IOA Announces Additional Training Programs at 2020 Conference

The International Ombudsman Association has added to its pre-conference training programs before its 2020 annual conference in Portland, Oregon. In addition to the signature training for new Ombuds, "Foundations," and a two-day course for experienced professionals, IOA is will offer five half- or full-day courses on Sunday, March 29, 2020:

Full-Day Session

Working with Groups: Developing Your Ombuds Facilitation Skills, Instructors: Rita Callahan and Tyler Smith

Participatory, skill-building workshop to identify, practice, and develop practical facilitation skills to work with groups. Explore how to identify groups that may benefit from group processes to identify issues, explore options, clarify next steps, or develop as a team. Practice facilitation skills to prepare for group process, identify group activities that support engagement, blend varied agenda items, and support groups to get their desired results.

Half-Day Sessions

Empowering Ombudsmen to Help Solve the Problem of Abrasive Leadership, Instructor: Laura Crawshaw

This presentation will describe how the Ombudsman role can be enhanced Working from their ethical foundation ombudsmen are perfectly positioned to fulfill the roles of 1) intervention educator, training leadership on how to manage unacceptable workplace conduct, and 2) specialist coach for abrasive leaders, helping them develop insight into their management approaches. The time has come to stop the suffering caused by abrasive leadership, and ombudsmen should be empowered to “help good people stay.”

Reading Between the Lines of Culture: Developing Intercultural Empathy, Instructor(s): Jennifer Mahoney

Understanding your own culture is critical to being open to understanding others. The process of intercultural empathy starts at understanding acceptance and how this can give way to being. This highly interactive, fun, and reflective workshop will give you opportunities to understand cultural empathy, to experience and celebrate where you are on the cultural empathy pathway, to work with indigenous concepts of relationship, and give you tools for working towards where you might like to go.

Understanding the Ombuds Role: What It Is, How It Works, & Why It Helps Organizations Thrive, Instructor(s): TBD

This half-day course is designed to help people curious about or unfamiliar with the concept of an ombuds understand the role and its unique benefits for all types of organizations. Co-taught by practicing ombuds from diverse sectors, the course straightforwardly explains what ombuds are and do, why they add value, and how they "fit" with and enhance an organization's existing systems of management, human resources, compliance, leadership, and learning. Additionally, the course will address how to analyze an organization's suitability for ombuds services and how to approach establishing ombuds services, including talking with decision-makers and building coalitions of support.

"Credible Review Processes": Assessing and Improving Your Ombuds Office, Instructor(s): Timothy Hedeen and Mary Rowe

[Description forthcoming.]

Registration for the courses is now open. (IOA Pre-Conf Sessions.)

Related posts: IOA Opens Registration for Pre-Conference Training in Portland; IOA Announces Agenda for 2020 Conference in Portland.