Organizational Ombuds Services | 707-230-6250
ORGANIZATIONAL OMBUDS SERVICES
WORKPLACE CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
FACILITATED COLLABORATION
MEDIATION & DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Testimonials
"If I have need for these services in the future, Theresa would be the first person I would check with."
-Jerri Wolfe, Ph.D.
LinnBenton Community College
Ms. Jensen is a highly skilled facilitator who was able to take an emotionally charged area and keep people focused and able to develop shared recommendations. She is an organized and skilled facilitator who grasps difficult concepts and facilitates with equability with everyone feeling as if their voice was heard."
-Rita Sullivan, PhD
Executive Director, On Track, Inc.
"This project involved much cross cultural communication, with which Theresa is especially competent."
-R. Elaine Hallmark, Past Director,Oregon Consensus Program.
"I was highly satisfied with Theresa's services. We evolved from a group of stakeholders with little understanding of each other and a lack of trust to a highly functional, productive Early Learning Hub."
-Jerri Wolfe, Ph.D., LinnBenton Comm. College
"The District's satisfaction level was very high. Theresa was able to successfully facilitate a very high profile topic and project. She was conscienctious about gathering feedback from all stakeholders. During the survey development portion of the project she spent considerable time making sure the questions were authentic and bias-free."
-Tania Tong, Director of Special Education and Student Services, Medford School District
"I attended a community meeting where Theresa facilitated a large crowd eager to express their opinions. I was extremely impressed with her ability to hold the space with clarity, empathy, patience, and loving compassion. She created a safe environment with her gentle yet solid presence..."
- Jessica Sage
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Theresa A. Jensen, JD
Partial Client List
Hospitals and Medical Clinics
Kaiser Permanente
Medford Medical Clinic
Oregon Health Sciences University
Portland Adventist Medical Center
Providence Hospital, Medford
Shriners Hospital for Children
St. Vincent Medical Center
Companies
Powell's Books
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Oregon
Roseburg Resources- Roseburg Forest Products
Associations and Societies
Cascadia Commons Co-Housing Community
OGALLA, the Oregon LGBT Bar Association of Oregon
Portland Future Focus
Portland City Club
YWCA of Portland
Wauna Federal Credit Union
Portland Civil Rights Mediation Project
Federal Agencies & Advisory Boards
Bureau of Land Management
US Forest Service
National Park Service
US Postal Service
US Dept. of Energy and US Environmental Protection Agency: Hanford Advisory Board
Udall Foundation, US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution
Non-Profit Organizations
1000 Friends of Oregon
Academy for Educational Development
Burnside Projects Board of Directors
Cascade AIDS Project
Jackson Care Connect
Journeys of the Heart Adoption Services
KBOO Radio Station Board of Directors
Lesbian Community Project
Morrison Center, Portland Oregon
Oregon Child Development Coalition
Non Profit Organizations
Oregon Coast Community Action
Oregon Consensus
Oregon Legal Services
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Oregon Solutions
Portland Rainbow Coalition Board of Directors
Portland Women's Crisis Line
St. Andrew's Legal Clinic
William Temple House
Public School Districts and Universities
Ashland School District
Medford School District
Southern Oregon University
Portland State University
University of Oregon
Oregon State University
Cities & Counties
Portland Bureau of Environmental Services
Portland Fire Bureau
Portland Bureau of Parks and Recreation
City of Beaverton Library
City of Eugene Planning Division
Columbia River People's Utility District
Multnomah and Washington County Courts
Multnomah County Community Corrections
Unified Sewerage Agency of Washington County
State Of Oregon
Board of Naturopathic Examiners
CASA
Childcare Commission
Citizen's Review Board
Department of Human Services
Department of Transportation
Economic Development Department
Education Department
Employment Division
Judiciary Department
Oregon Health Authority
ORGANIZATIONAL OMBUDS SERVICES
Integral Solutions provides ombuds services for companies who prefer the flexibility of a contractual based organizational ombuds. This allows for "as needed" services, and many companies have found this to be a good fit for cost effective problem solving.
THE ORGANIZATIONAL OMBUDS:
- Empowers individuals and organizations to overcome disputes, conflicts and barriers that stand in the way of reaching their full potential.
- Helps public and private sector organizations anticipate and avoid risk, litigation and costly damage to brands and reputations.
- Uses coaching, mediation, facilitation and training to prevent and resolve: workplace and employee conflicts; whistleblowing and compliance issues; ethical, legal or policy violations; any variety of challenge, complaint, conflict or dispute, large and small.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY REPORT: THE OMBUDS PROCESS IS CRUCIAL TO PRODUCTIVITY
Harvard Business Review reported in 2020 that an analysis of over 2 million incidents of internal dissent confirmed: keeping fair and unbiased channels of communication open is "crucial" in helping companies improve productivity and profitability. The data was gathered from more than 1,000 publicly traded companies. At the same time, the ombuds process can promote employee job satisfaction, lower turnover, and lower risk of lawsuits.
