UK Mediation Journal Issue 1

Mediation & Conflict Management

Study the skills for conflict resolution and become an accredited mediator

Learn our unique psychological approach to mediation and dispute resolution with our five-day courses

At Regent’s University London our unique psychotherapeutic method of mediation training will equip you with a framework for conflict management and resolution crucial for dealing with commercial, employment, workplace, industrial, legal and personal disputes.

We focus on providing a high standard of teaching from experienced tutors delivered in a quality environment, as well as offering bespoke in-house courses.

Experienced tutors who are mediators from the psychotherapy and legal professions

– Student/tutor ratio of 4 to 1 with all classes limited to 16

Over 16 years’ experience in delivering the course

– Bar Council and Law Society approved CPD hours

Beautiful central London location

Start dates: July, September and December 2015

Open evenings: June, September and November 2015

Find out more and sign up for an open evening.

www.regents.ac.uk/mediate

LLM/MSc Mediation and Conflict Resolution

The University of Strathclyde Law School’s LLM/ MSc in Mediation and Conflict Resolution, now entering its sixth year, provides a thorough, practical and exciting introduction to this growing area. Still the only course of its kind in the UK, this rigorous and multi-disciplinary programme is led by Charlie Irvine, experienced mediator, researcher and former Chair of the Scottish Mediation Network. Supplemented by experts from a range of disciplines, it is aimed at mediators, lawyers, managers, human resource professionals and anyone working or intending to work with people in conflict. It attracts students from the UK, Europe, Africa and the USA.

The course combines theoretical and practical elements and has been accredited by the Scottish Mediation Network. Participants enhance their confidence in dealing with interpersonal and organisational conflict while developing their communication and problem-solving skills. As well as core classes on mediation theory and practice, there are classes on employment mediation, mediation law and policy, arbitration, transitional justice the key business skill of negotiation. Students may also elect classes from a range of postgraduate programmes such as Human Rights, Construction Law and International Economic Law. Students can also gain practical experience through our Mediation Clinic

Glasgow is a friendly and welcoming city with a rich history and fantastic architecture. Strathclyde is located in the heart of the old Merchant City, a short walk from the city centre.

Start Date: September each year

Mode of Study: Full-Time or Part-Time

Course is taught by a combination of evening lectures and intensive weekend sessions.

Application

www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/courses/

Contact

Pauline McKay (Administrator)

e: pauline.mckay@strath.ac.uk

Charlie Irvine (Course Leader)

e: charlie.irvine@strath.ac.uk

t: 0141 548 5998

Welcome to the UK Mediation Journal

I am delighted to welcome you to the inaugural issue of the UK Mediation Journal.

Mediation is increasingly recognised as one of the most effective forms of conflict management, particularly in workplace and employment disputes. With the significant rise in court and tribunal fees, HR professionals and businesses are under greater pressure to gain a more comprehensive understanding of mediation and its practical application. Misperceptions around mediation continue to flourish. Properly informed, mediation can achieve a successful outcome in even the most complex and sensitive of business and workplace disputes.

As a second generation mediator, I have conducted, observed, and been a party at mediation, as well as having advised on recruitment of mediators, assessed training, and adjudicated at mediation competitions. Rarely do I come across a negative story of someone’s experience with mediation (unlike those I hear of the alternatives).

Nevertheless, take up of mediation remains relatively low compared to more traditional forms of dispute resolution. So why, when it should be a PR dream, has the message of mediation not reached the masses? Why are businesses and HR personnel not embracing this method of resolving disputes, but instead choosing the more costly, risky and lengthy options?

Our aim with this journal is to educate, inform and assist potential users, procurers, and trainees of mediation. Inside this inaugural issue you will find discussions and advice on who should mediate, insights and explanations of the skills and techniques mediators use, frequently asked questions and case studies, as well as a useful directory of mediation and training providers.

We love to hear from our readers, so, if there are areas you’d like to see covered in future issues, or stories you’d like to share, then please do get in touch. Keep an eye out for Issue 2, published in December.

Hannah Randolph

UK Mediation Journal

Page 5 >> Putting Mediation to Work

Page 9 >> The Unassailable Business Case for Workplace Mediation

Page 12 >> Work Disputes, Who Should Mediate?

Page 14 >> Unmasking the ‘Magic’ of Mediation

Page 17 >> How Mediation Works

Page 19 >> Implementing Mediation in the Workplace

Page 22 >> The Psychology of Conflict

Page 23 >> Workplace Mediation Skills are Life Skills

Page 24 >> Advanced Communications: What Are You Not Telling Me?

Page 26 >> Mainting Values When Things Go Wrong

Page 29 >> Tutu Foundation: Sharing Mediation Skills

Page 30 >> Ask The Experts

Page 32 >> What Makes a Great Mediator

Page 33 >> Mediation Training, a Worthy Investment?

Page 34 >> Avoid Big Disputes by Working Together

Page 36 >> Location, Location, Location.

Page 37 >> Indepedent Mediators Limited

Page 39 >> Directory - Source Mediation and Training Providers

e ach year C e DR works globally across all sectors with people and organisations to improve communication, resolution capability and to manage conflict more effectively.

CEDR:

n prevents unnecessary conflict - by fostering and building negotiation expertise

n manages breakdowns in communication - with organisational change consultancy, dispute handling design and contract clauses

n resolves existing deadlock - with mediation, adjudication, arbitration and other services

n improves dispute resolution - through education, campaign and consultancy

“Cut to the chase quicker than I had been used to.”

HR DIReCtoR, LonDon, UK

“After attending mediation courses at Harvard, London Business School and Singapore, this is the most effective conflict resolution course!”

DIReCtoR, InteRnAtIonAL BAnK, LonDon, UK

“the most intensive and effective course in terms of learning I have ever attended!”

LAw FIRm PARtneR, Hong Kong, CHInA

“I have never come across an organisation before who are, step by step, single-mindedly changing the way we all resolve disputes, by working in multiple countries simultaneously.”

PARtneR, mAnAgement ConSULtAnCy, new yoRK, USA

“every organisation has its difficulties, CeDR essentially showed us we don’t have to just live with conflict, we can manage it.”

oPeRAtIonS DIReCtoR, goveRnment AgenCy, LonDon, UK

“Settled the unsettlable.”

geneRAL CoUnSeL, genevA, SwItzeRLAnD

has worked with over 500,000 individuals and organisations

Putting Mediation to Work

common and recurring topic

and background is how mediation could, and indeed should, be better promoted, understood – and used. The launch of the UK Mediation Journal comes at an opportune moment as business leaders address the serious challenge of competing successfully in the market place and, guided by their HR professionals, inhouse counsel, and external advisers amongst others, increasingly recognise the negative, costly and timeconsuming effect of conflict in the workplace or of a damaging commercial dispute externally. Any initiative that eases and facilitates the difficult task facing today’s business leaders, in what remain challenging economic times, of driving their organisations forward effectively is to be commended.

The challenge for mediators is to demonstrate compellingly that mediation provides an effective, flexible and affordable mechanism for the resolution of all forms of dispute in many, if not all, situations (as well as helping to reduce significantly the likelihood of a recurrence if lessons are learnt and best practice is adopted). Despite encouraging evidence of its growing adoption and use, the prevailing view is that mediation continues to fall well short of its real potential in terms of its reach and the number of users who benefit from it. For mediation to develop to the next level at an acceptable pace requires a strong independent organisation to lead and facilitate its development and growth.

The Civil Mediation Council was established in 2003 to be a neutral and independent body to represent and promote mediation and other dispute resolution options, and thereby further access to justice. As the name suggests, the organisation’s origins lay initially more in the mediation of commercial disputes but its membership has grown in recent years to include the majority of leading private workplace mediation providers alongside established civil and commercial mediators and mediation providers. It has enjoyed strong support

Written by The Civil Mediation Council

from, amongst others, Acas, the Bar Council and the Law Society and has been recognised by the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. The CMC also maintains active links with the Family Mediation Council and is committed to supporting community mediation. As a result it is best placed, and ready, to take on the key role and challenge of actively promoting the mediation agenda and in setting standards.

In preparation for this, the CMC has taken important steps over the last 18 months to build on its strong foundations and make itself truly fit for purpose, and reinforce its position as the trusted voice of mediation in England and Wales. A new company, Civil Mediation Council Limited has been formed. Membership is open to all organisations and individuals with an interest in mediation, reflecting our intention that, as well as mediators and mediation service providers, others will have the opportunity to help shape the mediation agenda. To reinforce its independence and neutrality, provision has been made for the appointment of 3 independent directors as well as an Advisory Board drawn from all sides of the business, mediation and user communities. Charitable status is expected to be confirmed shortly, further reflecting the CMC’s commitment to serving the public benefit and performing an educational role.

The CMC is committed to now driving the mediation agenda forward by, in simple terms ‘Putting Mediation to Work’ – in the workplace, within business, among consumers, in the community, within government, and elsewhere. Mediation is not the only dispute resolution technique and will not always be the right option, although it very often is. In delivering the keynote address at the recent CMC Conference, the Rt Hon. Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, President of the Supreme Court, spoke of mediation “as a good thing” from his perspective as “an informed, objective and supportive observer and commentator of mediation” and something to be encouraged “based on practicality and principle, and not on some form of messianic commitment”. Mediation should be seen as complementary to other traditional forms of dispute resolution including negotiation, arbitration and litigation.

A

of debate amongst mediators of whatever specialisation

The CMC’s action agenda is focused on a stronger engagement with current and potential users of mediation, whether businesses, consumers, government, or those who advise them – delivering the dispute resolution that they require, and indeed demand. The feedback from those who have experienced mediation is overwhelmingly positive and the statistics confirm both a good overall success rate and very satisfactory outcomes. As the CMC spreads the message and benefits of mediation to a wider audience, and promotes its greater use, we have also recognised that, in keeping with its growing professional status, one of the key things that users will increasingly look for is appropriate reassurance about the standards of mediators and mediation providers.

With that in mind, the CMC has recently launched an individual registration scheme to complement the system of mediation provider registration. In summary, the main requirements are: successful completion of an assessed training course recognised by the CMC; current mediator experience; adherence to an acceptable ethical code; professional indemnity insurance cover; continuing professional development; and a published complaints handling procedure. Those individuals and organisations registering have the right to use the description ‘CMC Registered’ and to be listed on the new CMC website which is due to go live this summer -

www.civilmediation.org. The website will also act as a definitive and trusted reference point and signpost, providing comprehensive and reliable guidance, information, education, and research on mediation both within the site itself and through links to other authoritative sources. We are confident that ‘CMC Registered’ status will quickly and increasingly be seen by mediation users as the recognised badge of approval when selecting a mediator or mediation provider, building on the CMC’s already strong brand.

