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 Instrument
By 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.
While the nature of the mediation environment changes and is uncertain, similar emotional and implicit psychological-relational dynamics underlie all cases. Reflective work can help mediators grow their capabilities to understand and help parties address such invisible issues. Reflection has been discussed and recommended for many decades as beneficial for learning in various fields. However, empirical research on the effectiveness of reflection for improving practice is lacking, though it has increased over the past decade and a half. To learn about the potential benefit of reflection for improving conflict professionals' work, I have researched behavioral science studies in psychology, skills acquisition, expertise, and social cognition, as well as findings of empirical studies in management and medicine. All lead to a particular way of reflective practice (RP).
A large body of research on expertise shows that exceptional performance is not simply determined by the length of experience but by the intensity of cognitive, reflective endeavor and the attention given to improving specific behaviors. Reflection provides learning opportunities that can lead to behavioral changes, resulting in superior performance. RP is the most effective compared to other learning methods for enhancing learning, clinical problem-solving, and diagnoses in medicine. This multidisciplinary empirical behavioral research is translated into a particular approach of RP, as manifested in pragmatic reflective tools like the SRI. It is structured with specific questions, inviting intense cognitive reflection, and should be used systematically and practiced jointly as a shared experience with a peer learning group.
Michael Lang and I have worked with conflict professionals and third-party interveners who attest to the usefulness of such a goal-oriented, structured approach to RP for improving their services. Systematically practicing them help surface implicit and highly emotional social-psychological concerns that despite struggling with them, parties decline to express. By engaging in these deeper issues, this approach to RP ensures meaningful conversations over repeating ping-pong movements between positions and premature search for solutions. When third-party interveners engage in such structured reflective frameworks systematically, habitual practices are reconsidered and gradually shifted and improved.
Why do such reflective tools help the ombuds?
These tools are deeply rooted in the belief that professionalism is a continuous path of learning and improvement. RP shared with colleagues and practiced systematically exposes Ombuds to diverse perspectives and supports continuous evolvement. It encourages adopting new practices and builds a more comprehensive understanding of reality. Interveners are encouraged to focus not just on how good they are at present but, more importantly, on how excellent they can become. By incorporating implicit aspects in their practice, interveners provide a more holistic service addressing parties' fuller range of concerns beyond the typical tangible, transactional exchange.
This goal-oriented reflective framework can complement the IOA Standards of Practice. While the IOA principles and values ensure a sound Ombuds service by structurally orienting the Ombuds on HOW to intervene, the four-dimensional SRI framework structurally orients interveners to WHAT to attend—specific invisible social-psychological factors fueling destructive conflict but typically overlooked. With a structured format and thoughtfully designed questions, the instrument encourages users to systematically consider underlying issues. Together, they nurture quality interventions for visitors and parties to engage intentionally, purposefully, and meaningfully.
More background and information about our RP approach can be found in this publication.