THE OMBUDS ROLE IN PREVENTION, EARLY INTERVENTION & RESOLUTION
An ombuds is engaged in proactive problem-solving - toward the goal of instilling respect, civility and justice in communities, organizations and professional relationships.
Today's ombuds acts as a no-barrier, first-stop for employees, as well as executives, managers and other leaders seeking guidance, information and insight from a trusted advisor who is:
INDEPENDENT An ombuds does not represent the organization they work for, but exists to present solutions and guidance independent of internal or external forces.
IMPARTIAL An ombuds does not take sides, but works to address issues in a way that allows everyone involved in a dispute to be treated fairly and in good faith.
CONFIDENTIAL An ombuds will protect the identity and the information shared by 'visitors', and is not compelled to share details of any conversation with their organization or employer.
INFORMAL Visiting an ombuds doesn't trigger a formal course of action often typical of HR or legal processes. Engaging an ombuds is always "off the record."
Dispute Resolution
Theresa has successfully mediated a broad range of disputes, including public policy and workplace issues, sensitive, high-profile cases involving elected and other public officials ... READ MORE
Collaboration
Integral Solutions brings people together who have diverse needs, goals and concerns to work together cooperatively, drawing on the diversity of their perspectives .... READ MORE
Bridging Differences
Working with people in a mediation or a facilitated collaborative process involves bridging the many differences that tend to divide us as human beings. People may have a history that has led to mistrust. Power differences may lead people to feel unsafe in a process that is encouraging disclosure. Racial and cultural differences evoke a range of responses, from fear of making a mistake and offending, to uncertainty about the 'baggage' we each carry around from our past experiences. People may have a need or desire to maintain a working relationship in spite of differences. Finally, we are all motivated by needs, concerns and values, some of which may be shared, and some of which may be competing.
Founder of Integral Solutions, Theresa Jensen, is a skilled 'bridge builder' who can help you safely and successfully navigate each of these challenges.
"I attended a community meeting where Theresa facilitated a large crowd eager to express their opinions. I was extremely impressed with her ability to hold the space with clarity, empathy, patience, and loving compassion. She created a safe environment with her gentle yet solid presence..." ~ Jessica Sage
DISPUTE RESOLUTION OPTIONS
MEDIATION
Ms. Jensen has successfully mediated a broad range of disputes, including cases that are in litigation and sensitive, high-profile cases involving elected and other public officials.
She has experience mediating in the following content areas:
EMPLOYMENT
Employment discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, EEO, unemployment, FMLA
HEALTH CARE
In numerous hospital and medical center settings, Ms. Jensen has conducted mediations, resolved disputes and improved working relationships between doctors and nurses, among staff in a birthing center, among administrators, staff and clinicians in a drug and alcohol clinic, among diverse physician partners of a major medical clinic, between physician/partners and management staff, in medical malpractice cases, and between a CEO and medical chief of staff in a teaching hospital.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Transformative systems for Medicaid delivery; Regulatory negotiation of administrative rules governing mental health care in Oregon.
HUMAN SERVICES
Education (charter schools, public schools, early learning), social services, community and cross-cultural issues.
NATURAL RESOURCES/ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Grazing, watershed management, forest management and restoration, water issues, species and habitat conservation, hazardous waste, energy issues, transportation, urban growth/development, noise abatement, land use and agriculture.
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE
Integral Solutions provides workplace mediation and organizational consulting with an emphasis on conflict management and quality improvement. The firm works with organizations to improve group process, strategic communications and team relationships, to help address conflicts at an organizational level and to design systems for improved communication and dispute resolution.
Following an assessment, participants are offered a combination of mediations, skills training, impartial facilitation of work groups, team building and coaching.
Founder Theresa Jensen has experience working with business partners, teams, organizations with a central administrative office and several field offices, management teams, family-run businesses, hospitals and medical centers, and different divisions within an organization in the public, non-profit and private sectors.
CONFLICT COACHING
One-on-one coaching provides personalized support in managing, engaging in or constructively resolving conflict. Theresa has coached managers, business owners, employees and family members.
COLLABORATION SERVICES
Integral Solutions brings people together who have diverse needs, goals and concerns to work together cooperatively, drawing on the diversity of their perspectives and reliable information to create practical solutions for complex community problems.
"When people are engaged in their community, they step up to take ownership of the issues that are affecting their lives."
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Community Engagement can take a variety of forms; the firm can help with:
- Designing and facilitating public involvement sessions, field trips, town halls or other public forums;
- Providing structure and facilitation for community dialogues on divisive issues;
- Assisting government agencies with involving diverse stakeholders who often have conflicting interests;
- Stakeholder interviews and situation assessments;
- Providing community members guidance in formulating responses to public proposals that will be seriously considered by policy-makers and other power-holders;
- Supporting groups of people in working collaboratively to implement community-based solutions.
COLLABORATIVE PLANNING & PROBLEM SOLVING
Complex issues facing a community or region call out for a skilled guide who can help diverse, representative groups of people as they wrestle with information from a variety of viewpoints, all to the end of making better, often more creative decisions that everyone can sign off on. This work frequently takes place at the intersection of multiple sectors: public, private, non-profit and community-at-large.
