individuals and groups working in high-stakes, cross-functional, and/or interdisciplinary environments. These spaces can offer tremendous opportunities for innovation. These environments also frequently bring the interpersonal and structural challenges that lead people to our doors. Researchers, in particular, often work within complex collaborations that span departments, institutions, cultures, and differing funding expectations. When roles, expectations, or communication norms are unclear, relational strain can quickly appear. Today's complex research challenges demand effective teams, yet researchers rarely receive training in teamwork skills crucial for collaborative success. How to Succeed at Collaborative Research: A Practical Guide for Teams (L. Michelle Bennett, Howard Gadlin, and Sawsan Khuri (2025)) is a resource for us as Ombuds to help us understand and support those researchers that may come to our office.
Specifically, this book provides guidance that may help us support researchers with tools to build and sustain effective teams. Drawing on organizational psychology, team science and the authors’ own experience, it offers concrete practices for fostering collaborative innovation, managing diverse perspectives and achieving high-impact outcomes. The book is intended for researchers, administrators and facilitators seeking to build high-performing teams. with a special focus on enabling researchers to work effectively across different disciplines, organizations, and sectors to meet the evolving demands of complex research projects.
Dear In Practice,
I’m confused about what to do when visitors copy or blind copy me on emails without warning or explanation. I respect visitor self-determination, and I typically avoid intervening absent an explicit agreement with the visitor about why and how I would do so.
From IOA's Communications Committee,
Every October, Ombuds Day offers an opportunity to highlight the valuable role Ombuds play in organizations, communities, and institutions. Whether you’re an organizational ombuds, classical ombuds, or advocate for the profession, the day is a chance to spread awareness, educate the public, and showcase the positive impact of Ombuds.
The good news? You don’t need a big budget to make a big impact. Here are some low-cost and creative ways Ombuds can celebrate Ombuds Day and help others understand the role:
Dear In Practice,
In my role as ombuds, I regularly offer workshops on navigating conflict, effective communication, and related topics. I love working with groups and have also had occasion to facilitate listening sessions, restorative circles, and other group processes. I see these as important opportunities for capacity building and also as a way to more publicly add value within my organization. Sometimes these services are requested in response to ongoing climate concerns or after a challenging incident within a department. At times, attendance is required. I’ve drawn a line and declined to provide my organization with the names of those who attend these events, but the very fact that I’m working with what feels like a captive audience makes me uneasy. I felt similarly when I was in the academic sector and would sometimes be asked to join a faculty member’s class to lead a restorative intervention with students. Is it ethical for an ombuds to lead or facilitate processes where those in attendance are required to be there?
It’s been a year since In Practice published our first column. We are thrilled that what started as a conversation among colleagues has developed into a lively public forum discussing the ethical dilemmas we often face as ombuds. The interest in the discussion is clear as the column’s posts regularly receive the largest readership on The Independent Voice blog.
We were pleased to learn that the column’s contents are prompting important real-time conversations in ombuds program staff meetings, one-on-one mentoring sessions, graduate studies classrooms, and at ombuds-related forums. Engagement was our goal - and we hope for even more going forward.
Dear In Practice,
I have held a range of roles over the twenty years I’ve worked for my institution. Prior to my appointment as ombuds, I was a center director (supervising a small staff,) a student program liaison (supervising students working on undergraduate research projects,) and a faculty leadership development consultant (helping faculty navigate leadership and career progression concerns.) Since becoming an ombuds, I have been contacted by former students, faculty colleagues, and direct reports, asking me to serve as a reference. I feel awkward about all of the requests, although each has its own unique context: sometimes the requester is still affiliated with my institution, sometimes they are not; sometimes the opportunity being sought is internal and sometimes it’s external; sometimes the person asking is someone I’ve supervised and other times it’s someone I’ve come to know through other means. I’ve even had a request from a fellow ombuds, whom I’ve never worked with, to be a reference for an ombuds role they’ve applied for. While I feel flattered that my opinion of others seems to be valued, I don’t know where to draw the line. As an ombuds, are there circumstances under which me providing a reference is ethical and when do I “just say no?”
Dear In Practice,
As an ombuds, I am committed to being non-judgmental and accessible. I firmly believe these values are essential to my work. Still, there have been times when I’ve been faced with a situation where I felt continued services were no longer appropriate or productive.
Dear In Practice,
I know that customer surveys are considered a best practice in most service sectors. Almost every interaction I have with a service professional (or even a website chatbot) will be followed by a survey about my satisfaction with the provider or my experience. Personally, I find these surveys annoying and seldom respond.
Dear In Practice,
In a recent virtual visitor meeting, I looked at my reflection and realized I was not only wearing a shirt embroidered with my organization’s logo but also drinking from one of our organization’s mugs. Thank goodness I had temporarily deactivated the virtual background that prominently features our organization’s logo and which all employees are now strongly encouraged to use.
We hope you have enjoyed the In Practice columns featured in the Independent Voice. If you have not had a chance to read through them all, we invite you to take the time and review the columns posted below. We also encourage further dialogue around these dilemmas and invite your thoughts and insights within the comment section of each posting.
