Focus on micro progression in solution focused mediation

New article by Gwenda Schlundt Bodien

Attending to micro progression is an important intervention in solution focused conflict resolution. Micro progression is the progression towards achieving positive goals, which participants show in a very small and subtle manner. By noticing micro progression and by acknowledging it, further progression is stimulated.

Can you detect the micro progression in the following dialogue?

Peter and Lee are in conflict with each other and are having a session with a solution focused coach to overcome their issues.

Peter: I have heard that Lee has said to another colleague of us that I am not to be trusted! If that is his view, then what he actually says is that I am a liar. I am not having it! These sorts of accusations is what makes him impossible to work with! This session is useless and doomed, because he just doesn’t want things to improve. I won’t stay if he doesn’t apologize!

Coach (looking at Peter): Ah…so you have heard that Lee has said that you are not to be trusted. And since you really want this session to be useful for improvements between the two of you, you find it important to address this issue first?

Peter: Yes, of course I don’t want to waste my time. If this issue is not resolved, this session is a complete waste of time. It can only be useful if Lee believes me when I say something! And I don’t want him to say to other people that I am not trustworthy!

Lee stumbles and says a few words, ending his sentence like this: I can’t remember what I said…I know I was upset when I spoke with our other colleague….

Coach (looking at Peter): How would you notice that addressing this topic today has not been a waste of time…that is been beneficial to further improvements between the two of you?

Peter (looking at Lee): Well..uh…if you are upset about something, why don’t you come to me…tell me…don’t gossip behind my back…

Lee: Yeah well…, when you hear something like that, from another colleague…why don’t you come to me? Instead of starting a session like this one in such a negative way… As if this helps us any…

Coach: So you both want this session to be worth while…leading to real improvements….That’s why you both are prepared to address difficult topics. Openly and honestly. You both prefer it when your colleague just sits down with you for a chat to ask questions and discuss topics…Is that correct?

Peter: Yes, without honesty we’ll never get where we want to be. I just want to be absolutely convinced you will address topics directly with me.. Now he just talks to every body but me…

Lee: Yeah…sure. But you have a tendency to get very angry very quickly…A week ago you said something I didn’t understand, and when I started to ask you about it you just got angry with me. That’s what upset me…that’s when I had to talk to my other colleague…I just don’t understand why you got so angry..

Coach: You would like to understand what Peter meant when he said what he said last week..and you want to discuss this in an open and constructive way…What would you like to ask him regarding this topic…?

Did you detect the micro progression? The first example of micro progression is where Peter says he is prepared to leave. His reason for this threat to leave is because he wants this session to be useful. The second example of micro progression is where both Lee and Peter agree that honesty is important to them. They both have a yes-set regarding honesty and talking about issues with each other instead of with other colleagues.

Because the progression is so small, we call it micro progression. Noticing micro progression and using it has a positive impact. A good way to use micro progression is to summarize what has been said, using slightly more positive words. This is called reframing. Re-framing means summarizing what has been said using just slightly more constructive words. These sorts of summaries have a mutualising effect. Mutualising means summarizing in such a way that all parties can agree with the summary. A solution focused coach adressess a common interest or a common good intention to which all parties say “yes”. These interventions help to make small progress in a conflict. Micro progression is a subtle and small platform to success.

An example of a solution focused intervention in a conflict resolution is the following. Suppose a solution focused coach works with a team of 8 people and one manager. The team members are in conflict with the team manager. The coach has been asked to talk to the team members first, then with the team manager and then with the team members and the team manager together. A solution focused intervention can be structured as follows:

Session with the team members

The coach starts with the team members, asking them the following questions:

1. Who are you, what work do you do?
2. What do you like most about your work?
3. How would you notice tomorrow that this day has been useful to you and the team?

The second question aims at giving team members the opportunity to talk about positive aspects of work. Within 5 minutes all team members talk about things that are important to them, things they enjoy and they are proud of. This provides a good platform to talk about their answers to question three, which often is a difficult question when people are problem focused.