Theresa is just such a guide with the proven skills to orchestrate a complex project and assist those from all sectors in working together constructively.
COALITION BUILDING
A coalition is a group of people who join together for a common cause. The noun coalition comes from the Latin work coalitiō, meaning "to grow together." Often, the people and groups that form coalitions come from diverse backgrounds but come together because they share a goal. This is distinct from a dispute resolution process where there is a specific conflict that needs to be resolved. Here, a group can benefit from a skilled and impartial facilitator like Theresa who can manage the process, support the group in engaging constructively across different perspectives and backgrounds, ensure a process that is inclusive, respectful and fair for all participants, help everyone stay grounded, inspired and on-task, and provide agendas, timekeeping and summaries.
WHAT CHALLENGES ARE YOU FACING?
Integral Solutions can help address the following scenarios, among others:
"There's so much negative history-we're used to relating to each other as competitors-and now we're being told that we have to collaborate. How does that work?"
" It's not the issues themselves that are so difficult, it's the people sitting around the table…"
"We know if we just make the decision ourselves as a public agency, it's likely to get shot down later-but we need help figuring out who to involve and how, so we can end up with an outcome that's fully supported, within our timeframe."
"We're supposed to be functioning as a team, but some people are avoiding each other and we seem to be working at cross-purposes to each other. How do we get on the same page?"
"Our two organizations have been blocking each others' efforts through litigation for years. We have an inkling that there's a better way, and are ready to try something different. How do we structure a process with lots of different players, and reach consensus on complex issues?"
"We need to do some natural resources planning, but don't want to get bogged down with trying to reach consensus on everything. Can you help us find a zone of agreement and move to strategic actions on the ground that diverse players can all support?"
"I'm a new administrator. I want my staff to feel supported by me, yet I'm concerned about the culture I see of negativity in the ways they talk to and about each other. How can I support then in changing this culture without them feeling that I'm shoving it down their throats? "
" Our newly-formed group needs to act decisively and strategically in deciding how to address the urgency of the situation we are facing. We have group members from a broad spectrum of political persuasions, and some who know each other well and others we have never worked with. Many of us represent larger constituencies, and we need to bring them along. We need to quickly build trust and look for facilitator guidance to stay inspired, grounded and on task as we learn how to lead together collaboratively."
HOW INTEGRAL SOLUTIONS CAN HELP
It all begins with a free initial consultation to discuss your situation. Theresa will listen to your needs and goals, discuss the firm's approach and fees, and together with you, will agree on how to proceed.
Complex issues generally begin with an assessment, that involves interviewing key stakeholders, individually or in small groups, and then reporting back findings and process suggestions.
Sometimes a small planning group can provide efficiency and diverse perspectives to guide the process.
The following key values guide the firm's approach:
VALUING DIVERSITY is essential to the work, and Theresa is committed to bringing all the different perspectives into the process in an un-biased way, while PROMOTING UNDERSTANDING OF OTHERS' PERSPECTIVES.
As a PROCESS EXPERT, Theresa is committed to creating and ENSURING A SAFE, FAIR AND RESPECTFUL PROCESS for all participants.
Theresa is IMPARTIAL: she has no stake in the outcome and no conflicts of interest with any projects that are taken on. Her actions treat all participants in a fair and even-handed manner. She actively reframes statements and issues to neutral language. In organizational consulting, the firm does not serve only management as a typical management consultant would, but instead is acting in service to all members of the organizational community. The firm only works with clients who agree to these principles.
An 'EQUITY LENS' approach is utilized, with a goal of ensuring that those who have traditionally been marginalized in some way are given the additional support they need to be equal participants in the process.
The process is PARTICIPANT-DRIVEN, as the participants themselves are involved in designing a process that is responsive to their needs and that works for them.
Theresa ENSURES TRANSPARENCY and clarity about all aspects of the process, including the authority and decision making role of any group/s.
Full CONFIDENTIALITY is offered, unless the parties agree differently or relevant law provides otherwise.
SEEKING ACCESS TO GOOD INFORMATION is paramount, including creating technical teams or sub-committees as needed.
CREATIVITY IS ENCOURAGED: Innovative strategies and practical solutions emerge when people are encouraged to be curious and think creatively together.
MOVEMENT and MIND-BODY INTEGRATION is built into group process, which helps keep participants focused, grounded and fully engaged.
THE FOCUS IS ON LEARNING AND CARING: Rather than seeking to prove who is right or placing blame, the emphasis is on broadening one's own perspective, learning from others, and promoting more caring behaviors overall.
IMPLEMENTATION of agreements and FOLLOW-UP MONITORING is built in to the process to ensure continuous improvement.
Finally, the Integral Solutions approach involves SKILL-BUILDING for all individuals and the group in addressing both content and process issues productively with a goal of having those skills internalized for building positive working relationships into the future.