Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) techniques can be used to facilitate shared meaning of disability and accessibility.
Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) has powerful implications in the workplace for understanding the experience of employees with disabilities. The understanding CMM fosters is through narratives, influences and operating forces. Through my CMMI Fellowship, I am currently developing a framework that will be used for organizational change consulting to walk participants through the SEAVA process and facilitate conversations about disability.
Co-Create with CMM
“In this space of both reflection and agency, afforded by the CMM tools, each party can understand the other in a deeper way and together determine a pathway forward.”
An extraordinary aspect of CMM is that the variety of techniques grounds the parties in the present as they navigate through the past. This approach allows participants to discover both themselves and each other. The discovery is characterized by each person sharing their reality of the episode. In this space of both reflection and agency, afforded by the CMM tools, each party can understand the other in a deeper way and together determine a pathway forward. Therefore, CMM can be used to facilitate conversations about disability and foster a powerful internal shift.
Conflict resolution framework combines with CMM
In the movement toward #accessibility in the workplace, there are many absent conversations regarding the social experience of accommodations. More specifically, those wanting to have these conversations may feel silenced due to the unique combination of power, (defined in the formal sense of status due to organizational roles) dependency, (benefits from the job and/or accommodations to do their job), and dynamic (collaborative or competitive), as laid out in the situated model of conflict (Coleman et. al., 2012). These social dynamics inhibit conversations meaning that people can continue to operate unaware of how their actions impact employees with a #disability.
Personal Experiences
“I discover the many narratives which I carry with me impacting my communication.”
I have a personal connection to this goal because I have experienced a variety of issues in the workplace related to #accommodations. For example, supervisors storing items on my assistive furniture, assigning me tasks without being aware of my accommodation plan, or requesting me to move my furniture to different buildings on my own. Furthermore, gaps in #communication from Human Resources about workplace accommodations compound the issue. When I consider my response, I discover the many #narratives which I carry with me impacting my communication. Participating in this discovery process with others in the workplace could create a powerful shift fostering a deeper understanding of disability.
Application
The situated model of conflict applied to this context highlights that an entry level employee with a disability may experience a difficult time speaking up due to the level of power, dependency, and dynamic of the #relationship between parties. If left unaddressed, the hidden issues can lead the employee to disengage, isolate, or lose their sense of agency; all of which are compounded by the experience of their condition in relation to social participation. Due to this link, these instances of potential conversation around issues related to their work accommodations can be especially transformative if they have the right tools and resources to respond, or particularly harmful if they don’t.
The SEAVA process in CMM Solutions: Field Guide for Consultants teaches the application of a comprehensive combination of CMM tools (Sostrin et. al., 2012). By using the complete #SEAVA method, each tool weaves into the next, walking the participants through a journey to ultimate transformation, if the parties choose. For example, the Daisy Model can highlight the influences each party brings to the conflict (Pearce et. al., 1999). Furthermore, the #LUUUUTT model can unearth vital wisdom of all involved including organizations; the many stories unheard, unknown, and often even untellable (Jensen et. al., 2018). As in the Field Guide, I too want to develop a framework which incorporates CMM tools through the SEAVA process to provide a cumulative experience for the impacted parties.
Therefore...
This targeted form of workplace consultancy is important because a better work environment results from people feeling that they can express and #co-create shared meaning. When employees are settled, feel safe, and have the support they need, they are able to contribute dedication, passion, and ease to the workplace. When people have the communication tools they need, they can create a better social world by opening the lines of expression and understanding. These actions then expand out to impact the work culture as a whole supporting #inclusion and #belonging.
In Conclusion...
In conclusion, I believe the scholar practitioner method of applying #CMM frameworks to the organizational setting will be extremely beneficial. It will open barriers to participation thus allowing employees with disabilities more opportunities to contribute to life in a meaningful way. The CMM tools can inform a deeper level of accessibility. Furthermore, combined with the situated model of conflict can also highlight the unseen social forces such as pressure and dependency which influence communication and how they specifically impact an employee with a disability.
References
Coleman, P. T., Kugler, K. G., Bui-Wrzosinska, L., Nowak, A., & Vallacher. R. (2012). Getting down to basics: A situated model of conflict in social relations. Negotiation Journal, 28(1), 7-43.
Jensen, A., Penman, R. (2018). CMM: A brief overview. https://cmminstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/65_CMM-BriefOverview.2018.pdf
Pearce, W. Barnett (1999). Using CMM: The Coordinated Management of Meaning. A Pearce Associates Seminar.
Sostrin, J., Pearce, B., & Pearce, K. (2012). CMM Solutions: Field Guide for Consultants, 2nd Edition. Lulu.com. ISBN: 97880557995592.
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