The organizational ombudsman model has been widely embraced for many years by colleges, universities, and progressive corporations as an important resource to ensure that students and employees have a neutral, confidential, informal resource available to assist when issues or conflict arise. In these times of crisis and change, the ombuds resource becomes an even more valuable resource.
In unsteady times, the fundamental design of ombuds makes its services adaptable and agile. The ombuds design tenets of confidentiality and informality make ombuds a good resource for informal connection though phone, video conferencing, and other distance-based formats. Ombuds are deeply experienced and adept at developing creative solutions to novel situations. This skill can be particularly useful in crisis situations where there are no established and proven approaches.