Conflict Resolution - Mediation - Essay Example

Conflict resolution- mediation Introduction Mediation is the process by which a third party helps the disputants to settle conflicts without offering solutions but providing support to them. Workplace mediation is part of the job and mainly addresses the relationships between the disputants. Mediation can be applicable in a number of situations since it shifts the perceptions of the disputants to the conflict and contributes to learning and growth. Unlike arbitration where a neutral third party will offer the disputants with decisions, mediators are not supposed to offer any suggestions on how to resolve the conflict. A working agreement which spells out the rules of engagement and conduct during the negotiations is essential in the process. The mediation process involves acceptable third party intervention and confidential caucuses which enable the disputants become the decision makers in ending the conflict. The caucus stage entails making confidential meetings with each of the disputants whereby each party is allowed to reveal his or her grievances to the dispute. Party-directed mediation process can be summed up in to five stages which include the opening statement, the education phase, and the alternatives generation phase, the actual negotiation phase and the final closing phase. There are two pillars of the party-directed mediation that is the preliminary meetings which comprises of the pre-caucus and pre-mediation. Mediation process saves the parties to the dispute money while managing conflicts. Mediation is applicable in a wide variety of situations thus its effective in resolving disputes. Unlike arbitration where a third party makes a decision for the disputants, mediation is neutral process that accords the disputants the opportunity to solve their dispute with the support of a third party. The objectives of the pre-caucus are to enable the parties to the mediation to reduce the negative emotions to mediation and enable the negotiators to mediate more effectively. The initial aim of the pre-caucus is to facilitate empathic listening and develop an active listening approach as developed by Carl Rogers in the client-centered therapy. The initial joint session enables each party to confront the other through interpersonal negotiation while avoiding all the dysfunctional behaviors. Workplace mediation is always different since the parties address the working relationships which are part of the job and as a legal obligation. Party-directed mediation is useful in particular when mediating ethnic clashes or deep-seated interpersonal disputes between two individuals. Mediation process helps the parties to the dispute to develop tools which are critical in examining their disagreement. I agree with the book that the third party acts as a quasi arbitrator to the dispute. The pre-caucus affords the parties to the dispute an opportunity to vent their emotions, discover the blind spots and increase their commitment to resolving the dispute. The individuals at this stage will learn on how to listen to each other, and understand the issues of confidentiality to the mediation process. I have learned that empathic listening is an essential skill to effective mediation process since it encompasses attentive listening, asking questions about the mediation process as well as suggesting solutions to the dispute. The diagnostic stage of effective listening motivates the parties to speak without feelings of fear of being judged due to self-understanding and confidence. I personally believe that opening statement of the mediation process is aimed at ensuring confidentiality to the negotiations and setting the rules of engagement. The education phase provides an ample opportunity for all the parties to share their perspectives of the dispute and relive any negative emotions. The parties should aim at building cordial and close working relationships at this stage. The options generation phase entails brainstorming on all possible alternatives of resolving the conflict. In party-directed mediation, the mediator should never offer any suggestion but should only guide the disputants during the brainstorming session. During the negotiation phase, the parties will set the standards of the negotiations while the last step will be closing up the mediation process by the final settlement. The mediator should be open, confident, and should be willing to listen to all disputants without taking any sides. A balanced approach to party-directed mediation entails neutrality, impartiality and declaration of any potential causes of conflict by the mediator. The mediator should build trust by establishing friendly relationships and demonstrating his competence to the mediation process through keenly listening to disputants and remaining tactful. I agree with the book that the mediator should also observe the standards of the process and promote diligence, safety, party participation, mutual respect and fairness among all the disputants. Generally, some deep seated conflicts involve fight and negative emotions thus the mediator should utilize collaborative strategies to change the disputants emotions and negative behaviors. The mediation should take place in a neutral environment where all disputants are comfortable and free to advance their opinions. The sitting arrangement should encourage close working relationships by ensuring direct eye contact between the disputants. The participants should share their facts based on their memories with adequate space being guaranteed to all the perspectives. The participants should freely express their feelings while the ground rules should govern the behavior during mediation. Negative emotions may be witnessed during the pre-caucus phase but this is the essential time to prepare the list of topics to