Team Collaboration

Unresolved conflicts and unsolved issues of respect absorb resources. We offer professional and practice-oriented cooperation and conflict management for teams and superiors in science and administration, enabling you to use your resources for core tasks.

Professional debates and constructive discussions are essential for development and innovation processes. Personal devaluations, misunderstandings, unequal treatment or other escalation drivers lead to dysfunctional situations. It can be relieving to seek support for clarification – as early as possible. Further escalation can often be avoided through neutral moderation. Get in touch with us at any time.

We provide support

We advise, moderate and clarify – or refer you to external specialists. We guide you through the conversation by asking questions and discussing your concerns and goals. We suggest an appropriate course of action.

Depending on your concerns, you can receive advice and support from the following offices:

Respect Office

The Respect Office offers orientation and confidential 1:1 conflict coaching for employees and students.

Please get in touch with us to arrange a confidential counselling appointment: .

External Reporting Office

The External Reporting Office serves to report discrimination and sexual harassment.

Clarification Office

The Clarification Office offers 1:1 conflict coaching for professors and superiors, as well as clarification between superiors and employees, between colleagues or in teams.

Please get in touch with us for advice and support: .

We provide trainings

We provide compact training sessions for superiors and teams to further develop their skills in the areas of conflict and de-escalation.

The sessions are usually offered in compact webinars at off-peak times or during lunchtime.
We are happy to adapt the content, format and duration of a training session to your needs. Please get in touch with us.

Support for groups and teams in situations of conflict and respect issues
1:1 conflict coaching
Appreciative and clear language
De-escalation techniques
Preparing and conducting difficult conversations
Breaking bad news
Feedforward
Dealing with strong emotions and resistance
Deblocking questioning techniques
Conflict management in a nutshell
Conflict behaviour and insights gained from brain research

Umbrella projects and programmes

We design umbrella projects and programmes intended to contribute to continuously nurturing a culture of respect, cooperation and conflict resolution at ETH Zurich.

Respect Programme

The Respect Programme offers a regularly updated selection of online tools and live events on the topic of Respect, intended for anyone who studies, conducts research and works at ETH Zurich.

Science Friction

Science Friction promotes cooperation and conflict management in research groups and offers support to create a constructive culture of cooperation and conflict resolution.

Our approach

We work in a solution-oriented manner and in the interests of all parties. We are guided by ETH Zurich's core mission and values. Thanks to our deep understanding of the complexities of a university and the areas of tension and potential for conflict that exist within its environment, we are able to recognise exacerbating contextual factors and limiting realities that can quickly intensify escalation dynamics.

In our work, we focus not only on «extinguishing fires» but also on anticipating and preventing tensions and conflicts. The aim is to tackle dysfunctional escalations and stressful smouldering conflicts at an early stage. The earlier we are involved, the more likely we can positively restore working relationships and enable task-oriented cooperation.

By anticipating and taking action to prevent conflicts, superiors can create a supportive culture in which employees feel valued and understood. In a supportive working environment, many misunderstandings and disagreements can be recognised and resolved at an early stage. Proactive conflict management and early recognition of disagreements lead to an improvement in collaboration, which ultimately increases efficiency and satisfaction. During the follow-up of conflicts systemic disruptive factors can be identified and a learning culture can be established.