In response to question three, at first people have a tendency to talk about things they do not want, things that go wrong. For example, team members start talking about everything their team manager does wrong. Listening to micro progression a is very important skill. A team member will something like this:”everybody is fed up, nobody wants this”. This comment is an example of micro progression. It is a negative comment, which has a positive opposite to it. Because; if nobody wants it like it is now, how does everybody want it to become?

A solution focused intervention to this micro progression is:

Yes, I certainly understand nobody wants the situation to stay like this. Suppose this day has helped to change things for the better, how would you notice that?

In a team of 8 the likelihood of one member to come up with an useful answer is quite high. When 6 team members say they don’t know, but one says he some ideas about a better future, this changes the focus of the conversation and helps everybody to start to expect a positive change is possible.

Often, when people start talking about how they would like things to be, small examples of previous successes are mentioned. For example, if one team member says:”the last couple of weeks the team manager tried a bit harder…”, then this is enough to build on. The solution focused coach might respond like this:

What did you notice that went better the last couple of weeks?

Some team members will have examples, others might stay silent and just listen to what their colleagues see that they don’t see (yet). The solution focused coach writes down the positive examples on a flip chart and responds modestly enthusiastic to positive examples. It is important not to be too enthusiastic in response to small examples of improvements, because of the solution focused coach is more positive than the team member, they will feel that the coach is trying to convince them. When people feel someone is trying to convince them, a reactance response will occur (Jack Brehm’s, theory of reactance). This means that people will try and regain their freedom by not agreeing with the coach.

After a patient and lengthy inquiry regarding what went a bit better the last couple of weeks, the solution focused coach can ask the following question:

Ah, I understand small things are a bit better the last couple of weeks. You will not want to loose those small improvements, I assume. So, can you tell me what doesn’t have to change? What is going well enough?

This intervention leads to more and more examples of what works well. People describe the desired future and start to prepare themselves for this desired future. The solution focused coach can ask:”what would be the benefit of this desired future for the team?”

A team session like this will take about an hour. The solution focused coach may well ask the team members, at the end of the team session: Will you please think about what you can do to help making the session with the team manager useful?

This intervention is called the interval intervention. This means that people are not pressed to give a constructive answer straight away, but instead they get time to let the question sink in and form their answers in their minds.


Session with the team manager

The session with the team manager follows a similar structure to the one with the team members. This session is a preparation for the team manager to reach a mindset in which he is expecting to and willing to achieve positive outcomes with the team. To help him reach this mindset it is important to acknowledge his perspective, to normalize his situation, to explore how he has been coping and to let him describe which positive changes he wants to achieve and when things were already a bit better in the past. All these interventions are aimed at helping him to create a positive expectation.

The following interventions can be used to achieve this:

Short acknowledging interventions
 I understand….
 That must be hard… .
 Sounds logical….can you tell me a bit more about this please..?
 I understand that that must be hard…!

Normalising
 Yes, I guess lots of people would find that hard
 Yes, that is completely understandable
 Yes, that makes sense/is logical
 Of course this is not what you want…..
 I can understand you want to change that…../I can imagine you would like that to be different…..

Leap frogging/jumping over a problem
 Suppose the problem is solved, what will be better then?
 Suppose the problem is solved, how would you notice that?
 What is the first thing that would tell you the problem has gone?

Focus on what the client wants to change
 What is it that you would like to change?
 What do you appreciate about the team? What works well? What would you like to keep how it is now?
 What do you want to be different? / What would you like to be different?

Exploring the desired success for the client
 What would you like to achieve?
 What would you want instead (of the problem)?
 How would you like things to be different?
 How do you like the situation to become?
 What would you want the future situation to look like?
 What could you do when the problem was solved?



