Many of my business colleagues have stereotypes and misunderstandings about mediation applications in the business arena. Alternative Dispute Resolution, or mediation, is a proven and cost-effective means to resolve a wide variety of conflicts in business. For the cost of a letter or consultation from an attorney, you can typically buy one or two hours of mediation. Clients are often surprised what is accomplished in a short period of time through mediation.
A primary difference between mediation and litigation is your control through the process. First, mediation is client led. That means you are always in charge. Mediators can be guides, coaches, facilitators, and even an agent of reality, yet they remain neutral with you as a driver.
Second, mediation is voluntary. You can always move to arbitration or litigation. The voluntary nature of mediation often assists success. Once people are at the table, dialog and negotiations usually lead to resolution.
Third, mediation is confidential. What happens in mediation, stays in mediation. The confidential nature is critical for the possibility of apology and forgiveness, which can be a wonderful byproduct and outcome from mediation.
Finally, in most cases, mediation is less expensive than litigation or arbitration. I have resolved cases for thousands of dollars less than the cost of one attorney, let alone two or more usually retained.
Mediation can successfully resolve conflict within partnerships, family business, workplace conflict, non-profit boards, vendor/customer disputes, succession planning and buy/sale agreements. Unlike mediation practiced by most attorneys, I typically keep parties together at the table with breaks, as needed. This increases the dynamics between parties, aids productivity, and often resolves personal conflicts along with the business conflicts. Not all mediation is successful in the form of keeping parties united. Sometimes a successful mediation is a peaceful dissolution of a partnership or business.
If you give us a call, the first step is submitting a Scope of Work for your approval. Depending upon the situation, we may need to reach out to the other party to gain approval for mediation.
Once all parties are agreed, we conduct Case Development. In most cases, we seek brief narratives describing the conflict with any potential ideas of resolution. Each party will have his or her own perspective. Gathering these perspectives with follow up interviews allows us to discern the vortex of conflict, parties most affected, and next steps. In some situations, a mediation with two parties must proceed the multi-party mediation. This often results in success at both levels. We assist your attorney(s) to complete any needed legal documents resulting from mediation and work hard to create and implement sustainable agreements.
Give us a call. You don’t need to live with unresolved conflict keeping you up at night and eating your bottom line.