Conflict Management Prevention Center
The National Conflict Management and Prevention Program serves over 30,000 employees across fifty states and Puerto Rico. The mission of the program is to successfully address conflict to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the people that manage our Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. Our motto is "Caring for the conflict and serving people."
We are committed to helping employees develop and maintain a work environment where conflict is managed positively to the mutual benefit of all parties involved. Our center managers provide timely, appropriate, and effective Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services to all employees experiencing unmanaged conflict. Our services include consultation, conflict coaching, mediation, facilitated discussion, personality and behavioral assessments, teambuilding, and group intervention.
The program encourages diversity of thought, equity in expression, inclusion of differences of opinions, mutually respectful communication; and compliance with all statutes, regulations, and directives that govern the 1996 ADR Act. We strive to resolve all disputes at the lowest level possible, mitigating the damage and impact unmanaged conflict will have on productivity, employee retention, and interpersonal relationships. We promote addressing conflict early and at the lowest level, contributing to a healthy and productive work environment where all employees feel valued and respected.
We provide monthly national trainings and regional services to all employees, districts, forests, and leadership teams. We offer voluntary and informal alternative dispute resolution services for folks experiencing peer to peer, subordinate to supervisor, supervisor to subordinate, and team to team conflict.
Our services help employees in addressing unmanaged workplace conflict such as:
Perceived disruptions in the workplace.
Communication breakdowns or difficulties.
Multiple issues with layers of interests and concerns.
High emotional tension and stress forms.
Decreases in productivity or mission success.
Confusion over roles and responsibilities.
Feelings of isolation or detachment from team
Our services help leaders, managers, and leads develop employees and teams with high-performing conflict prevention tools and techniques such as:
Recognize and reinforce existing best practices.
Train and develop current and future leaders.
Improve team communication.
Change management in preparation of change.
Generating meaningful and productive relationships.
Establishing a culture of respect.
Creating a work environment where others want to work.
Our services help the agency as the preferred ADR provider in the following administrative capacities:
Performance concerns.
Initial or potential disciplinary action.
Workload challenges.
Informal EEO Complaints.
Facilitated Dialogues between USFS and external partners.
The 1996 Alternative Dispute Resolutions Act
ADR is a process in which a third-party neutral assist the disputants in reaching an amicable resolution through the use of various techniques. ADR describes a variety of approaches to resolve conflict which avoid the cost, delay, and unpredictability of the traditional adjudicatory processes while at the same time improving workplace communication and morale.
1996 ADR Act (PDF, 37.1 KB)
Departmental Regulation (DR) 4710-001, Section 8
This regulation establishes the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) policy on the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques designed to work towards preventing and resolving workplace and program conflicts within USDA.