Session with team manager and team members together

The next step is to facilitate a session with both the team members and the team manager. It is important to help both the team members and the team managers to stay focussed on the positive outcomes they are looking for. The solution focused coach helps to achieve this by letting the team members and the team manager talk about the desired future and the positive changes, however small, that have already been achieved. Very often arguing parties want to achieve the same positive future. Nobody likes to work in a negative environment and everybody wants to have a good time at work. The solution focused coach can help them see all the things they all want to happen. The solution focused coach summarizes what everybody wants to achieve (consensus intervention) like this:

You all want to leave the past behind and to move forward to become a better team…How would you notice you are becoming a better team?

The solution focused coach constantly explores what the desired future looks like, what works to achieve that desired future and what would be the benefit of achieving the desired future for everybody. Interventions that are useful are summarized below.

Exploring the desired success from a different perspective
 How would others notice that the problem is solved?
 How would others notice things are better?

Clarifying the positive results/the benefits of the desired future
 What will be the benefit of that?
 What will be better when you have achieved that?
 Ah, I can imagine that’s what you all want to achieve!

Clarifying the positive results/the benefits of the desired future from a different perspective
 What would it bring others?
 How would it help others?

Exploring previous successes and positive exceptions
 When were things ( a bit) better?
 When was the problem a bit less bad?
 When did the team manage a bit better to…?
 What was different then? What was better then?
 What did you all do to make that happen?
 Interesting… how did that help?

Exploring previous successes and positive exceptions from another perspective
 What would xxx say if I asked him when things were already a bit better?
 How would xxx have been able to notice things were a bit better then?
 Which situations would xxx mention that went better?
 What would xxx have noticed when things went better?
 How would xxx say that success happened?
 On which point of the scale would xxx say you were when things were better?

Defining one step forward
 Is this useful?
 How is it useful to you?
 How can you use this?
 What ideas do you come up with which will take you one step forward?
 What would be the first sign that would tell you that you are moving in the right direction?
 Which small step could you take tomorrow?

One step forward from another perspective
 Who would notice your step first?
 Who would notice your success first?
 What would xxx say one step forward would look like?


Conclusion

Focusing on micro progression in conflict resolution is a key intervention, because it acknowledges the small and subtle changes towards a more constructive mindset in people. This acknowledgment encourages people to move forward and to shift from problem focused talk to talking about which positive outcomes they want to achieve.

Solution focused HR management

Article by Gwenda L. Schlundt Bodien

Is it possible for HR professionals to achieve goals positively and quickly? For HR professionals this can be a real challenge. HR professionals are often in a position in which they have to manage managers - and that can be a difficult job! The solution focused approach can be of assistance and can help the HR professional to switch quickly between the different roles (coach, advisor, manager) that he plays. How? That’s the subject of this article.

The solution focused approach is a respectful change approach, which acknowledges problems, turns those problems into positive goals, finds internal solutions that fit the specific circumstances by analyzing previous successes and positive exceptions to the problem and reaches those positive goals step by step.

The approach works well, research indicates. This is reasonably easy to understand in circumstances where some one wants to help some one else with a problem, for example in coaching and therapy. But HR professionals are not only helping others. Sometimes helping others doesn’t get the job done. If the rule applies that all managers should hand in their performance appraisal by the first of November, so that the HR department is able to estimate the total cost of bonuses and pay raises, and a manager doesn’t comply because he doesn’t feel it is a problem to be late, then maybe helping this manager with a problem he doesn’t perceive he has is not the best way forward. Nobody can be helped against his own wish. The HR professional has his own goals, e.g. the goals of the organization to achieve.

How to use the solution focused approach in circumstances where it is not so much about helping someone to define his own goals but about directing someone to achieve organizational goals?

When the goals of the organization or the goals of the HR professional prevail, solution focused directing (as we call it) is in order. The HR professional clarifies the positive results he expects of the manager. The organizational goals are the central point of focus of the conversation. The leading from behind posture only partly applies now. The HR professional is leading as far as the goals are concerned. The HR professional doesn’t ask the manager what his goals are, but tells him what is expected. However, the not knowing posture does apply with regard to the solutions that fit the manager best. The HR professional asks how the manager is going to reach the goals and doesn’t instruct him how to achieve the goals. The focus is on finding internal solutions.

