Mediation Overview
Mediation is an increasingly favoured means of dispute resolution. In contrast to a negotiator, the mediator occupies an objective perspective, and seeks to facilitate a result that is the product of the desires and needs of the parties involved.
Mediation can be effective in a variety of contexts: organisational, commercial, legal, political, or familial.
Overt conflict or discrete antipathies between or amongst groups or individuals are all amenable to the mediation process. It is an endeavour that applies the most sophisticated understanding of psychological premises and communication strategies: the effect is a resolution that truly ‘belongs’ to the reconciled parties.
Vignette on Mediation
After a successful mediation between a national organisation and a private party, the organisation wished to prevent a similar situation arising again. In-house training in communication skills and conflict management were arranged for those personnel who dealt with the public. Both parties to this dispute realised that an earlier intervention via mediation would have saved them time, money, and prolonged aggravation.