form the discussion, permit positive feelings and improve individual communication skills. The mediation parties should create a distance from interpersonal conflict. For instance, each party should not be distracted by the stress of the dispute or hold grudges towards the other party. During the pre-caucus process, the individuals will cultivate an identity of how they visualize each other. One may perceive himself as a scholar, rebel, free thinker or intellectual. In order to facilitate positive feelings, I think the parties must be empowered through positive comments made by the mediator. These transformative comments may include apologies, acceptances of apologies and positive understanding between the mediator and each of the parties. According to psychologists, the blind spots should be fully challenged. Conflicts which may occur will tend to increase blind spots and impair creativity. The parties to the dispute should excuse their personal negative behaviors that may hinder the negotiation process. For instance, the party to the mediation should explore the reasons why people try to react or act negatively towards him in order to understand the negative behaviors. Another pre-caucus powerful tool is practicing through role play. Coaching and effective communication styles are a task of the mediator. The main aim is to enhance the negotiation skills which are essential in effective mediation process. The negotiating process can quite be intimidating when deciding who begins the conversation. Negotiation helps the parties to handle any disagreements that may arise during the mediation process. When a dispute is not poorly negotiated, the outcome will be contention which leads to feelings of competition, disregard and dislike between the parties involved in the dispute. Some of the natural disasters to effective negotiation and mediation include explaining personal opinions first without listening to the other parties, fear and assumption that the other party has lost the dispute. Obtaining a solution requires each party to recognize that they have contributed to the problem and are wiling to change. Co-workers and friends at work may tend to sympathize with the individual thus justifying our negative behaviors which hinders the achievement of a solution to the dispute. Lack of self-esteem hinders our capability to deal with conflicts in a co0nstructive manner. Yielding is another negative solution to conflicts whereby one party makes concessions at the expense of the submissive party. Some people may engage in this negative solution when they perceive minimal chances of winning the dispute. I agree that this behavior entails agreeing to a weak solution in order to escape further disagreements. Avoidance of the dispute resolution weakens the already fragile relationships compromise which is mutual concessions of all parties involves both trust and maturity but sometimes fail is resolving the conflicts. Interpersonal relations aids in the maintenance of positive feelings. Social rituals such as handshake, pat on the back and placing hands on the shoulders of the colleagues can be misunderstood by other people. Physical strokes create different feelings depending on the place and people involved. Drastic changes in the strokes such as the lengthy and intensity of the stroke may send mixed reactions and create confusion among the people involved. However, strokes such as direct eye contact will enhance goodwill in relationships thus facilitating the reconciliation process. Successful mediation entails controlling one’s emotions. Greed, envy, and other negative emotions. Parties should control their negative emotions during mediation and break the bigger problems in to smaller problems that can be solved through quicker solutions. Parties to the dispute should seek creative solutions by adapting a needs-based approach which entails defining the magnitude of the problem and seeking numerous alternatives to the problem. The parties should not fear exploring the worst alternative. I have learned that the parties should admit the errors and apologize and value others while utilizing humor effectively in the mediation process. The party should avoid generalizations or emphasizing on what has already been said by the other parties. Manipulative tactics such as threats or name calling should be avoided since they only act to exaggerate the dispute. While confronting other people and situations, the mediator should avoid the fear of failure by making psychological contact with the people involved in the dispute. Choosing a mediator An outside party has a higher chance of success in the mediation process than a coworker. However, if such power holds power or authority, they may be more directing and more taking the roles of an arbitrator than a mediator. The mediator should be able to ensure confidentiality of the parties to the dispute with few exceptions such as sexual intimidation and violence in the workplace (Billikopf 86) In mediator directed approach, the mediator will listen to the parties and offer possible solution alternatives. The mediator will give an opportunity to each party to explain their concerns to the dispute while the other parties listen keenly. This approach is preferred when the parties do not interact on an ongoing basis or when solution to a particular problem is more effective than the ongoing relationship. The main disadvantage of the approach is the mediator biases when may arise during the mediation process (Billikopf 87). Party-directed mediation is another approach which empowers the contenders to the dispute by enabling them gain skills to resolve future disputes. The mediator holds separate meetings with each of the parties to the dispute prior to the joint session where parties speak directly to each other through the guidance of the