As with solution focused coaching, the basic attitude is inviting, encouraging, goal orientated, future focussed and activating. A solution focused directing conversation combines friendliness with clarity and understanding with determination. This can be hard, especially when the HR professional gets annoyed with the delaying behaviour of the manager. Preparation helps to keep the conversation goal orientated and to prevent side tracks or escalations and arguments.

Preparing for a solution focused directing conversation

Solution focused directing requires that the ‘director’ is mandated by the organization to act in this role. What does he expect of the manager and what is his good reason to expect this?
The HR professional prepares by answering the following questions:
1. what is the goal of the conversation?
2. what do I expect and what is my good reason to expect this of the manager?
3. when do I expect my goals to be achieved by the manager and what is my good reason to keep this time scale?
4. what do I appreciate with regard to this manager? (And when has he already shown the desired behaviour?)

The answers to these questions provide the HR professional with a solid basis for his directing sentences. These directing sentences are built on two pillars:
WHAT does the HR professional expect?
WHICH positive results will be achieved if the manager fulfils the expectations?

And because the goal is a given, but the solutions are found by the manager himself, the directing sentences are being phrased as a question:

How can you ensure that…so that…..?

Of course there are many different ways in which the directing questions can be formulated. The pillars stay the same; the WHAT you expect and the TO WHICH END you expect this.

Visitor typical, complainer typical and client typical responses

However well prepared the HR professional is, he can’t control the way the manager will respond. The manager can respond in three different ways. A visitor typical response would be when the manager tells the HR professional that he doesn’t want to talk about the planning of the performance appraisals because he is too busy and doesn’t find that topic very interesting. A complainer typical response would be when the manager says that he knows that he is late, but he can’t help it because of various reasons. A client typical response would be when the manager says that he understands he has to be on time and he wants to be on time, and he comes up with solutions to meet the deadlines or he asks the HR professional to help him with his planning problem.

The HR professional responds differently to each type of interaction. To a visitor typical response of the manager he responds with understanding and with a friendly determination to stick the goal of the conversation. At a certain point the manager will start to understand the topic is not going to go away. He may become a bit more agitated, since he now understands he will have to deal with it. He becomes complainer typical. To a complainer typical response the HR professional responds with acknowledgment and by understanding the complaints without letting the complaints be a reason not to achieve the goal. “Given that your business unit is under a lot of strain, which makes it even harder for you to meet the deadline, what are your ideas to make sure you will meet the performance appraisal deadline, so that our management team is provided with the necessary financial reports on time?” The manager is likely to keep complaining for awhile, but he will soon understand that his problems are being acknowledged yet the goal keeps on being stressed. At this point a client typical interaction develops. The manager agrees with the goal. He might ask the HR professional for his support, in which case the HR professional can switch from directing to coaching.

Below you find a format of a solution focused directing conversation.



In a solution focused directing conversation the manager notices:
1. that the goal of the HR professional/the organization are stressed constantly
2. that the complaints of the manager are being acknowledged and understood and listened to
3. that the contribution of the manager is being appreciated and valued
4. that the manager himself is expected to take the next step to achieve the goals of the HR professional/the organisation
5. that the manager has the freedom and chance to find the solutions that fit him and which are his own to achieve the goal

The solution focused approach is no answer to all problems and doesn’t make challenging situations in organisations pieces of cake. But the approach does very often help to know what you want to achieve vividly and to actually achieve those vivid goals.

Literature

Oplossingsgericht aan de Slag, Toon en Techniek maakt de Muziek, Gwenda Schlundt Bodien en Coert Visser, Crystallise Books, 2008
Coert Visser en Gwenda Schlundt Bodien, Paden naar Oplossingen, uitgeverij JustinTime Books, 2008

Creating a positive expectation

Yesterday Coert Visser and I did a workshop on creating a positive expectation. Interested? Below you find the presentation: