Independent investigation

[The stories I heard ...were not about ‘what happened' (itself a questionable concept). What I heard was how people saw what happened, or, rather, how people remembered what they saw, or, rather, how they talked about what they remembered, or, rather, how they talked to me about what they remembered - or, rather, what I heard people say to me about what they remembered. (Roy, B.; (1994)]

Independent interventions are the involvement of an impartial third party to facilitate negotiations, discussions, consensus-building, problem-solving, relationship-building or to manage existing or potential difficulties in a wide variety of situations.

Such situations might typically involve employees or other key stakeholders and the investigation would aim to achieve a rapid and resource effective closure of the matter (or at least a comprehensive resource for management to determine how best to deal with the matter going forward). Our neutrals will agree the scope of the work directly with you and, having familiarised themselves with the organisation, will conduct an appropriate investigation.

At the end of the investigation a full report of findings will be provided orally or in writing (as agreed in advance) together with a recommended route map for ongoing management and likely resolution. This is typically offered with detailed verbal feedback.

All our investigators are experienced practitioners in conflict management and as such have the credentials and understanding to get to the core of the issue, and if requested work with clients on different ways of concluding and resolving their problems.

Independent investigation processes are designed to fit the needs of their users.

The aim of an independent investigation may be to:

  • Enable finality - a decision, action plan or agreement
  • Deliberately plan for open-ended dialogue, where the intervention allows voices to be heard and issues raised, enables the next steps to be taken or devises a framework for future action
  • Be the sole process used or to combine with other effective dispute resolution techniques such as mediation, early neutral evaluation or adjudication.

Processes are tailored to the needs of the users, but can draw on a range of models:

  • Assisted stakeholder dialogue
  • Brokered talks
  • Independent chairing
  • Independent review
  • Facilitated visioning and planning
  • Relationship building
  • Scheme design

Key benefits:

  • An independent and fresh perspective from an individual (or team) that have seen many similar situations before
  • Rapid clarification of the issues, enabling you to manage your risk appropriately
  • Clear demonstration to your stakeholders of your organisation's commitment to equity and fairness in managing the resolution of conflicts and disputes
  • Separation of managers from the details of the investigation so that they can manage the ongoing stakeholder relationships and chosen dispute resolution process and deal effectively with later developments
  • A detailed and robust report presented in a constructive manner
  • Like all our dispute resolution processes, a flexible process designed to meet your needs

Supporting these services we can also offer:

  • Conflict coaching for managers involved in achieving conflict resolution
  • Policy and procedure or systems reviews in order to prevent recurrence and improve management processes
  • Mediation services, provided by a different neutral
  • Conflict management training and awareness raising

For further information on our services, please contact CEDR Solve on +44 (0)20 7536 6060, e-mail adr@cedrsolve.com.

Case studies

CEDR Solve