We recognize that you may have experienced dilemmas in your practice that would be helpful to discuss with your colleagues. In Practice readers are invited to submit their own practice-related dilemmas for possible future publication. Dilemma narratives of under 200 words can be submitted by email to: [email protected]. Please note that dilemma submissions may be edited for length and clarity and are published without attribution. Editors will select dilemmas for publication based on a variety of factors, including relevance across sectors, focus on practice, and the likelihood that the dilemma will engage readers in novel or nuanced analysis of ombuds practice.
Over the past year, several visitors have expressed values or views that are absolutely repugnant to me. These visitors usually come in with a familiar organizational concern and then out comes hateful speech. They have come from across the organizational spectrum and include leaders who have significant power and authority.
Their disrespect towards others is expressed in various ways - crude innuendo about how a female colleague got a promotion; racist nicknames; contempt for the ideas, beliefs, or identities of co-workers; and even cruel remarks about a person’s disability.
I’m a new ombuds and am surprised by how many visitors call my office in a state of distress, with situations they describe as “an emergency.” I feel an internal pressure in those moments to make space immediately on my calendar – space I really don’t have – and I sometimes find myself working into the evenings and on weekends to accommodate these unexpected demands, in addition to my other responsibilities. I no longer have time for many activities I enjoy and that support my health and well-being (like exercising) and calls outside of business hours are impacting my time with my family. I pursued this role because I find purpose in helping others but I’m starting to wonder where the line is between service and altruistic narcissism – I don’t want to cross it.
Emergency Calls as Opportunities
As an Ombuds, I regularly look for tools to add to my practice that help me engage effectively with those I serve. Recently, I was introduced to behavioral research-based reflective practice tools that I could use in my regular routine of reflection and practice. The Structured Reflective Instrument (SRI) provided a comprehensive framework for working through those tough cases that linger in my mind as an ombuds. Using this framework and the thoughtful lines of inquiry allows me to constructively work through my individual engagements with visitors in my office. As an ombuds working in an office of one, I believe it is critical to look for various types of frameworks for reflection to help us work through those times when we feel challenged by the cases we are presented with so we can ensure that our approach remains rooted in the proven mental models that we use to engage in our work. Following the training, I reached out to the program facilitators, Michael and Tzofnat, to see if they could share a bit about their reflective work and the SRI with our IOA colleagues. - Bryan Hanson
The Structured Reflective InstrumentBy Tzofnat Peleg Baker and Michael Lang,
As third-party interveners, we navigate through complex and strenuous circumstances, where intense tensions and high emotions are the norm. The diverse concerns and goals of the parties and visitors we assist are often implicit, making them challenging to identify and express. To effectively address these invisible undercurrents that drive destructive conflict, we must constantly evolve and learn as professionals.
By Martina Peskoller-Fuchs
Ombudsperson, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL),
As ombuds practitioners, we often encounter workplace conflicts that seem intractable. Today, I'd like to explore a powerful approach to conflict resolution rooted in Viktor Frankl's logotherapy and further developed by Elisabeth Lukas. This meaning-centered approach offers valuable tools for helping our visitors break free from cycles of conflict and find paths to personal growth and improved relationships.[1]
I believe this approach can be understood and applied effectively regardless of whether one fully subscribes to logotherapy or has an in-depth understanding of Viktor Frankl's teachings. The core principles of personal growth, freedom, values, and meaning that underpin this approach are universal concepts found in many philosophical and psychological traditions. As such, this approach can be valuable for practitioners from diverse backgrounds and theoretical orientations.
I am an attorney who has been working in the ADR field for more than a decade - and as an organizational ombuds for the last several years. In my email signature and on my business cards I use the postnominal, “J.D.” I work in academia where terminal degrees are the “coin of the realm,” however at times my J.D. seems to have created specific expectations on the part of visitors or leaders within my organization. As an ombuds, would it be better to not include this mention of my law degree? I have the same question about other credentials - such as LCSW and coaching certifications. Are those best left off signatures and business cards as well?
By Julie Muroff,
Ombuds Director - Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Janelia Research Campus
Last week, while serving as a guest moderator for the OmbudsLinked discussion forum on LinkedIn, I made a request to our ombuds community: to consider collectively launching #WellnessWednesdays. As ombuds, we may be navigating turmoil in our workplace and trauma in our visitors, on top of other tensions in our lives and in the world. Among other considerations, those circumstances can make us vulnerable to burnout syndrome, a work-related toll on emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing. That vulnerability has been highlighted by the global mental health crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Other fields, including medicine and law, have acknowledged those concerns and are promoting initiatives to address them.
Likewise, I have appreciated the attention to self-care that has been emphasized in our ombuds community, in particular during conference sessions and other gatherings, especially during the pandemic. While it is beyond the scope of ombuds practice to diagnose or treat mental health issues, I also have appreciated the attention to wellbeing by visitors in my casework, consistent with a recent survey of several academic ombuds offices in Texas. Given all above, I went back to school to bolster my toolkit of evidence-based strategies to advance the wellbeing of ombuds and our visitors, organizations, and field with a focus on interventions from positive psychology.
