Toward the Activist Ombudsman: An Introduction

Abstract

This introduction frames the articles in this mini‐colloquy on the work of the Office of the Ombudsman at the National Institutes of Health, Center for Cooperative Resolution (OO/CCR). This office is unique in its size, experience, and approach to the work of the organizational ombudsman. Through this series of articles, we share our understandings of the potential for the role of the organizational conflict management specialists called ombudsmen and to assist other organizations and practitioners as they consider and enact similar roles within their workplaces.

State of Knowledge: Conflict Coaching Theory, Application, and Research

“…Upon consideration of Casey's () work in tracing the history of the ombuds field, Brinkert () suggested that informal coaching by some ombuds was occurring at least as early as the 1970s. Gadlin (, 398), possibly the dominant contemporary authority in the ombuds field, recently reiterated this view in writing that some ombuds were using the term coaching to describe initial meetings with guests “well before the current blossoming of various sorts of coaches.”…”

“…It has been acknowledged that most first ombuds sessions are basically coaching sessions (Gadlin ), and the challenges of learning the organizational ombuds role include learning the role of coach (Myers and Witzler ). Levine‐Finley () presented the general coaching model used within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of the Ombudsman, Center for Cooperative Resolution (OO/CCR).…”