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What is Mediation and How It Can Help?

By Lisbeth Mora, California Business Journal

You come across many people who have different opinions about things and have different personalities, and this difference gives rise to conflict and disagreement. Sometimes the conflict is minor and can be resolved by the parties involved, and sometimes the disagreement becomes such a big issue that the third party had to intervene to solve the conflict. This thirds party intervention to solve the conflict or dispute is called mediation. Mediation is a skill that everyone needs to master because everyone comes across a situation when they are either party to a dispute or settle a dispute between them. The art of mediation cannot be learned overnight. It needs practice, determination, and research. There are the best mediation books of all time that will help you to get ample knowledge about mediation and how you can master this skill.

What is Mediation?

Mediation is a complete process. In mediation, two or more parties who have a conflict or dispute between them select a neutral and impartial person who will help them negotiate and resolve the issue. Mediation is used whenever two or more people fail to resolve their dispute and want assistance. There are several types of mediation, such as

legal mediation,
facilitative mediation,
transformative mediation,
evaluative mediation,
Med- Arb
Arb-Med.

Steps involved in the mediation process:

There are several steps involved in the mediation process. Such as:

Preparing the ground rules:

Before starting the mediation process, the mediator sets some ground rules, such as one party will talk at one time, and the other party will listen quietly and patiently. No party will use abusive language or try emotionally blackmailing each other. At this stage, the mediator has a separate meeting with each party; listen to their side of the story. The mediator conveys the ground rules to each party to avoid any mishap at the joint meeting. The mediator ensures to each participant that the mediator will stay neutral and impartial during the mediation process.

Understanding the dispute:

Once the mediator listens to both sides of the stories, he or she analyzes it. The mediator finds the possible point of issues and comes up with a plan according to which the dispute will be resolved.

Negotiating the dispute:

During this stage, the mediator has a joint meeting with both the parties of the dispute and helps them negotiate and reach an agreement. The mediator helps the participants to brainstorm the issue and critically evaluate and find the possible solutions. The mediator makes sure that none of the participants is imposing their opinion on others, and both the participants get an equal chance to put forward their case.

Develop a final agreement:

The mediator makes sure that the final agreement is realistic and attainable for both parties. It is better to write down all the points, terms, and conditions of the agreement on paper and signed it by both parties. The agreement must be written in simple words and in a language that all participants understand.

How mediation helps:

Mediation helps in many ways, such as:

Reduce Stress:

Meditation helps reduce stress because the entire burden shifts on the shoulders of the mediator in the mediation process. The mediation empowered the parties to solve their problem in such terms where they can have a win-win situation.

Improve communication between both parties of dispute:

People in disputes often do not have positive communication, and whenever they communicate, they often end up fighting. The mediation process bound them to keep their calm and provide a positive atmosphere for dispute resolution.

Finding a solution that everyone agrees:

The soul of the mediation process is to find a realistic solution that is acceptable to everyone. The mediation acknowledges everyone’s point of view and opinion while driving a solution to the dispute.

Keeps confidentiality:

The mediation sessions are usually private and keep the confidentiality of the participants and the issue between them. Mediation is the best solution to resolve any issue confidentially that is not possible if the parties take the dispute to court.

Save you from a lengthy formal process:

The mediation saves your precious time because the whole process takes less time than the formal legal process in court.

Less costly:

If you want to avoid paying the lawyers’ high fees and other charges, mediation is best for you because it is less costly.

Skills that a good mediator have:

There are different skills that a good mediator should have, and some of them are

Active listener:

A skillful mediator should be an active listener. The mediator should listen to verbal communication and should also notice the body language of the participants.