| What is
Mediation?
Mediation is a voluntary settlement
conference. The parties select the mediator and the mediator does
not place an evaluation on the matter in dispute.
In mediation, the parties agree to
take part in a structured discussion with an agreed-to neutral
expert skilled in the area of facilitation of dispute resolution.
The sessions are usually informal. The parties indicate the case,
from their points of view. Thereafter, the mediator engages in
separate discussions with the parties. These discussions are
designed to expose the underlining facts in their individual cases
and facilitate recognition of strengths, weaknesses and costs. The
mediator then works to close the gap and produce the resolution. The
mediator probes "below the line" for hidden issues or emotional
situations which must be addressed to promote resolution.
Mediation works because it brings the
parties to the table, educates them to the real risks of litigation,
and permits the mediator and the parties to work confidentially, as
it does not follow rules of evidence, to bring about
resolution. Key
advantage:
The power remains with the parties. They must agree to the
resolution
Who uses mediation?
Families
Separation-Divorce-Domestic
Partners-Post Divorce
Parent/Teen
Premarital
Agreements-Adoption-Estate and Family Business
Harris
County Civil and
Family Courts.
Business and the
workplace
Maritime disputes
U.S. Postal Services, Better Business Bureau,
Harris
County
Dispute
Resolution
Center
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
Texas Rural Mediation Services
and Mediation for workplace
EEO
Employment Mediation
Labor
Schools
Special Education and commercial
disputes
Texas Education
Agency
Youth And Schools
Student/Teacher/Parent Mediation
Mediation with
gang-involved youth
Key
Bridge
Foundation
Communities
ADA
U.S. Dept. of Justice-Civil
Rights section (ADA cases)
Discrimination-Sexual
Harassment-ADA
Civil rights
Real estate
transactional disputes
International
commercial mediation
What
are the advantages of mediation?
In the majority of
conflicts, many of which are not litigated, mediation can reach a
broader context. Adversaries who refuse to try mediation will miss
that broader context and often pay heavily for a litigated judgment
that does not resolve the real conflict and which costs more than it
awards.
The
key to mediation is a clear understanding of alternatives to
mediation (such as a strike or a jury trial), a sharing of
information (so that each party understands the other's real limits)
and an exploring of the relationship between the parties and of the
parties to the realities of the outside world.
Manager as Mediator
Every up-to-date organizational leader knows that the
controlling, coercive management style of yesteryear no longer
works. Demographic and economic changes now require that managers
not only negotiate with their staff, but help them negotiate with
each other. Sadly, many management development programs fail to show
managers exactly how to mediate between employees.
Current trends toward downsizing, flatter hierarchies, teams,
quality, and multiple responsibilities are intensifying the
interdependency between employees. Most organizations inadequately
equip their staff to effectively negotiate work relationships in
these challenging times.
The Manager-as-Mediator Seminar puts the tools of the
professional mediator into the hands of your managers to build
better workplace relationships, enhance performance, improve
productivity, and cut the unnecessary financial costs of workplace
conflict.
Self as Mediator
A flexible and impactful one-day learning module, The
Self-as-Mediator Seminar is the most cost-effective way to
empower your employees to handle the challenges of today's intensely
interdependent workplace. They will learn how to use a simple yet
powerful communication tool — "Self Mediation" — to manage the
differences that impair teamwork, quality, decision-making, and
cooperation throughout your organization.
But more than just a training seminar, this practical program
contains resources for changing organizational culture, surgically
altering the norms that so often cause obstructive behavior and
replacing them with constructive, positive behaviors. The
Self-as-Mediator Seminar puts the tools of the professional
mediator in the hands of every employee to build better workplace
relationships. It is an essential component of every successful
organization’s HRD and OD strategic effort.
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