When the parties involved in a serious conflict want to avoid a court battle, there are types of mediation can be an effective alternative. In mediation, a trained mediator tries to help the parties find common ground using principles of collaborative, mutual-gains negotiation. There is a tendency to think that mediation processes are all alike,...

When it comes to dispute resolution, there are basically 2 choices available to us alternatives to litigation. Understandably, disputants are often confused about which process to apply to their situation.

The theory underlying our adversarial legal system, is that each person will hire a bright lawyer who will see the situation completely from the perspective of the client, and then present the strongest case possible to the judge. The judge will get the best information from each side, but will be neutral. The judge will see the situation from...

Most companies will have, or develop one soon I believe, a benchmark of sensing the workplace climate by how many formal grievances have been raised.

Mandatory Mediation - Advantages and Disadvantages

Many people are nervous, anxious, afraid of bringing up conflicts in the workplace, believing they will not be believed, or they will be dismissed or not empathised with and helped. They might trust HR, they might not and the odds are more towards the latter. That's not an insult, that's just the reality in conflict situations, especially if there...

Here are a few basic considerations which may impact the question of when to mediate a conflict:

Try not to minimise the other person's feelings (e.g., "What are you whining about? That's not so bad.").

If you have a dispute with another person or business, which you want resolved, you can first propose to the other side to mediate the case. If you are uncomfortable with that option, then you can make the first call to the mediator and ask the mediator to approach the other side with the invitation to mediate. A well-trained mediator...

Conflict can indeed be transformed to help you meet business objectives.