Coalition of Federal Ombudsmen Posts 2013 Meeting Minutes

CoFO has posted meeting minutes for January through July 2013.  These minutes update the work of many Federal Ombuds programs.  here are some of the highlights.


January 2013

• Does your agency do mediations and is the Ombuds involved?
• What does the Ombuds do at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?
• The trend towards open space environments and the impact the Ombuds
• Handling "frequent fliers"

February 2013

• Functioning as an employee and Ombuds
• Update on the Interagency ADR Working Group
• Tips for upward feedback
•  What does the Ombuds do at the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, Department of the Interior (Brian Bloch)?
• Discussion of Ombuds writing skills 

March 2013

• Handling confidentiality when using interpreters
• What does the Ombuds do at the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Inspector General (Tom Zrubek)? 

April 2013

• Guest speaker: Steve Cordery, Corporate Ombudsman, United Technologies Corp., UK 
• What does the Ombuds do at the Federal Reserve (Michele Fennell)?
• Ombuds space arrangements and ensuring confidentiality 

 May 2013

• Demonstrating relevance with small numbers of data
• Provide case examples when describing situations
• What does the Ombuds do at the Transportation Security Administration (Claire Heffernan and Jackie Hoffman)?
• Technologies that may help track cases and constituent contacts  

June 2013

• Closing cases and counting visitors
• Request from the Interagency ADR Working Group on ADR programs 
• Distinguishing an existing Ombuds office from the new Whistleblower Ombuds function
• Using academic externs for short-term research projects

July 2013

• Tips on conveying difficult information
• Successful outcomes with group interventions 
• What do the Internal and External Ombuds do at the FDIC (Robert Harris and Robert Brown)?
• Ombuds experiences working with unions 

Generally a few dozen people attend CoFO's monthly meetings.  (CoFO Minutes.)

Related posts: CoFO Continues Work on Thorny Issues Facing Government Ombuds; COFO Collaborating With Federal Agencies Creating New Ombuds Programs; Coalition of Federal Ombudsmen Sets Tenth Annual Conference; Coalition of Federal Ombuds Announces 2013 Conference.