Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion
Why is inclusion important in conflict resolution?
Treating people with dignity and respect and being cognizant of different worldviews and experiences are all actions that help individuals and groups collaborate better. OCDR strives to create equitable processes that work for all parties involved in a conflict. Inclusion means people of different identities and backgrounds feel genuinely welcomed, listened to, understood, and valued for their unique perspectives. Whether differences are demographic, political, religious, or otherwise, any person participating in an OCDR conflict resolution process should expect to be treated with dignity.
The lack of inclusion – not listening, not understanding, not respecting others – often leads to conflict. In our experience, many conflicts involve some kind of identity difference or differences in core values. Not addressing the differences that are important to each party can keep people stuck in impasse or escalate interpersonal conflict.
In workplace settings, positive diversity climate environments are related to better workplace health and job attitudes (Nault et al., 2026). Conflict itself correlated with less productivity and more turnover (Society for Human Resource Management, 2024) and conflicts may be more common on diverse teams, but only if those teams are not intentionally nurtured by inclusive leaders (Ashikali et al., 2020). Thus the intentional creation of inclusive and fair environments where people can find common ground and shared understanding provides a strategic advantage to workplaces (Nishii, 2013).
With this in mind, OCDR strives to create processes and environments where everyone is part of the solution, where inclusion is a foundation for conflict prevention and resolution.OCDR guides
- Cognitive biases and distortions common in collaborative problem solving
- Creating a healthy team culture
- Group agreements for collaborative processes
- Questions for resolving conflict
Recommended resources
- State of Minnesota Equity Analysis Toolkit: This resource helps State agency employees and others consider ways their policies, plans, programs and other initiatives can support equity in practice.
- State of Minnesota Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): The State of Minnesota supports ERGs, which are identity-based employee groups that meet routinely to support and learn from each other.
- State of Minnesota Office of Inclusion: This page provides information on the strategy of the Office of Inclusion as well as links to helpful information like definitions for inclusion-related terms.
- Leadership Learning Hub's "Leading With DEAI" topics: The Leadership Learning Hub is a repository of information and resources for State of Minnesota employees, including about DEAI.
- MNIT’s Office of Accessibility: This page links to trainings, documents, apps and other tools to support creating more accessibility in State of Minnesota workplaces.
- University of St. Catherine’s Strategies to Create an Inclusive Workplace: This brief guide includes practical guidance on goals and supports for leaders and others.
- Communicating Across Cultures Webinar: This webinar from the University of Minnesota's College of Continuing & Professional Studies describes the concept of "cultural intelligence" and barriers in communication that stem from cultural differences.
- 7 Tips to Building Diverse and Equitable Workplaces: This article is geared to businesses, but the tips apply to supervisors and managers in any organization.
- Accessible public meeting design: This Institute for Local Government guide addresses access to local government meetings and events for people with disabilities, chronic health conditions, and related issues.
- Neurodivergence and DEI: This Forbes article provides information on neurodivergence and describes how to close the communication gap with neuro-divergent employees for the benefit of the organization.
What resources would you like to see on this page? Click on this form to send us your ideas!