results in government
Supporting Government
Employing a wide array of experience with state-of-the-art techniques, Sharp Resolutions has helped local and federal agencies resolve conflicts, reach consensus or avoid costly legal disputes. While each dispute is unique, below is a sample of governments who found solutions working with Sharp Resolutions.
These case study summaries are provided as informational only. Actual results depend on many factors. Contact us for more information. To protect confidentiality, names in some summaries have been changed or removed.
- Dangerous Thoroughfare In Neighborhood Is Improved After Facilitated Dialogues with City Council After the killing of numerous neighborhood pets and the threatening the lives and safety of their children, a Southern California neighborhood had had enough. Following a series of complaints, City Council officials set up facilitated dialogues with the neighborhood to discuss the situation resulting in the installation of speed bumps to dramatically decrease the speed of the cars travelling through this route.
- Mediator Helps Traumatized Employee and Federal Agency Resolve Challenging Conflict When an employee developed severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from an assault on foreign soil while working for the United States government, a Sharp Resolution mediator was brought in to help the employee and the agency work through the very difficult employment issues. Multiple sessions with the traumatized employee, her supervisor and a human resources manager helped everyone sensitively address the horrible event and create an agreement to provide for the current and future medical, psychological and financial needs of the employee.
- Urban Mayor Uses Facilitator to Help Get Large Stores to Come In to Low Income Neighborhood A common dilemma in very low income neighborhoods is the very difficult challenge of luring large supermarkets, superstores, restaurant franchises and other businesses to open there. Low income communities not only need the lower prices offered by larger chains, they also urgently need the jobs that would develop locally because of their openings. A large urban city Mayor engaged facilitators to organize and conduct monthly meetings to gather the community’s viewpoints and assist the Mayor’s office in creating a plan that resulted in major commercial chains opening in the neighborhood.
- Residents, Environmental Groups and Businesses Use Facilitation to Resolve Objections to New Quarry Following several years of unsuccessful legal and regulatory challenges, one of the country’s largest highway builders, Granite Construction Company, commenced construction of a quarry at Rosemary’s Mountain in Fallbrook, California to mine aggregate for road and bridge construction. At this initial construction stage, Sharp Resolutions was engaged to facilitate a series of dialogues between Fallbrook community residents, environmental organizations, local businesses and others with Granite Construction Company representatives. The focus of these dialogues was to address a wide variety of issues raised by these groups and the community regarding: air quality health concerns from dust created by the blasting and crushing of rock; traffic congestion issues related to the required widening of highway SR-76; water pollution questions; concerns about noise levels during blasting; and, others. In monthly meetings, Sharp Resolutions expert facilitators guided these concerned residents, community groups, environmentalists, business representatives and Granite Construction through a series of public forum dialogues to assist them in identifying and organizing the primary issues and then mediating consensus solutions to the address them – particularly those relating to pressing concerns about air quality health and highway widening construction. This consensus building process began in 2008 and is still underway; minutes of all dialogues and meetings, air quality monitoring reports and other information relating the quarry’s activities can be viewed in more detail at www.rosemarysquarry.com.
- Nonprofit Develops Their Strategic Marketing Plan with Aid from a Facilitator With a sizable government contract running out, a large Southern California nonprofit organization enlisted Sharp Resolution facilitators to conduct strategic planning for new marketing opportunities. Over two days, the facilitation team helped key leaders in the nonprofit and selected independent contractors in a step-by-step process to: identity their primary strengths; brainstorm multiple business options their individual and collective talent could offer their markets; select the preferred options; organize the company staff and independent contractors to develop the selections; and begin the chosen specific marketing plan process.
- Custom Dispute Management System Helps Middle School With Multiple Conflicts The complex structure of schools creates a large array of conflict and challenges. Rather than continuing to try to address the problems one at a time – and often ineffectively and inefficiently – a Southern California middle school was determined to find a comprehensive way of handling them. A dispute management system was specifically designed for this school after initial interviews, assessments and evaluations were conducted with school staff. The system created included: staff training in communication; school-wide ground rules for meetings; facilitated meetings to resolve current issues (e.g., use of a multipurpose room and bell schedules); and, a mediation to resolve a simmering dispute between the Physical Education Department and the Principals’ office.
- Law School Enlists Facilitator to Resolve Conflicts Within Education Program Contract
A California law school that administered due process proceedings on behalf of the state of California for over 20 years found itself in the middle of disagreements among disputants about its hearing process. After trying to resolve the issues directly with less than fully effective results, the school engaged a facilitator to conduct several meetings with the highly contentious stakeholders. After working through the strongly felt perspectives, the facilitator helped the disputants create a plan to modify the hearings to address the concerns, needs and interests of all. - National Park Turns to Mediation to Help Smooth Transition of New Operations As often happens in large organizations – be they business, government or nonprofits—the hiring or transfer of high level managers can lead to conflict with current managerial staff. Such was the case in a national park when a second in command transferred in and almost immediately clashed with the head of human resources there. After trying to address the conflict directly for several months without success, the director of the park turned to mediation. After two days of patient listening and helping the conflicting parties identify their primary needs and interests, the Sharp Resolution mediator facilitated the creation of an mutually satisfactory agreement covering future interactions and conduct, timelines and performance evaluation mechanisms.
- Consensus Building Gets Leaders of Autism Now to Lobbying Plan A group of about 100 leaders of Autism Now, the national source resource and informational center for autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities, engaged a facilitator to conduct a consensus building process to create a plan for lobbying in California for research and service funds. Through a series of small and large group facilitated sessions, the group – with very diverse interests, needs and goals – coalesced around a lobbying plan for the coming year.
- Mediator Helps Traumatized Employee and Federal Agency Resolve Challenging Conflict When an employee developed severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from an assault on foreign soil while working for the United States government, a Sharp Resolution mediator was brought in to help the employee and the agency work through the very difficult employment issues. Multiple sessions with the traumatized employee, her supervisor and a human resources manager helped everyone sensitively address the horrible event and create an agreement to provide for the current and future medical, psychological and financial needs of the employee.