mediator. The mediator is required to listen empathically during the mediation process and prepare the parties psychologically for the joint session. The main purpose of the mediator is to promote effective and fair negotiations between the parties and not offering solutions to the dispute (Billikopf 87). The joint session The joint session should be held in a location that is private and neutral to all parties. A comfortable environment will eliminate stress and tensions thus all parties can freely express their opinions to the dispute. Some matters of concern include the sitting arrangement, starting the dialogues and agreement of terms to the negotiations. The seating arrangement should ensure the parties face each other in order to ensure direct eye contact. Comfortable armchairs should be used and a sufficient space between the parties to the dispute should be provided for (Billikopf 98). In starting the dialogue, the mediator can choose one topic from the list prepared during the pre-caucus stage. The talks should begin with simpler topics or an individual may start by apologizing to the other party. Accepting the apology will energize the participants and build confidence for the future (Billikopf 99). I believe that agreements are an essential component of the mediation process. The mediator should understand the agreements of the disputants. The working agreement spells the conduct of the parties like the amount of break time, the use of electronic gadgets such as phones or laptops. The mediator should observe the ethical guidelines of mediation. Some ethical standards include the duty to maintain confidentiality, to ensure the quality of the mediation process, to remain impartial and avoid any potential conflicts of interest that may arise. Mediators should adhere to the principle of self-determination which entails arriving at uncoerced decisions where parties have the free choice of the process outcomes. High mediation fees, pressure from the media and courts should not affect the mediator’s impartiality and conduct during the mediation process. Mediators should avoid favoritism, prejudice and any situations that may present conflict of interest to the mediation process. The mediator should only intervene when they posses the necessary competence of meeting the mediation expectations of the parties to the dispute. The process should promote diligence, safety, timeliness and interests of the disputants. Some levels of resolution include the behavioral level where the parties stop the negative behaviors, mental level where parties settle the issues and emotional level where the underlying tensions between the parties are cleared. Strong emotions of the parties can be dealt with through self-awareness, self management and cordially managing the relationships. Facial expressions such as anger, happiness, disgust, surprise and contempt can be used to indicate the strong emotions of the parties. I agree with the book that for intercultural mediations, the mediator should learn and understand the social expectations of the disputants and utilize interest-based negotiation principles. The mediator should ensure power balance by modifying the physical setting, managing the communication patterns and engaging in collaborative negotiations. For instance, mediation process can be used in the workplace like when negotiating performance appraisals between the job holder and the management. This facilitates interpersonal skills development and eliminates hierarchical power differences which may make subordinates fear negations in performance appraisals. Supervisors hesitate to provide negative feedback on employee performance thus mediation process should be utilized to discuss the opportunities of employee performance improvement. A third party who may include the human resource manager will facilitate the performance negation process by acting as a facilitator and mediator between the supervisor and the subordinate. The employee should provide lists pertaining their work performance like where they have excelled in their duties and where improvements are needed. The first list should to recognize the strong points of the employee like the positive qualities on their work in order to increase their confidence in work. The second list should contain efforts that have been made by the employee to improve work performance while the third list should provide the criterion which should be followed in improving the employee’s work performance (Billikopf 198). The fourth list should explore on how the supervisor can change his or her management and leadership style in order to assist the employee in improving his or her work performance. In drafting the settlement agreement, I have learned that the parties should spell the terms and conditions of resolved conflict which is evidenced by making mutually acceptable promises to end the conflict. The settlement agreement should be admissible and should satisfy the psychological needs of all the parties. Conclusion Party-directed mediation is governed by key ethical issues like confidentiality, impartiality, conflicts of interest, quality of the mediation process and competence. The principle of self-determination entails allowing the disputants to make independent decisions without coercion or being directed on the outcomes. Some acts which are discouraged include increasing the mediation fee, external pressures for the court systems or biasness. The mediator should be in a position to disclose as soon as possible any potential conflicts of interest and abide by the working agreements which include the duty to maintain the confidentiality of the information of the mediation process. Works cited: Billikopf, Gregorio. Party-directed mediation: helping others resolve differences. Los Angeles. University Of California. 2004. Read More