Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution

The Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution serves to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Department's operations, enhance communication, and strengthen relationships within the Department and with all customers, constituents, private organizations and businesses, Federal, State, Tribal and local government entities, and local communities with which the Department interacts to accomplish its work. CADR is committed to building and modeling conflict management competencies and integrating the appropriate use of public participation, collaborative problem-solving and alternative dispute resolution processes in all areas of the Department's work.

CADR provides a fair, impartial, and confidential resource to discuss your concerns and explore different options to help you anticipate and resolve conflicts and disputes, build stronger relationships and achieve more effective and lasting results. CADR offers information and assistance on problem solving options including, but not limited to:

Consultation

This is an informal one on one meeting or discussion with an impartial neutral third party to allow a venue for deliberation, discussion or decision by an employee or manager considering their options.

Conflict Coaching

A one on one voluntary and confidential process that combines ADR and coaching principles. An individualized method for helping one person develop skills and strategies to constructively manage interpersonal conflicts.

Leadership Coaching

Leadership coaching provides personalized learning for busy executives and employees and is used to address both immediate, tactical issues and strategic, long -term issues or opportunities – and deepen their learning of themselves and their surroundings in the process.

Training and Team-building

Modules exist on conflict management skills, difficult conversations, communication skills, cultural competency, introduction to interest based negotiations, basic and advanced mediation skills and basic facilitation skills and additional training can be identified or designed based on specific needs.

Facilitated conversation

This process involves an impartial third party to assist in a difficult conversation to surface tensions or issues of concern, clarify misunderstandings, and improve communication and working relationships. It is less formal than a mediation process.

Mediation

A confidential process in which an impartial practitioner (mediator) who has no decision-making authority assists parties in a dispute to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of the issues.

Facilitation

A process where an impartial practitioner (facilitator) assists to improve the flow of information between parties or helps a group move through a problem-solving process to reach group decisions, achieve stated goals, or to resolve or improve a situation. A facilitator generally becomes less involved in the substantive issues than a mediator.

Negotiated Rulemaking

Sanctioned by the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1996, in a negotiated rulemaking process the agency involves interested parties who will be impacted by the rule in a negotiation process to develop a draft rule.

Situation or Conflict Assessment

Conducted by a neutral party, an assessment serves to identify stakeholders and key issues, analyze the feasibility of moving forward in a collaborative process including the feasibility of reaching agreement, and design an approach for proceeding.

About Our Website

This website serves as a basic resource to the public and Federal employees interested in the Department's efforts and policies related to alternative dispute resolution processes, conflict management systems, negotiated rulemaking, environmental conflict resolution (ECR) and public participation and engagement. For more information, please contact the CADR office. DOI employees are invited to access the CADR Sharepoint site for more information on CADR and CORE PLUS.