As we build on the new CMC’s emerging agenda, we are keen to engage with all interested organisations and individuals and we welcome your support of our aim to ensure that mediation becomes widely and routinely accepted, and used, as a trusted, effective and affordable means to resolve all forms of dispute. Details of membership and, where applicable, registration may also be found on our website www.civilmediation.org. By joining us, participating in our work, and by challenging us, you can play an active part in shaping the mediation agenda and making it work to the benefit of all.

General enquiries may also be directed to the CMC’s Chief Executive, Jon Siddall at jonsiddall@civilmediation.org

We have highly experienced mediators at all levels of seniority who have worked across the broad range of Chambers’ practice areas.

Our Barrister Mediators have been trained in the psychological approach to mediation, and so are especially proficient at handling disputes with a high emotional content. Contact

Tim Jones

The Unassailable Business Case for Workplace Mediation

Written by Antony Sendall

I am going to stick my neck out and suggest that workplace mediation offers perhaps the largest untapped opportunity for cost-cutting and improving profitability in business in the UK today. The many benefits of a mediation culture, including lower levels of conflict, improved morale, improved staff retention and even improved relations with suppliers and customers are really important and are a big part of that business case, but are outside the scope of this article. I am going to focus here just on the cost savings in terms of management and HR time.

Any manager in business will tell you that a lot of their time is spent dealing with conflicts of various kinds. Their range is vast, including tiny niggles over terms and conditions, such as whether or not a shift bonus is being properly paid, personality clashes, serious allegations of bullying/ harassment or even inter-departmental conflicts over resources that threaten the very survival of the business. Studies have repeatedly shown that workplace disputes occupy very significant levels of management time within organisations. It is not uncommon to see assessments quoting figures as high as 20% of all management time being spent dealing with such matters.

The sorts of conflicts referred to above all involve the investment of precious management and HR time, even if no formal processes are undertaken. However, there often will be formal procedures, such as grievances or

disciplinaries, as these are still the default option for most companies when faced with issues that arise. These processes will almost always require an initial investigation and entail outcomes that may be the subject of appeal within the organisation or even result in litigation. The ‘hidden’ cost of these processes in terms of management and HR time is difficult to calculate, but is truly staggering.

The CIPD Conflict Management survey report in 2011 indicated that managing a single workplace grievance takes an average of seven days of HR and management time. Many people reading this article will think that is probably an underestimate when the time of everyone involved is actually added up. The ‘hidden’ costs of workplace disputes include, but are certainly not limited to:

(1) Time spent by management investigating and dealing with grievance/disciplinary issues and any resulting appeals. This will commonly involve:

Staff concerned with or affected by the issues in question;

Gathering and considering other evidence;

Identifying and freeing up appropriate persons to hear grievances/disciplinaries and any relevant appeals;

Considering outcomes and drafting appropriate outcome letters;

Providing cover for employees who are either suspended or are absent because of stress caused by the relevant process - for example, in ‘bullying’ cases it is not uncommon for both the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator to be absent through stress as a result of the issues raised.

(2) Time spent by HR in connection with the processing of grievances and disciplinary issues, including:

Providing advice to managers and staff

Arranging for investigations and investigatory meetings

Arranging for grievance/disciplinary hearings

Arranging for appeals from grievance/disciplinary hearings

Attending investigatory interviews and hearings

Note taking, transcribing and agreeing notes of investigations and hearings (including any appeals)

Dealing with the outcomes of investigations and hearings (including any appeals).

(3) The cost of paying employees who are not at work through sickness caused by the stress of the conflict or through suspension and the costs associated with covering the work they should be doing.

(4) The costs of lost production and lowered morale resulting from an atmosphere of dispute.

(5) The costs of recruitment of replacement employees for staff who leave as a direct or indirect result of workplace disputes.

Of course, all of those costs are before a single penny has been spent on legal advice in connection with any dispute or resulting litigation.

Compared to the costs of litigation, the costs of mediation are tiny. Workplace mediation has very high success rates, with reports of about 80% of mediated issues resulting in complete resolution. Usually, it is also a quick and straightforward process with costs to the organisation that are a fraction of the costs of the initial investigation and perhaps a first grievance or disciplinary hearing. Although there will be some

internal costs to the organisation in terms of management and HR time in setting up and dealing with the mediation process, those will be much lower than the costs of the more traditional processes. The fees paid to the mediation provider will usually equate to no more than 3 or perhaps 4 days of mediator time in total for an average mediation, which will be measured in the very low thousands of pounds.

Given those sorts of success rates and the extremely low costs, there appears to be an unassailable business case for incorporating mediation into the normal processes of any organisation that employs staff. Even if one only considers the reduction in litigation costs for the business, the costs savings are likely to be huge. When one factors in the ‘hidden’ costs and the ‘hidden’ benefits of a mediation culture, especially saved management and HR time, which allows them to devote more time to what they probably perceive to be the work that they are really paid to do, the impact upon profitability can be colossal.

It is also apparent that the earlier that mediation is introduced into the equation, the greater the cost savings can be.

So that raises the question as to why more businesses have not yet embraced workplace mediation or not embraced it fully. Is it just a matter of lack of awareness of the availability and/or effectiveness of mediation? Is it that business is so wedded to its traditional processes of grievances and disciplinaries that it is reluctant to introduce what may be perceived as a massive cultural change? Answers on the traditional postcard please or by email through that new-fangled interweb thingy, if you must…

d.

e.

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

g.

How to Master Workplace and Employment Mediation

Clive Lewis OBE DL

Mediation in the workplace is growing in popularity as a dispute resolution option for UK organisations.

How to Master Workplace and Employment Mediation aims to help readers understand more about what workplace and employment mediation is and how it can be applied effectively in places of work.

Key topics covered in How to Master Workplace and Employment Mediation, include:

The Business Case for Mediation in the Workplace

Setting up an in-house mediation scheme

Making mediation work

Mediation advocacy and representatives in mediation

Mediator skills

The future of workplace mediation

Mediation documentation

How to Master Workplace and Employment Mediation will prove essential reading for anyone involved in workplace and employment mediation, including HR professionals, mediators, lawyers, company secretaries and trade union representatives.

Publication Date: July 2015

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781780437941

RRP: £75 £60

About the author: Clive Lewis was one of the UK’s first HR Professionals to train as a civil and commercial mediator and now specialises in mediating employment and workplace disputes. He has mediated hundreds of cases and has advised governments on how to apply the mediation concept. He is much in-demand as a mediator and mediator trainer across a range of business sectors throughout UK and Europe. He was awarded the OBE for his contribution to the field of mediation and has recently been appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant. Clive is a Business Psychologist and is the founding director of Globis Mediation Group.

How to Master Workplace and Employment Mediation is part of the ‘How to Master’ mediation series, which also includes How to Master Commercial Mediation and How to Master Negotiation.

Order your copy today at www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/workplacemediation and enter code TOMWMJ for a £15 discount.

Work Disputes, Who Should Mediate?

Can those who work for the organisation mediate disputes within it?

Joe was frustrated. He’d become manager of the sales admin team only 6 months ago. It was his first managerial role, a year after finishing graduate training. He really didn’t understand why one of his team Barbara was so difficult and when she stormed out of the performance appraisal he was at a loss as to what to do.

Barbara was really fed up. Since Joe had been manager he’d become ‘pally’ with the other two in the team who were both much younger than her and she seemed to be bearing the brunt of Joe’s complaints about team performance. He was so rude and disrespectful.

Sound familiar? It is a fairly typical workplace situation and looks like an ideal case for mediation – but who will mediate. Someone in HR? How about a senior manager? Or should we get external help? To help decide let’s consider the key things the person needs:

1. The necessary knowledge to know what to do.

2. The competence to do it effectively.

3. To be sufficiently independent and perceived to be so.

Looking at the first, what knowledge would the person need? Most people have a vague idea of what mediation is – you might hear ‘it’s getting them to sort things out without fighting’, ‘bringing them together so they talk about it’ etc. However, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing and trying to mediate between people who are emotionally invested in a relationship conflict can potentially go badly wrong. In our scenario let’s assume the HR Manager, Bob, decides he will mediate. A key principle of mediation is that the participants should control the outcome. Bob is aware of this but time is

Written by Marc Reid

pressing and once Barbara and Joe and have had their say they aren’t seeing what is obvious to Bob so he gives them the solution he knows will work. He’s surprised when a month later Barbara raises a grievance as she’d never bought into Bob’s solution. So a basic requirement to mediate should be that the person has been trained in mediation skills and processes. We are not talking full mediator training but a basic knowledge on how to nip low level conflict in the bud.

However even if Bob knows what he should be doing, can he do it? This is where competence comes in. I can read books and go on courses on making good presentations but still make a mess of it when I stand up in front of an audience because unless I’m a natural presenter I need to practise my skills to become competent. It is the same with mediating people in conflict. We know for instance we need to remain impartial, but as a HR or line manager we are so used to weighing up the arguments and making judgements that it is hard to switch this off. Many people I’ve trained in simple mediation skills have turned round after the role play and said it is simply not for them. There is nothing wrong in that – mediating is a skill like any other and just because we work in HR or are used to managing people it doesn’t mean we are born mediators. Let’s say Bob knows what to do and is competent. The final question is whether it is appropriate that he mediates. This raises the tricky question of whether you use internal or external mediators. Increasingly large organisations are training selected staff to mediate. This is how I started my own mediation career so having worked as an in-house mediator and now an external supplier I can see both sides. There are advantages to using Bob as he knows the organisational culture, he understands the jargon and is available whenever the company asks him to be.

On the other hand, he will find it much more difficult to convince Barbara and Joe that he is truly impartial, that he can take off his ‘HR hat’ and be independent. Large organisations can get round this to some extent by using people from a different part of the organisation but will he ever be perceived as truly independent by the participants? Also, Bob is likely to have only limited experience – how often has he done this before?

Compared to an external specialist whose job it is to supply mediation services it is unlikely he will have the same level of experience. Which is fine if the situation does not demand it – so a critical question is when can it be managed in-house and when does external support need to be accessed?

In my view the sensible approach for organisations to take is multi-layered. Ideally we want our employees to be sorting issues out themselves. So we must train them in having the necessary difficult conversations with fellow employees so any disagreement or miscommunication can be cleared up right away. If that doesn’t happen, at

the next level we need managers who are both competent and confident to identify and manage low level conflict. They need training in spotting the signs and then dealing with it early on. All too often our managers avoid conflict, seeing it as ‘too difficult’ or risky. Unfortunately this can easily lead to conflict escalating until HR get the call or even a grievance letter lands on the managers desk. At this point the organisation needs more specialist conflict skills. This could be HR or turning to trained internal mediators, but it is important that companies have access to external support when impartiality and experience are critical to the case.

So who should mediate for Barbara and Joe? The scenario is based on an actual case I dealt with as an internal mediator. It turned out positively, but actually the critical factor was not whether I was internal or external, HR or non HR. What matters is whether the mediator has the knowledge, the competence and can establish sufficient trust and confidence in the participants that they are independent and impartial.

Written by Mia Forbes Pirie

Unmasking the ‘Magic’ of Mediation A Personal Story

People often say that they do not need mediation or facilitation: they will just negotiate. They do not see that an impartial third party has anything to add. Sometimes they are right. Party-to-party negotiation can, indeed, be the way forward. Too often, however, they are missing out - not only on saving time, money, and on finding better solutions – but also on preserving and improving their relationship with the other party and on being happier healthier people. Hard to believe perhaps – but that is the point of this article.

This is particularly important in disputes in areas such as employment, where people may have to continue to work together. For example, if there have been accusations of bullying-type behaviour at work, a good facilitator may be able to help the parties understand each other and relate to each other better, as well as amend behaviour, more informally, without having to go through a fully fledged disciplinary procedure. In the process the parties may have grown personally and feel more confident, stable and trusting of each other. This could help avoid significant morale issues, make things less awkward and open channels of communication. Alternatively, after a procedure, a facilitator could help the parties figure out how they will work together and re-integrate into the wider team with less disruption.

There are three reasons why people fail to see the value of facilitation (I will use the word to refer to both mediation and facilitation). This article explains those reasons and why involving a third party is so helpful. But let’s begin in my back yard.

My garden fence

Recently, I found myself in an ironic dispute with my new neighbour over the cliché garden fence (really). As a facilitator, I thought, ‘I should be able to handle this’. But I was quite upset by the situation – as my neighbour had built a fence with gaps in it which I felt invaded my privacy, as well as hers – I could see her moving around in her living room – although she did not seem to mind. I discussed the issue with my neighbour. She talked, and I made sure I had heard her and made it clear that I had understood her point of view. And I talked, and I did not feel like she was taking in anything I was saying (I am, of course, biased here). I may have said something to that effect, which I am fairly certain did not help matters. She was set on having things her way and I was annoyed.

We arranged to meet another time to discuss the issue – and this time her mother was with her. Her mother is not a trained facilitator, but she was a little less partial than either of us – and her daughter trusted her. From time to time she would tell her daughter something like ‘darling, I don’t think you’re hearing her’, ‘I don’t think you’re listening’, or ‘I don’t think you understand her point’. Although, that is not something you would expect a normal facilitator to say, it seemed to work in this situation. Having her there created space in the conversation where previously there had been none and opened up her daughter’s ability to listen, trust, and take in a different perspective. We found an interim solution and understood each other better.

A skilled mediator, facilitator and conflict coach, and Head of Jurit LLP’s Alernative Dispute Resolution and Prevention group, Mia has worked with directors and boards restructuring organisations, individuals in conflict, and advised the US Department of Energy on using facilitation to develop controversial legislation. She is a facilitator in the Church of England’s ‘shared conversations’ on LGBT issues and has been invited to speak at Chatham House on conflict resolution.

Why is it so hard to realise that mediation and facilitation work?

Firstly, often people cannot understand the value of mediation and facilitation. This is partly because, as humans, when we are in conflict, we easily become limited and defensive. We see our own perspective and get attached to it. We not only fail to see the other party’s perspective, we are so caught up in our own version of events that we fail to see that any good can come from seeing the other person’s perspective.

The model of transformative mediation (as well as a number of other models) recognises that when there is conflict between people they become disempowered and no longer properly ‘recognise’ each other as human beings. People in conflict have trouble seeing another person’s perspective because they are so caught up in their own stories and in their own points of view that they only see the other person as an obstacle.

Secondly, facilitation and mediation are black boxes. No one really understands what goes on. Because of this, it is so hard to imagine that ‘magic’ could actually happen in the ‘black box’. This is not helped by the fact that there is no consistent process or way in which all mediators work, so there is no one process to explain to people. It is not a bad thing that facilitators use different approaches and can be flexible. Arguably, there is no one-size fits all. But it is confusing when people are trying to understand what happens.

The third is that we are emotional people and we take

things personally: we think “I can sort this out, I’m a rational person” but when it is important to us, we react quicker and often shut down. Emotions are not bad. They can even guide us to greater understanding and clarity but in these situations, they make us more reactive and less able to take in information that differs from our own point of view.

How do facilitation and mediation help with this?

A good facilitator will make people feel heard. People will be heard at least by the facilitator. But once they have been heard by the facilitator, a good facilitator will endeavor to make sure that the parties hear each other. And once that happens, ‘magic’: connection reoccurs. There is an intrinsic happiness and calm that comes from relating genuinely to others - hearing and being heard. You see people visibly relax when they feel they have been heard and understood. I have often heard people say ‘no one has ever listened to me like this before’. It makes a difference.

When people begin to relax and be more in touch with themselves, they can start to see the other person. They realise that the other person is a real and genuine person, not just an obstacle in the way of what they want, but a real person like them with needs and hopes and desires. They also have a clearer fuller picture of what actually happened. They see beyond their one-sided version of events. This opens up more possibilities for solutions: ways forward that are different than what was possible before.

Staff Problem?

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“We had widespread dissatisfaction and breakdown of trust between management and staff. Focus Mediation quickly found out what all the issues were.

They held individual, group and whole division meetings to develop a wide scale change programme. Focus Mediation guided staff through their programme over several months to help achieve the outcomes desired by all.”

How Mediation Works

Mary Banham-Hall Managing Director of Focus Mediation in conversation with Lydia Selby, HRM and Business Consultant about how mediation can benefit her business.

“We hear so much about mediation - can you explain the benefits?”

“Mediation is a useful tool in the workplace. Effective early intervention using mediation saves time and stress, avoids loss of productivity and legal costs. It prevents conflict escalating and spreading. It helps you retain your valuable people.”

“I see mediation as a 1-2-1 opportunity when there is a dispute between employees, but what other scenarios can mediation be used for?”

“When there is conflict between two or more people or groups, where larger numbers of people and several issues may be involved or the issues are not clear. Then we use various techniques, such as Investigation, Enquiry and Facilitation to find out what is going on, identify all the people and issues involved and report to the person who commissioned our services on what needs to happen.”

“Once you have left, how are the changes embedded in the organisation?”

“We provide training in negotiating skills and having difficult conversations. Also how to deal with conflict to equip management and staff to avoid disputes in the future.”

“One of my clients is a family owned and run business celebrating 120 years. There are several members of an extended family trying to work together. The business is stagnating. Could mediation help here?”

“It would be an ideal solution, as it builds functional communication and relationships and does not make people opponents in a fight. A mediator with a business background would help them address their personal expectations, the requirements of the business and

help them work out how to work together effectively and plan a way forward with consultation and the engagement of everyone.”

“How long does mediation take and what happens?”

“The initial enquiry is usually from HR, the MD, or their legal advisor, often via the website. A Focus accredited mediator will have a confidential briefing to find out about the problems. They then send a written proposal of recommended action and a costs estimate. Terms of Reference and reporting lines will be agreed from the outset. A two party mediation can usually take place within 2/3 weeks and most are settled within 1 day. In a multi party or departmental or whole company scenario this varies depending on the numbers of people involved. A detailed specification would be supplied to the appointing authority. Costs vary and prices are tailored to the work.”

“How do the costs compare with legal costs?”

“A Senior International HR Director told me that when he initiated mediation in his company the costs were between a tenth to a sixteenth of legal costs, without taking lost management and employee time into account. Also, you can’t sort out teams of people via lawyers. In most instances mediation should be the first port of call for workplace problems.”

Focus Mediation has seven workplace mediators UKwide. We are dedicated to resolving all types of workplace worries, trouble-shooting and sanity saving.

Call HQ on 01908 410506 . Visit our website www.focus-mediation.co.uk

Lydia Selby HRM AND BUSINESS CONSULTANT

Mary Banham-Hall MANAGING DIRECTOR OF FOCUS MEDIATION

Implementing Mediation in the Workplace

The UK Mediation Journal spoke to Sue Waldock, Group HR Director for the Rank Group, about what attracted her to mediation, how she went about implementing it, and her experience since. The Rank Group is a retail and online gambling organisation with around 12,000 employees across the UK.

How did you first find out about mediation and what attracted you it?

There was a lot in the press about mediation and we were quite interested to learn more about it. In any employment situation you can get conflict, it’s not always rational or logical and it is very emotional. What I liked about mediation was that it looks at how the parties feel. Having an opportunity to hear the impact they’re having on each other is quite revealing, but also quite healing. I liked the impartiality. We make sure the mediators come from a different part of the business and are not related to, nor have a vested interest in that particular area of the business. They’re not in any way accountable for the outcome of the mediation. It’s completely confidential; it is not a case of “we’re going to put this on your file”. It’s absolutely up to the parties to resolve the issues as they see them.

We don’t expect the mediators to give any information back to us, other than to say that the parties turned up and they have or haven’t agreed a way forward. It’s a really good process amd we’ve been really pleased with it.

How and when do you currently use mediation?

We have internal mediators and occasionally we use external mediators. Particularly for those on a more senior level, we need somebody completely independent. Sometimes we get grievances raised against each other and the line manager says,”This is down to the two people and there is not enough information on either side”. That’s hugely difficult for line managers to deal with and getting people to hear what each one of them is saying is a much better way of resolving the dispute, rather than us trying to decide who is right and who is wrong.

How long did it take for you to implement mediation in Rank?

It was about 6 months initially. We looked at the proposal in 2009, then started training with Consensio in 2010 with the HR community and then for line managers in 2011. So it has been on-going for us, it gave us some really good life skills. It’s a different way of thinking about things.

How did you choose a training provider?

It is quite an investment of time and money to train as a mediator, so quality control was important. We wanted them to be recognised as having the ability to do what we were asking them to do. So having the accreditation through the Open College Network was important, and knowing that somebody external to the training provider was marking our work was helpful.

How did you go about implementing mediation, and how did you promote it to employees?

We haven’t done masses of promotion around the scheme, because if we opened it up to everybody we actually wouldn’t be able to cope. So we promoted it to the general managers via the HR community and to the Senior Leadership Team.

The mediation takes at least a day, getting mediators that are outside of the line or business, in different parts of the country and taking everybody out of the workplace, as we wouldn’t do it in a workplace setting, is quite expensive and time consuming. But it is a good investment when you compare it to the costs of tribunals or losing employees. So we try and follow our normal procedures but if we fear it’s not getting resolved then we would step in and offer mediation.

We give people information packs about what mediation is and what it hopes to achieve, because the parties involved have got to agree to it. But we find most people want to resolve their differences. When people actually realise the impact their actions are having, or hear what the person really intended, it’s quite sobering, and also empowering. As a result they can start to build a relationship together, that’s what it’s all about in the end.

What benefits have you seen from mediation?

It takes the heat out of the situation, it reduces management time and it reduces stress levels and absentee levels. It also saves money; if you don’t resolve it and one party goes off sick or leaves then you’re looking at several thousand pounds. If someone says it’s constructive dismissal, as we haven’t helped them resolve it, then it doesn’t take long to ramp up to £510K at a tribunal. It’s often valued employees who’ve got completely different perspectives on the way things should be done. Unresolved, we could end up losing both of them. That’s bad for business, it’s bad for our customer service, it’s down time and it’s lost opportunity time while we recruit and train someone else.

Employees value the fact that we have given them something that they haven’t expected. I actually don’t think we’ve had one that hasn’t ended in an agreement so far. They really do value an alternative way to resolve an issue. In a disciplinary or a grievance somebody has to lose and somebody has to win, and that’s not the situation in mediation. They can both come out understanding, they might not still agree, but they at least understand why the person is feeling the way they do.

What were the difficulties you came across when implementing the scheme?

Logistics. If we have 2 or 3 cases running at the same time, it’s the logistics we struggle with. We’ve also trained an administrator; it’s important people feel secure and know what they’re going in to. We have to find mediators outside the business and find a venue. We also have to manage the venue set up – each party has to have a separate room, and then another for when we bring them together for the meeting. It’s logistically harder than we had thought but still well worth the effort.

What would you do differently?

We probably would have trained more people at the same time as the HR community. I wanted the HR community, myself included, to experience the mediation training because it wasn’t common place and was outside our normal repertoire of experiences. However, I would recommend training a cross section of the business rather than it sitting with one department, both geographically and functionally.

What advice would you give to other organisations?

I think you have to be realistic with what you can achieve with the resources. It depends on the size of the organisation. We personally couldn’t cope with doing one a day, for example. So we are selective about how we use it, but where we do use it, it gives us really good results. It’s a great process and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.

WORKPLACE:

Organisations large and small nationwide are increasingly using mediation to resolve workplace disputes. It makes sense to resolve complex and challenging disputes swiftly, and effectively. Avoid Legal Fees and use our expert Workplace Mediators.

The Psychology of Conflict

A mediator’s prime function is to achieve a perception shift – both as to the dispute and as to the other side. Without such a change in attitude, the parties will remain in the same entrenched positions as those at the start of the mediation, and little or no progress will be made towards resolution. This is not easy, for these positions will have been created over periods of weeks, months or years, and will have become rigidly sedimented. Yet the mediator is expected to achieve this in a matter of hours.

One of the first lessons to be learned by any mediator is that such an attitude shift is not achieved through logic. Lawyers often set out their client’s case in carefully drafted ‘letters before action’ – cogently reasoned, legally persuasive, logically convincing arguments, setting out in numbered paragraphs the strengths of their client’s position. The letters are fired off in the naïve belief that the other side will, upon reading them, suddenly realise the error of their ways and capitulate. Rarely, if ever, does this happen. Instead, back comes a reply, equally cogently argued, but dismissing every point made in the first letter, and setting out in further numbered paragraphs a series of even more extreme defensive points. Sadly, it seems, logic and reason are in fact counter- productive: the greater the cogency of one argument, the more extreme is the response.

The problem is that parties in dispute are invariably driven by emotions: they see themselves as victims of some injustice, and seek only vindication, revenge, and retribution – they want blood on the walls. When in such

Written by Paul Randolph

a frame of mind, parties to a dispute are in no place to listen to reason. Those involved in disputes often pray for ‘common sense to prevail’; there may be much sense, yet it is rarely common. Each party sees their own common sense as the only objective ‘truth’, and it will be diametrically opposite to that of their opponents.

Emotions cloud judgment, and overwhelm reason. Allegations of fault or breach are deeply hurtful, and all criticism is taken personally, producing emotional defensive responses. Anger, one of the most common emotions in disputes, is usually precipitated by a perceived loss. Most disputes involve some form of losswhether tangible, such as money, property, land, objects or possessions; or intangible, such as loss of reputation, time, or future plans, hopes and dreams.

The mediator’s task is therefore to disarm the anger, absorb the emotions so as to enable the passions to subside, and so move the parties to a platform where they are more amenable and ready to listen.

But if logic does not work, what does? What will enable the mediator more effectively to work such miraclesand in a short space of time? The answer is: a deeper understanding of the psychological traits of human behaviour in the face of conflict.

The need for mediators to understand human behaviour in conflict

Paul’s book ‘Mediation - A Psychological Insight into Conflict Resolution’ is available at www.paulrandolph.net

Workplace Mediation Skills are Life Skills

Written by Anna Shields Director of Consensio

When HR professionals or managers attend a workplace mediation course, their aim is generally clear: they want to learn the skills to formally resolve workplace conflict. However, by the end of the training course, most delegates tell us that the course was life changing, and that they will apply the new skills they learned across many aspects of their work and personal lives. In this short article, we identify how the key principles and skills that drive workplace mediators are relevant beyond the formal setting of workplace mediation.

The mediation principles of impartiality, confidentiality, voluntariness and self-determination have far-reaching applications in any workplace. Allowing individuals to speak openly and honestly with each other, in a confidential space, where they aren’t going to be judged or told what to do, can be extremely powerful. These principles help people to create a safe environment for a different and usually more useful type of conversation to happen.

In particular, learning the importance of impartiality enables delegates to reflect on how they may unconsciously filter messages according to their own biases, prejudices and past experiences. This new level of self-awareness fostered through mediation training helps individuals to reflect on how they can generally communicate more effectively.

Skillful communication is at the heart of what a mediator does, particularly in terms of facilitating a conversation between two or more people who are finding it difficult

to talk to each other. Many of us learn active listening skills as part of a management training programme or team building exercise, but mediation training takes these skills to a higher level. The ability to really listen to what is being said, as well as what is not being said, and how to summarize this back to the parties, is a skill that can be mastered through mediation training. Equally, the ability to show empathy, another key skill of a mediator, can facilitate a real shift in people’s positions.

Finally, mediators help people move on from their entrenched positions, to understand what they really need to move forward. We all at times hold positions at work when challenged about something that is important to us. These situations can quickly escalate, and if left unchecked, the relationship may deteriorate. We have all seen an initial viewpoint of “I need to be involved in this project,” move to “I am being purposely excluded,” and then end up with someone going on sick leave or taking out a grievance. Helping people to verbalise their underlying needs and what motivates them is a core mediation skill, but can be used in any type of workplace or personal conversation.

We hope that more and more HR professionals will embrace the skills of workplace mediation, not just as a means to formally mediate within their organisations, but also to transform their own and their staff members’ ability to more effectively deal with issues in their workplaces and beyond.

Advanced Communications:

What Are You Not Telling Me?

Written by Ruth Fenton

Have you ever wondered what people are really thinking or noticed that something doesn’t feel quite right but you can’t put your finger on it? HR professionals, managers and mediators are now learning facial expressions (micro expressions) and body language to help them create stronger relationships with colleagues and the public.

Micro Expression Recognition has been around for over 50 years and researched by leading experts such as Friesen, Haggard, Isaacs and Ekman. Micro expressions are between one fifteenth and one twenty fifth of a second, and are a movement of the facial muscles which occur when someone has repressed feelings about a subject or they are deliberately concealing their feelings. Learning to recognise these facial expressions has many benefits, for example, it increases your emotional intelligence (EQ) and your ability to empathise as you can more easily spot the feelings of others.

But why are micro expressions and emotional intelligence so important? Daniel Goleman noted in the Harvard Business Review that, “Emotional Intelligence is twice as important as technical and cognitive skills combined for a successful career”. HR professionals, managers and mediators need to connect with people in an authentic way so they can bring out the best in them and gain their trust.

Learning micro expressions and increasing emotional intelligence means an HR professional is better equipped to:

Resolve workplace conflicts

Deal with staff tragedies and crisis

Uncover hidden agendas

Negotiating employment terms

Detect when candidates are lying on their CV

Build stronger rapport with stakeholders.

For Mediators and Legal Professionals:

Know what a judge or opposing counsel is feeling about certain issues (which may assist out of court settlements)

Speed up the mediation process

Spot in-congruencies

Detect underlying emotions

Take control in negotiations

Ruth Fenton is a Mediator with “Inspired Resolution” and an Executive Leadership Trainer with “Inspired Star” specialising in Body Language. Ruth’s qualifications include: Accredited Mediator, PGDip ICA, Solicitor (non-practicing), BA (Hons), Micro Expressions Trainer, Strategic Intervention Coach, Master Neuro-Strategist and Certified Practitioner of Hypnotherapy.

Mediations can be a stressful time, with emotions running high. Equally, parties may hide what is really going on inside to save face or to cover up something. This is where understanding and applying body language and micro expressions is key. Let’s say an employee claims he is being bullied by his manager. The company would like to avoid expensive legal fees and publicity, so decide mediation is the best way forward.

The mediator first builds rapport and trust. This is done by, amongst other techniques, matching and mirroring the larger body language movements of the other person. Next, the mediator looks for vital clues in the accuracy of the information they are being told compared with the facial expressions of the person.

When the mediator sees a certain facial expression on a person’s face they can use certain questions and assumptions to get the person to repeat the expression or react unconsciously to a statement. This gives the mediator a clear indication of what is really going on inside the person’s mind. Time is reduced as targeted questions can be asked based on what the mediator sees, rather than just what they hear.

Here’s an example of how mediators use micro expressions in mediation. The employee says, “My employer was pleased with my work on that project”. The mediator sees the micro expression of anger on the face of the employee when he mentions “my employer” this indicates the employee maybe angry towards his employer. Timing is critical to give the sentence its meaning. So to check this, the mediator could ask, “Why was your employer pleased with your work on that project?” Chances are when the

mediator says “employer” the facial expression of anger will briefly appear again to confirm there are further questions which need to be asked around the topic of the employer, rather than the project performance.

This technique also works in negotiations. For example, when discussing salary expectations with a potential candidate, you may say, “we normally pay an annual salary of around £30K”, look for the facial expression at the price point. If you see the micro expression of anger or sadness, you know that the salary may be an obstacle to the candidate’s acceptance of the job, and that you may need to alter your offer.

In short, recognising, understanding and appreciating the feelings of our fellow humans really does make a difference to people’s lives. Clients will receive a better experience and feel their needs have been taken care of in a more authentic way. Learning micro expressions is fun and rewarding, and is an essential skill for any HR professional, manager or mediator.

To find out more about body language and facial expressions please contact Ruth Fenton at ruth.fenton@inspiredstar.net or visit www.inspiredstar.net

Maintaining Values When Things Go Wrong:

The challenge facing many employers is in how to make sure people behave in a way that is aligned to and reinforces, organisational values. However when people’s relationships at work are difficult, values get thrown out of the window and are the last thing on people’s minds.

Interest-based processes have a role in creating your culture

Many employers are aware that mediation enables conflicts to be resolved constructively, but normalising this type of constructive problem-solving culture is seemingly impossible for many. But creating this type of culture is seemingly impossible for many.

Mediation and what lies at its heart – interest-based conversation – can help. Managers need to be skilled but need not be a fully-fledged mediator in order to benefit from the power of win-win. Giving managers access to the principles, values and skills of interestbased conversations will enable your staff to live your organisational values like accountability, trust, integrity and transparency.

If everyone in your organisation knows how to ‘do’ respect, honesty, and responsibility then your culture will become one of transparency and accountability. This is how CMP’s clients benefit, as they embed these skills and values as conversational and relationship tools which increase performance and productivity.

‘Difficult conversation’ or ‘conflict management’ training is too often a remedial response, rolled out when a change programme is falling behind or when staff surveys indicate unhealthy relationships or high levels of bullying and harassment. Coaching or intensive short learning events can enable managers and staff to re-examine their own beliefs, values and behaviours and enable them to make positive choices about how they relate to and behave towards others no matter what the context.

Once people believe that it is possible to have an ‘all-gain’ outcome from what may seem like a win-lose situation, such as a clash of personalities or difficult conversation, and know how to do it, you will release individual and team potential, increase productivity - and bring your values to life.

How interest-based processes support performance and productivity

It’s easy to respect someone you like, and to feel accountable for work you’re proud of. But adherence to company values disappears under pressure.

“ “

Written by Katherine Graham CMP Resolutions

The role of mediation in supporting your values

Resolving conflict in the workplace provides opportunities to model your values and to engage your employees. Yet it is during conflict that values are most under pressure and are least likely to be evident in people’s behaviours. Many people experience the difference between their interests and those of others as a point of tension. Under additional pressure - such as a performance conversation or a change programme – a win-lose mindset is triggered. People in conflict replace espoused values with cynicism and defense:

Accountability becomes ‘I’m not to blame’

Trust becomes ‘what have you got to hide?’

Honesty becomes criticism and personal attacks

Integrity becomes arrogance

When people are in a conflict, they start to view each other as having lapsed from the company’s values: ‘he’s not respecting me’; ‘she’s just interested in covering her back, and won’t admit to any weaknesses’. Values themselves, such as ‘respect’ and ‘honesty’, become ammunition in the arguments.

This is when a trained mediator is most useful, as they carry the organisation’s values into the mediation room. One role of the mediator is to model the values of respect, accountability, integrity and honesty. They surface parties’ unconscious thoughts, associated feelings and resulting behaviours. Once surfaced, these are explored, and new ways of understanding and responding to one another are agreed.

One key value of mediation, accountability, means that people come up with solutions of their own as a result of being honest and trusting with eachother. In this way, mediation transfers responsibility and accountability away from the organisation and back to the individuals.

Applying your values even at the point of exit

Even when a working relationship should be brought to an end, adopting interest-based principles means it is possible to end a workplace contract with dignity and respect, trust and accountability. Settlement mediation facilitates dialogue between employer and employee and creates an environment where organisational and personal values can be brought to bear. This way of using mediation mitigates reputational damage, as employees can say to their employer what they have to, prior to leaving; and the employer can learn from the employee’s feedback.

So don’t just view win-win as something for the mediation room; bringing interest-based communication skills to your organisation will support your values, people’s performance, and your productivity.

Organisations which are seeking ways of bringing their corporate values to life should not overlook interest-based techniques, as these have a real part to play in mitigating the erosion of organisational and personal values which is caused by tension and conflict at work.

Garden Court Mediation offers a professional, supportive and focused mediation service. Our civil and commercial mediators ably assist parties to reach their own settlement whilst maintaining their neutrality. In the workplace, our co-mediation service is extremely effective in reversing the drain of time, energy and money caused by workplace disputes.

Tutu Foundation UK: Sharing Mediation Skills

The Tutu Legacy and the Tutu Foundation UK

Archbishop Desmond and Leah Tutu wish to see their lifelong commitment to peace and reconciliation shared around the world. They hope to build peace in communities divided by violence and antisocial behaviour by helping people understand that we all have more in common than divides us. The TUTU Foundation UK aims to build peace in fractured communities in the UK by building on Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s peace and reconciliation work all over the world.

We all have more in common than divides us

The overarching principles of the foundation are inclusion, openness and empowerment embodied in the South African concept of “Ubuntu” that emphasises our common humanity; our connectedness and interdependence as fellow human beings.

The mediation skills course

In 2011 the Tutu Foundation UK began a partnership with Regent’s University London to develop and deliver a mediation course. The mediation course teaches participants new skills to recognise and negotiate anger, conflict and difference.

The course is underpinned by the concepts of Ubuntu and Existential Philosophy that share an emphasis on our common humanity and how our “relatedness” creates the strategies we use to negotiate within and between our communities. The principles of both Ubuntu and Existentialism encourage us to look beyond ourselves and to become more fully human.

The Mediation training teaches participants:

How to transform anger and conflict into positive change

The benefits of respecting and valuing the views of others

The importance of mutual respect, understanding and appreciation of diversity

How to respond positively and constructively to the challenges of conflict

How to build bridges across and between existing communities

How to open dialogue with new communities as they emerge

What the course has achieved

The collaboration between Regent’s University London (RUL) and the Tutu Foundation UK (TFUK) has been a very effective means of promoting the work and legacy of the Archbishop. In the spring and autumn of 2012, 32 senior figures in the NHS and colleagues in the Tutu Foundation were trained and accredited as Mediators in the unique TFUK-RUL model of conflict resolution. This has spread Ubuntu facilitation and mediation practice amongst TFUK partners in health and social care, and has helped the Foundation to promote inclusion, equal opportunity and justice, as well as helping to build strong and fair communities.

Ask the Experts

What is the difference between ’ workplace’ and ’employment’ mediation?

There is no formal or legal definition distinguishing the two terms. The expressions are often used to differentiate between those disputes where the parties are hoping to preserve or restore the employment relationship (workplace mediation) and those where the relationship is to be terminated (employment mediation). The distinction, however, may be academic, since those workplace disputes which are not resolved may well result in the termination of the employment relationship. The term ‘workplace mediation’ is usually attributed to the more informal process used to mediate internal grievances and issues between employees or teams. Employment mediation is invariably associated with more formal legal proceedings in or leading up to a Tribunal, such as cases of constructive or unlawful dismissal, or cases of sexual or racial discrimination.

Both forms of mediation operate with the same values of impartiality, confidentiality, and are ‘without prejudice’ and voluntary.

Are there cases when mediation cannot or should not be used?

Mediation is appropriate in most disputes. Wherever two or more persons are in conflict it is nearly always beneficial to have a neutral third party assist in facilitating a dialogue. Mediation succeeds even where round-table discussions and negotiations have failed. However, mediation may not be appropriate where there are allegations of a criminal nature, although it can be a matter of degree as to the nature and gravity of the allegations. For example, in an employment dispute where one of the allegations involves ‘fiddling expenses’, it may nevertheless be a judgment call as to whether it is appropriate and helpful to proceed with mediation, despite the criminal element. However, if criminal charges are dropped, or if the criminal case has been completed, mediation can be used as a form of restorative justice in the course of or following criminal proceedings. In such cases it is recommended that a mediator experienced in restorative justice processes be used, as the model and procedures are different to those in workplace and employment mediation.

The parties are too far apart, wouldn’t mediation be waste of time?

WHAT? WHERE?

WHY? WHO?

WHEN?

? ? ?

Mediators are invariably confronted with parties who are ‘miles apart’, yet they can facilitate the narrowing of the largest of gaps. Mediators are accustomed to – and have normally been trained to deal with – polarised and entrenched positions. It will very rarely prove to be a waste of time to mediate.

One party has said, ’I do not wish to be in the

room as him/her, let alone sit around a

and have to compromise’, how do I deal with this?

This is very common, and encouraging the parties to talk to a mediator may help. The mediator can explore the reasons for their reluctance and their concerns and fears. It may be that they are worried they will not be able to say what they need to say, or perhaps that they will be unable to remain calm and unemotional, or that they will get angry and inflame the situation. Or

same

table

even worse, that they may lose face. A mediator may, by speaking to the parties, be able to allay their fears and enable them to be willing to mediate face-to-face. Nevertheless, the mediation process is entirely flexible: there are no rules of procedure or evidence, and the mediator should be able to accommodate all fears, needs and concerns. If parties do not want a ’joint meeting’ there does not have to be one, and the mediator can merely shuttle between the parties to find some common ground or achieve an accord. Similarly, if a party is reluctant to compromise, there will be no compulsion to do so: the outcome of the process is entirely under the control of the parties.

There is too much of a power imbalance, can a fair mediation to take place?

At mediation, the parties around the table are seen by the mediator as individuals, and it matters not whether they are the CEO or a lower-ranked employee. Mediators are trained and accustomed to deal with such power imbalances, and should not let themselves or the process be influenced by any inequalities. Part of their role is to ensure that any imbalance in the room is neutralised and that the parties feel comfortable to say what they need to say for them to be heard. The process is entirely confidential so parties are able to say things to the mediator which they feel unable to say to the other face-toface. If and when the mediator ‘shuttles’ between rooms the parties can give the mediator permission to disclose something to the other side on their behalf. Otherwise, anything said to the mediator remains with the mediator.

What if one of the parties is off sick’? Can they mediate?

Unless a party is physically unwell and therefore unable to participate in a mediation, there is no legal reason for a mediation not to take place, provided they are entering into it voluntarily. Mediation is often used as a process to help parties return to work after a period of sick leave. It can be a good opportunity to resolve issues before they start back at work. Again it may be good to discuss this with the mediator or perhaps to have the mediator discuss this with the party.

What should I consider when choosing a mediator?

Although it is not necessary for a mediator to have in-depth industry knowledge in order to be able to effectively mediate, it can sometimes help to put the parties at ease and build trust and rapport with them more quickly. The parties may feel more comfortable if the mediator is familiar with the characteristic features and special jargon used in their dispute area or sector. However, a mediator must remain impartial and neutral, and this neutrality can be severely tested if a mediator is perceived to have expertise in the subject matter of the dispute: if a party begins to question the mediator’s impartiality, it could potentially harm the success of the mediation.

Consequently, it may be more important to secure an ‘expert mediator’ rather than a ‘mediator expert’. A more important quality for a good mediator is the ability to create respect and trust with both parties; and therefore you may need to consider a mediator with whom the parties will feel comfortable to speak openly – someone with patience and approachability, yet who has the presence and authority with which to command respect. Many mediators will promote their percentage rates of successful mediations. This is not always indicative of a good mediator. The mediator, whilst wanting to help parties come to a mutually agreeable resolution, should not have a stake in a successful outcome: if a mediator is motivated by a need to maintain a good settlement rate, rather than focus upon the true needs and interests of both parties, it can adversely affect the outcome. For example, they may rush for a resolution which, as a consequence, is more likely to unravel later.

Should you wish to submit your questions to the UK Mediation Journal team, please contact:

experts@ukmediationjournal.co.uk

What Makes a Great Mediator?

written by Brendan Schutte

Good mediators come in all shapes and sizes, from all types of backgrounds, and with different styles and ways of working. We know what makes a good mediator: calmness, active listening skills, a reliable framework, robust process management, and a willingness and intent to help the participants achieve a lasting resolution.

But here are three extra traits that make a great mediator – patience, stamina for listening and curiosity.

These may seem obvious but actually such traits are rare in today’s fast-moving, KPI-driven work environments with large workloads and little time to spare. Stepping out of this rush and into a mindful space is what great mediators do – they make time to listen and are not emotionally triggered by hearing ‘ridiculous’ viewpoints. Embedded in patience is a tolerance of ‘the other’.

Patience is about continuing to mediate despite encountering difficulties, and includes an element of resilience – very helpful when participants become stuck in impasse. It is about persevering and trusting in the process. Patient mediators, to use the words of Douglas Adams, ‘don’t panic’.

Anyone can listen. For a while. Particularly to something you like. Great listening requires something more - an engagement, where the listener is able to consciously paraphrase and get into the mindset of the speaker. It is not simply prompting with ‘non-verbal encouragers’. Where emotions are near the surface it may mean that verbalising the conflict is difficult and logic or reasoning may be largely absent. The patient mediator with a stamina for listening can work with this, continuing to listen without irritation even when there is little coherence or consistency to what is said.

Having stamina for listening means that the mediator doesn’t ‘switch off’ after a few hours, but is at all times alert to what the participants say. Noticing even halfhearted apologies or expressions of acknowledgement, which can then be amplified, can have an immediate impact on the relationship, but the mediator must be alert to these and not miss them due to listening fatigue.

The third trait is curiosity. A ‘nosey’ mediator is a good mediator. Being interested, continually wondering what is going on, and asking searching questions which get below the surface of the conflict are all part of this ‘curiosity with intent’. It is not about being intrusive, it is about getting to the core of the problem and not accepting superficial engagement.

Curiosity prevents easy judgements being made and this boosts impartiality, an essential element in any attempt at resolving grievances.

One of the greatest scientists the world has known, Albert Einstein said: “I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”

Finding resolution means doing something different to that which brought on the conflict in the first place –being patient and curious, and listening tenaciously.

I make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes .

“ “

Sara Teasdale (US poet, 1884-1933)

Mediation Training, a Worthy Investment?

It’s just a case of talking to them, isn’t it?

This a common sentiment heard by mediators and no doubt by HR professionals, and one that can be most frustrating. If the perception is that: “mediation is just about getting two people in a room and banging their heads together”, then no wonder they ask why it is necessary to undertake training in it - especially when that training can cost thousands of pounds. Mediation is a relatively new form of dispute resolution (in contrast with the traditional forms such as litigation or tribunals), and so it comes with it many misperceptions.

The skills may, to some extent, seem obvious - active listening, reflecting back, empathising and not judging. But getting someone to shift their position from: “I’m perfectly right and I don’t understand why that’s an issue” to: “Maybe I could have done things differently” - or even “Maybe it is actually my fault” - is not easy. A mediator who is not fully and properly trained will find it difficult to get parties to shift their position – and in many dispute situations might even do more harm than good. That’s why another common phrase heard is: “My manager tried to mediate between us, but it was a total waste of time!”.

The skills used by mediators, as for example, reframing and reality testing, if done at the wrong time or in the wrong way, can be destructive, and can further enflame and entrench a party’s position. Reframing a negative comment into a positive might seem to some as patronizing, or degrading the gravity of the issue.

Negative Comment = “He never listens to me!”

Positive Reframe = “So what you’re saying is you need to be heard”

When used in the right way, however, it can help to take the toxicity out of a situation; or can be used to encourage the parties to focus on the future. Similarly, reframing a positive into a negative can help a party see how it might sound to others.

Positive Comment = “I need him to respect me, particularly amongst the team”

Negative reframe = “So he belittles you in front of your team members”

If used too early, before a trusting relationship has been created, realty testing can quickly destroy any rapport that the mediator has managed to build.

‘Short’ mediation courses can be useful for managers, employers and employees looking to use those skills on an informal day-to-day basis, to nip conflict in the bud, and to help manage teams. However, if a dispute has escalated to the point where a more formal intervention is needed, then it is important to have an accredited mediator who has undertaken a recognised 40 hour course.

So, if you are considering using someone to ‘mediate’ a workplace conflict, whether an internal member of staff or an external person, it is important to ensure they are adequately trained - or that you look to provide appropriate accredited training. If not, you are at risk of causing more damage than repair – to the employee, to the organisation, and to the name of mediation.

For details of training providers, please see the directory on pages 47-48.

Avoid Big Disputes by Working Together

Advice from David Prince, Acas’ Chief Conciliator

Acas is arguably most famous for its role in resolving large scale disputes that would otherwise have massive impacts on business, on the economy, on those who lose earnings by the action; and in the long-term, the effectiveness of the organisation due to a breakdown in workplace relations. And there have been some fairly high profile examples of late! Here, David Prince, Acas’ Chief Conciliator provides tips on how to make the most of your workplace relationships.

Early is always best

Acas works with both parties – the employer and unions - to help prevent the dispute before matters get heated. We provide free advice and support to businesses to get their policies right; and to employees to understand what their rights and responsibilities are. We work closely with Trade Unions and employer representative groups on new guidance, tools and draft templates. And we help both parties to have healthy constructive relationships – so when disputes do arise, there are good processes in place to deal with them and stop them spiralling out of control.

Advice for employers:

Our experience has shown us that discussing workplace issues early – no matter how big or small – whether it involves an individual or a collective group of union members – can head off problems.

Be open-minded and think about all possible ways forward to resolve things sooner. This results in a significant amount of large scale disputes and individual claims being resolved quickly and before time is wasted and costs incurred. If issues do arise between an individual and their employer – Acas Early Conciliation services are available. See: www.acas.org.uk/earlyconciliation.

What happens when Acas gets involved?

Acas offers a free impartial service to act as a third party in a dispute. We don’t take sides. And we bring a fresh dynamic to the table to open up options which wouldn’t have been considered otherwise, and allow both parties a bit of breathing space. And we help parties to recognise the other’s position and find some middle ground.

Collective or Industrial Disputes

Advice for Unions:

• Remember an official’s hands can be tied by their committees - they don’t have the same freedoms to negotiate as you

• Officials can be bound by voting processes and consultation before they can agree to a deal

• All of this can take time.

• Remember that the employer may be tied by business or wider pressures that are beyond their control

• The way you communicate the details of the proposal to members can be as important as the deal itself

• If a good deal can be negotiated as a condition for avoiding strike action then it could be the best deal for your members too.

Three truths of healthy relationships

(1) A good relationship is all about personalities - You need to understand what makes the other party tick, let them know how you work and your preferences and listen to theirs. And remember that people are different – your clash might be down to personality types or different priorites, not the dispute being discussed.

(2) Trust is fundamental - Trust takes years to gain but seconds to lose so it is important to be as honest as you can and explain the reasons if there are constraints about what you can say.

(3) Behaviour breeds behaviour – so if you treat people as adults and trust them they respond accordingly. On the flipside, of course, if you treat people as children don’t be surprised if they behave like kids.

The best relationship between management and unions is where both accept that they have a shared interest in working together and negotiating agreements that will benefit the company and employees. Acas is available to help get the relationship to that point. Of course, even with Acas support, this takes time and effort. But the short term pain will be well worth the long term gain.

Post Dispute - How did it go?

The ending of a dispute will invariably leave a range of emotions with both parties, ranging from relief, satisfaction, frustration and a sense of achievement or failure. There can sometimes be a ‘we live to fight another day’ syndrome with the danger of more conflict in the future; or bitterness that the outcome was not quite as desired. Rarely do the parties analyse the reasons why the dispute arose looking at policies, practices and procedures and crucially how the parties behaved. A diagnostic review of the process when the dispute is over facilitated by Acas can help improve good practice and reduce the risk of further disputes arising in the future.

You can get free advice at www.acas.org.uk , or by calling our Helpline 0300 123 1100.

Location, Location, Location.

What to consider when looking for a mediation venue

So, you have got both parties to agree to mediate, you are co-ordinating diaries between parties and mediator, and now you have the issue of rooms. Which rooms are available, how do you decide where to hold the mediation? Do you do it in the office? Will people hear? Will parties feel comfortable? Will they be able to distance themselves from work/ the conflict to be able to focus on resolution? Who will ensure parties don’t run into each other when they’re getting lunch? Who will be responsible for ensuring Party B is comfortable whilst the mediator is meeting with Party A?

Mediation can be a difficult process for both parties and the issue of where it takes place is an important one with many things to consider. It has to be neutral, it has to be confidential and sound proof, and it has to be comfortable, plus you need at least three rooms for a 2 party mediation; one room for each party and another for a joint session.

The International Dispute Resolution Centre (IDRC) in London is the perfect mediation facility and can take the stress out of the planning for you. Established in 2000 and located at the heart of ‘Legal London’- The IDRC is the UK’s leading facility at which to conduct all forms of dispute resolution, whilst also providing rooms and support services for meetings, training courses and seminars.

Not only do they have 50 state-of-the-art rooms available they also deliver full support services - from catering to interpreters and voicemail to video conferencing, allowing the mediators and parties to concentrate on the issues.

Their Client Services team are on hand to assist with all aspects of your visit, ranging from room setup to equipment assistance and looking after clients’ catering requirements. In addition their 2 receptions ensure a smooth welcome for nervous or apprehensive parties, as well as providing administrative and clerical support, assisting with printing, copying, scanning and faxing documents, our staff can also help with tasks such as booking couriers, recommending local hotels/amenities and more.

To find out more information visit www.idrc.co.uk

Independent Mediators Limited

Independent Mediators Limited is a group of leading, full time commercial mediators whose independent practices are centrally managed. The company operates both in the UK and internationally.

Independent Mediators (IM) was formally launched in June 2007. We operate as a mediation chambers. All the mediators work full time as mediators and are only appointed through Independent Mediators.

Our chambers consists of Charles Dodson, Phillip HowellRichardson, Kate Jackson, Michel Kallipetis QC, Mark Lomas QC, Jonathan Lloyd-Jones, Bill Marsh and Nicholas Pryor.

When forming IM our aim was to make the process of instructing mediators simpler and to recognise and to meet the requirements of instructing solicitors and individuals. We are very conscious of the need to provide a competitive service and are recognised as offering exceptional value for money. We make the country’s top mediators available at affordable prices for any size dispute. We do not charge any admin fees to the parties.

Only mediators recognised by the leading directories as being in the top tiers of UK Mediators are invited to become members of Independent Mediators. We are unashamedly “elitist” offering some of the best mediators in Europe. We will never offer an inappropriate mediator for any instruction.

The concept has worked extraordinarily well. Instructing solicitor’s feedback shows that not only was our business model correct but that the quality of the mediators’ performance and the administrative service that supports them has probably exceeded expectations.

The number of mediations per year has consistently increased since our launch and now numbers 500+ per year. Since we launched the group we have received in excess of 3300 appointments.

The parties to cases IM members mediate range from litigants in person to multinational companies; with sums claimed from £25k to multi billion.

UK appointments are received from a broad range of sources, top ten City firms, international law firms, regional and high street practices, increasingly from in-house lawyers, government departments, security services, local authorities, police forces and litigants in person.

The subjects mediated to name a few categories cover all aspects of commercial/financial services/banking/ employment/professional negligence/regulatory/class actions and insurance disputes.

Our appointments are increasingly from international sources with lawyers and clients from all over the world making up some 15/20% of our case load and growing each year.

Instructions from lawyers, clients and governments along with training and consultancy means our mediators have worked with over 85 countries worldwide. Following the implementation of the European Mediation Directive we took the decision to recognise the mediators experience and to offer our services to a wider audience who may wish to take advantage of the combined expertise in the growing areas of International/Cross Border /Multiparty disputes.

Our international presence has been recognised by Who’s Who International who acknowledged Independent Mediators (company) as the leading mediation “outfit” in the country.

We were recently awarded ‘Best Dedicated Mediation Chambers in the UK’ by AI International.

MEDIATION JOURNAL U K

DIRECTORY

(1) MEDIATION PROVIDERS

(2) TRAINING PROVIDERS

MEDIATION PROVIDERS:

ANTONY SENDALL

BRENDAN SCHUTTE

CATHERINE DAVIDSON MEDIATION SERVICES

CEDR

CMP RESOLUTIONS

CMS WORKPLACE MEDIATION SERVICE

COMPASS RESOLUTION LTD

CONFLICT RESOLUTION WALES

CONSENSIO

CORE SOLUTIONS GROUP

DR MARY MALECKA

EISELE CONSULTING

ERIKA SZYSZCZAK

FIELD COURT CHAMBERS

FOCUS MEDIATION

GARDEN COURT MEDIATION

GRAHAM CUNNINGHAM

GREATER LONDON AND EAST ANGLIA MEDIATION LLP

HIGGS MEDIATE

INDEPENDENT MEDIATORS

INSPIRED STAR

IRENE GRINDELL RESOLUTIONS CONSULTANCY LTD

JONATHAN LUX

JURIT LLP

LITTLETON

LONDON FAMILY & WORKPLACE MEDIATION

MCADAM MEDIATION

MELROSE MEDIATION

MIA FORBES-PIRIE

PAMELA LYALL MEDIATOR AND FACILITATOR

QUALITY SOLICITORS HOWLETT CLARKE

RHOS MEDIATION

RICHARD PERKOFF

RICHARD PRICE OBE QC

ROBERT MARCUS

ROGER LEVITT

SBP LAW SOLICITORS

SOUTHERN FAMILY MEDIATION LTD

STUART LINDEMAN MEDIATION SERVICES

WANDSWORTH MEDIATION SERVICE

ANTONY SENDALL

t: +44 (0)20 7797 8600

e: clerks@littletonchambers.co.uk

w: www.littletonchambers.com

a: Littleton Chambers, 3 King’s Bench Walk North, Temple, London EC4Y 7HR

Civil/Commercial, Workplace and Community Mediation Specialist. Antony is also a barrister and is a recognised leading member of the Employment Bar, specialising in all forms of employment dispute as well as Commercial Law, Sports Law and Professional Negligence Disputes. His cases frequently involve very high profile personalities and companies.

CATHERINE DAVIDSON MEDIATION SERVICES

t: +61 (0)417 693982

e: catherine@cdms.com.au

w: www.cdms.com.au

a: PO Box N452, Grosvenor Place, NSW 1220, Australia

Contact: Catherine Davidson

Catherine Davidson is a Nationally Accredited Mediator based in Sydney, Australia specialising in commercial and workplace disputes. Catherine practices internationally and has mediated in the UK and Asia. Legal background and a member of several ADR panels. Mediates a wide variety of complex commercial disputes including court referred matters

BRENDAN SCHUTTE

t: +353 (0)868758471

e: brendan@brendanschutte.com

w: www.brendanschutte.com

With offices in London and Dublin, Brendan provides a professional mediation service, including 2-party, complex, multi-party and team mediation. In addition he provides a thorough, swift and effective investigation service, as well as independent review and evaluation, facilitation and coaching. Setting up an internal scheme? Let Brendan assist you with a customised solution including policies, job descriptions, interviews, training and information, and ongoing evaluation, support and advice. How may I help with your people management needs?

CEDR

t: +44 (0)20 7536 6060

e: adr@cedr.com

w: www.cedr.com

Europe’s largest independent commercial and workplace dispute resolution provider: CEDR has worked with over 100,000 parties in commercial disputes and helped resolve over 300,000 consumer complaints across 30 sectors. A select few of the individuals CEDR trains progress to join the CEDR Mediation Panel, which currently comprises 200 mediators speaking 15 different languages.

CMP RESOLUTIONS

t: +44 (0)1763 852 225

e: info@cmpresolutions.co.uk

w: www.cmpresolutions.co.uk

a: Low Farm, Brook Road, Bassingbourn, Hertfordshire

SG8 5NT

Contact: Rebecca Foreman

Set up in 1989, so no newcomer to the market, CMP is a national provider of mediation services. Our mediators each have more than 10 years’ experience in workplace mediation. We have five models of mediation available, so that any situation can be resolved through mediation. We have a national presence, diverse mediators, a 24-hour turnaround, and a 96% success rate. So call CMP Resolutions - the mediation experts.

COMPASS RESOLUTION LTD

t: +44 (0)1392 848 482

e: admin@compass-resolution.co.uk

w: www.compass-resolution.com

a: 8 Waverley Avenue, Exeter EX4 4NL

Contact: John Hind

We provide a fully accredited mediation, training and conflict management coaching service for families, workplace and commercial disputes from 45 locations across the south of England.

CONSENSIO

t: +44 (0)20 7831 0254

e: hannah.king@consensiopartners.co.uk

w: www.consensiopartners.co.uk

a: 51 Musard Road, London W6 8NR

Contact: Hannah King

Consensio is a leading workplace mediation provider, helping organisations to manage workplace conflict. Our services include: 1) external mediation services for two-party and team disputes, 2) mediation and conflict management training, ranging from taster events to accredited training, 3) conflict coaching and 4) consultancy services to transform organisational responses to conflict.

CMS WORKPLACE MEDIATION SERVICE

t: +44 (0)20 7367 2783

e: anthony.fincham@cms-cmck.com

w: www.cms-cmck.com/Employment-Pensions/ Workplace-Mediation

a: Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AF

Contact: Anthony Fincham

Our team of 8 accredited mediators, led by experienced mediator Anthony Fincham is based across the UK, and provides a fully flexible workplace mediation service. We offer full or part day mediations or shorter facilitated discussions to cater for a range of issues. Members of the team are also experts in team mediations and dealing with the dynamics of group conflict.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION WALES

t: +44 (0)7919 154 924

e: dht.miller@btinternet.com

a: Fron Goch, Llanfair TH, Abergele LL22 8PF

Contact: David Miller

Conflict can arise in any organisation, or any situation. It is stressful, saps energy, and is wasteful of money and time. I can provide impartial but knowledgeable help to manage disputes, and prevent them getting to court. With my highly trained staff, I can provide a service in the Welsh or English language.

CORE SOLUTIONS GROUP

t: +44 (0)131 524 8188

e: info@core-solutions.com

w: www.core-solutions.com

a: 10 York Place, Edinburgh EH1 3EP

Core Solutions: Better Conversations, Better Outcomes. For fifteen years, Core has provided a comprehensive mediation service at the highest levels in commercial, management, public sector and other disputes. We work throughout the UK and beyond, providing a high quality, independent mediation and facilitation service, as well as specialist coaching and training.

DR MARY MALECKA

t: +44 (0)7973 425 313

e: mediationclerks@gclaw.co.uk. w: mediation.gardencourtchambers. co.uk/mediator/dr-mary-malecka/

a: 57-60 Lincoln’s Inn Fields London WC2A 3LJ

Mary’s maturity, training and experience inform her determination to persevere in assisting disputing parties to find their mediated agreement. She is an outstanding listener, hearing the gaps in parties’ apparently adament positions. “Extremely helpful”; “a safe pair of hands”; “sharp to pick up essential points”.

ERIKA SZYSZCZAK

t: +44 (0)7789 761 251

e: eszyszczak@littletonchambers.co.uk

w: www.littletonchambers.com

a: Littleton Chambers, 3 King’s Bench Walk North, Temple, London EC4Y 7HR

Experienced mediator in civil, commercial, family and employment areas. I provide in-house training for HR, employment and trade union professionals, as well as dynamic, facilitator and team building Away Day or in-house short courses.

FOCUS MEDIATION

t: +44 (0)1908 231 132

e: mary@focus-mediation.co.uk

w: www.focus-mediation.co.uk

Contact: Mary Banham-Hall

Focus Mediation was established in 1999 and has grown steadily by providing excellent specialist mediation. Our experienced mediators come from a wide range of professional backgrounds, ensuring you can choose the right person for your dispute. We are able to help you with small and large workplace and employment problems, as our workplace team can tailor their service to suit your needs thereby saving you management time and costs.

EISELE CONSULTING

t: +44 (0)20 3714 3405

e: nicole@eiseleconsulting.com

w: www.eiseleconsulting.com

Contact: Nicole Eisele

Eisele Consulting is a dispute resolution and professional development consultancy. We mediate employment and workplace disputes between individuals or teams. Our experience spans across all sectors, with particular expertise within NHS, Finance and Higher Education. We resolve complex and ‘high stake’ cases, including bullying and harassment and discrimination with over 90% success rate. We take this success and support organisations in setting up their own successful internal mediation schemes. See us in the training listing for more info.

FIELD COURT CHAMBERS

t: +44 (0)20 7405 6114

e: clerks@fieldcourt.co.uk

w: www.fieldcourt.co.uk

a: 5 Field Court, Gray’s Inn, London WC1R 5EF

Field Court Chambers Mediation Service is made up of highly experienced mediators and dispute resolution practitioners, at all levels of seniority, with skills across a broad range of Chambers’ practice areas. Our Barrister Mediators have been trained in the psychological approach to mediation, and so are especially proficient at handling disputes with a high emotional content.

GARDEN COURT MEDIATION

t: +44 (0)20 7993 7600

e: mediationclerks@gclaw.co.uk

w: gardencourtmediation.co.uk

a: 57-60 Lincoln’s Inn Fields London WC2A 3LJ

Contact: Lesley Perrott

We offer a flexible, high-quality workplace mediation service from the initial inquiry through to finding agreement. We have a team of experienced professional mediators with developed interpersonal skills. Our aim is to help you find a resolution to the dispute as quickly and effectively as possible.

GRAHAM CUNNINGHAM

t: +44 (0)20 7060 5861

e: graham.cunningham@jurit.com

w: www.jurit.com

Retained by major City and provincial law firms to act as mediator, he has handled in excess of three dozen disputes concerning: computer software and hardware; commercial agreements; commercial agents’ regulations; partnership disagreements; trade marks; copyright; telecommunications outsourcing, equipment and services; franchising agreements; professional negligence.

HIGGS MEDIATE

t: +44 (0)1384 327 172

e: tim.jones@higgsandsons.co.uk

w: www.higgsandsons.co.uk

Contact: Tim Jones

Tim Jones, Head of Higgs Mediate has been a practising mediator for 15 years. He is a commercial, employment and work place accredited mediator, an experienced tribunal advocate and a trainer in employment law and advocacy. A Master Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming, NLP Coach and Member of the International Coaching Federation, Tim is ranked within the top 50 mediators in the country according to Chambers and Partners.

INSPIRED STAR

t: +44 (0)20 7193 8001

e: ruth.fenton@inspiredstar.net

w: www.inspiredstar.net

a: 15 Acacia Road, Guildford GU11HL

Contact: Ruth Fenton

Inspired Star offers tailor made corporate training to HR, Legal and Marketing Professionals in Body Language and Micro-Expressions. Courses cover advanced negotiation and mediation techniques, rapport building, influencing, lie detection and positive body language in media and public speaking. Sister company “Inspired Resolution” www.inspiredresolution.com offers workplace Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration.

GREATER LONDON AND EAST ANGLIA MEDIATION LLP

t: +44 (0)1206 217 133

e: mediation@gleamed.co.uk

w: www.gleamed.co.uk

a: 63 West Stockwell Street, Colchester CO1 1HE London Office also available

Contact: Tom Thomas

GLEAMED provides civil/commercial, workplace/employment, family, and community mediation in East Anglia and London, referred by individuals, lawyers, firms/organisations and courts. We handle contractual, property, boundary, rental, child contact, divorce, workplace and many other types of dispute and offer international mediation, working with The Human Right Centre at University of Essex.

INDEPENDENT MEDIATORS

t: +44 (0)20 7127 9223

e: admin@independentmediators.co.uk

w: www.independentmediators.co.uk

Leading UK and International Mediation Chambers. Independent Mediators consists of Charles Dodson, Phillip Howell-Richardson, Kate Jackson, Michel Kallipetis QC, Mark Lomas QC, Jonathan Lloyd-Jones, Bill Marsh and Nicholas Pryor.

IRENE GRINDELL RESOLUTIONS CONSULTANCY LTD

t: +44 (0)7966 688 850

e: Irenegrin2@gmail.com

w: www.igresolutions.co.uk

IGRC provides high quality,sensitive and effective mediation tailored to your needs. Meeting your needs for resolving conflict in a professional yet compassionate and very personalised manner. Call for a chat, always happy to assist.

JONATHAN LUX

t: +44 (0)7876 232 305

e: Jonathan.Lux@stonechambers.com

w: www.stonechambers.com/barristers/ jonathan-lux.asp

Jonathan is accredited by the International Mediation Institute and is a founder member of CEDR. His wise guidance, flexible approach and excellent communications skills make him the right choice for contentious, high or low value mediation cases. He has lectured widely and written numerous articles on the subject of mediation, and is co-author of ADR and Commercial Disputes.

LITTLETON

t: +44 (0)20 7797 8600

e: clerks@littletonchambers.co.uk

w: www.littletonchambers.com

a: Littleton Chambers, 3 King’s Bench Walk North, Temple, London EC4Y 7HR

Contact: Paul Cooklin

Littleton mediators have extensive litigation experience in commercial, employment, professional negligence and other areas of law. They are always approachable, and are able to establish a rapport with clients and lawyers alike. With the ability to absorb information rapidly, analyse complicated law and facts, and identify the key issues, Littleton mediators bring commercial reality and common sense to mediation in order to help the parties find a resolution to their disputes.

MCADAM MEDIATION

t: +44 (0)7881 823 751

e: alexandra.mcadamclark@btinternet.com

w: www.mcadammediation.co.uk

Contact: Alexandra McAdam Clark

McAdam Mediation (CMC registered) provides workplace and civil and commercial mediation. We mediate employment and workplace disputes and help to retrieve relationships in the workplace . Our areas include the scientific medical field, local government, the NHS and charities. Alexandra, Louise and David provide a comprehensive service.

JURIT LLP

t: +44 (0)20 7060 5861

e: info@jurit.com

w: www.jurit.com

a: 4 Lombard Street, London EC3V 9HD

Jurit LLP’s Alternative Dispute Resolution and Prevention group provides a holistic service, including mediation, and facilitated negotiation and dialogue. In addition, Jurit runs specialised mediation groups and in-house training to assist companies in communicating better and dealing with difficult issues before they escalate. We also help companies improve their business cultures and working environments.

LONDON FAMILY & WORKPLACE MEDIATION

t: +44 (0)20 8518 5172

e: londonmediation@gmail.com

w: www.londonfamilymediationservice.co.uk

a: Offices London & Essex

Contact: Mrs Anne Powell

UK Wide Workplace Mediation coverage. Experienced. Accredited, Family and Workplace Mediators. Experienced Public Sector & Private Workplace Issues. Race, Gender, Diversity, Harassment, Whistleblowing, Bullying & Difficult conversations. Affordable Resolutions. Complex Family Issues, Divorce, Children Finance, HNW. Our Mediators are seasoned professionals with additional in-depth professional background experience in Law, Commerce, and Education. Call Us Now for Positive Resolution

MELROSE MEDIATION

t: +44 (0)7786 406 799

e: bridget@melrosemediation.co.uk

w: www.melrosemediation.co.uk

Contact: Bridget Melrose

I am an accredited civil mediator and solicitor with over 25 years of experience of civil litigation, particularly in the personal injury field. I am acutely aware of the emotional, monetary and time costs that litigation brings to a dispute. I can offer a real alternative, allowing for preservation of relationships and reaching outcomes not open to a court to order. I can empathise with parties to a dispute whilst managing expectation. My experience and skill set lends itself to mediation as a means of dispute resolution.

MIA FORBES PIRIE

t: +44 (0)20 7060 6407

e: mia@jurit.com

w: www.jurit.com

A skilled mediator, facilitator and conflict coach, Mia heads up Jurit LLP’s Alternative Dispute Resolution and Prevention group. Her experience includes: working with directors and boards; restructuring organisations; individuals in conflict; advising the US Dept of Energy on using facilitation to develop controversial legislation; facilitating in the Church of England’s ‘shared conversations’ on LGBT issues; speaking at Chatham House on conflict resolution.

t: +44 (0)1273 327 272

e: richardschaverien@howlettclarke.co.uk

w: www.qualitysolicitors.com/howlettclarke

Contact: Richard Schaverien

Our Commercial Mediator, Richard Schaverien has a wealth of experience in successfully resolving disputes and has been a panel member of CEDR solve for over 15 years now! Richard can mediate both Civil and Commercial disputes and his passion for the process provides an enthusiastic, friendly yet professional approach.

RICHARD

PERKOFF

t: +44 (0)20 7797 8600

e: clerks@littletonchambers.co.uk

w: www.littletonchambers.com

a: Littleton Chambers, 3 King’s Bench Walk North, Temple, London EC4Y 7HR

A mediator since 1998 with a wealth of experience in banking, financial services, partnership, shareholder and company and commercial disputes.

PAMELA LYALL MEDIATOR AND FACILITATOR

t: +44 (0)7778 384 150

e: pamela@pamelalyall.com

w: www.pamelalyall.com

Pamela is Scotland’s leading female commercial mediator. Formerly a litigation partner and Head of Insurance Litigation at Dundas & Wilson, she has mediated in over 200 disputes concerned with commercial contracts, employment and discrimination, senior management, workplace, health services, professional negligence, intellectual property, building and construction, partnership, property,charitable organisations and other disputes.

RHOS MEDIATION

t: +44 (0)7743 595 339

e: dht.miller@btinternet.com

a: Fron Goch, Llanfair TH, Abergele LL22 8PF

Contact: David and Gaynor

We are a not for profit conflict resolution service. Our service is bilingual Welsh and English, and our mediators are experienced and fully trained. Typically, we can help in neighbour, farming, civil, family and workplace disputes. We are good listeners, never take sides, or apportion blame.

RICHARD PRICE OBE QC

t: +44 (0)20 7797 8600

e: rmp@littletonchambers.com

w: www.littletonchambers.com

a: Littleton Chambers, 3 King’s Bench Walk North, Temple, London EC4Y 7HR

Richard is a leading CEDR trained barrister mediator. He has widespread experience of mediating commercial, employment, and professional negligence disputes. He has featured as a Leading Mediator in Chambers and Legal 500 Directories for many years. He is approachable and thorough, and achieves sensible solutions for all types of disputes.

QUALITY SOLICITORS HOWLETT CLARKE

ROBERT MARCUS

t: +44 (0)20 7060 5861

e: robert.marcus@jurit.com

w: www.jurit.com

Robert, founder of Jurit LLP and a CEDR accredited mediator, brings his long, prior experience of working in an international City litigation practice and in-house lawyer at IBM to his practice, with a practical philosophy that being a good lawyer is about achieving the best long term sustainable outcomes for clients. Jurit has developed impressing groups of highly effective commercial mediators who are all also experts within their specialist fields of technology, insurance, energy and the creative industries.

SBP LAW SOLICITORS

t: +44 (0)20 7332 2222

e: dward@sbplaw.co.uk

w: www.sbplaw.co.uk

a: Glade House, 52-54 Carter Lane, London EC4V 5EF

Contact: David Ward

We offer a unique and bespoke service in all areas of mediation, within a friendly and informal environment. Telephone or email David Ward for a free consultation.

STUART LINDEMAN MEDIATION SERVICES

t: +44 (0)7803 002 546

e: shl2011@hotmail.co.uk

Contact: Stuart Lindeman

Stuart has been an accredited mediator since December 2011. He has worked in a variety of settings including education and local government. In addition, as a trained counsellor, Stuart can bring a humanistic approach to mediation situations. He is able to undertake a range of mediation assignments to meet commercial or personal requirements.

ROGER LEVITT

t: +44 (0)7776 141 717

e: levittroger@gmail.com

w: www.rogerlevittmediation.co.uk

I undertake all types of commercial mediation including Property, Construction, Partnership, Corporate, Professional Indemnity, Insurance Financial & Wills. Member of Civil Mediation Council Communications and Government Relations Committees

SOUTHERN FAMILY MEDIATION LTD

t: +44 (0)3333 660 057

e: info@southernfamilymediation.co.uk

w: www.southernfamilymediation.co.uk

Divorce? Separation? Family Dispute? Our friendly, professionally qualified Mediators will help you find a solution. Mediating with us will be less traumatic, expensive and a far more gratifying and rewarding experience than going to court. Offices throughout the South of England, call us now to see how we can help.

WANDSWORTH MEDIATION SERVICE

t: +44 (0)20 7223 7744

e: wms@wandsworthmediation.co.uk

w: www.wandsworthmediation.co.uk

a: St Marks Durie Hall, Battersea Rise, London SW11 1EJ

Wandsworth Mediation Service (WMS) is a charity that was set up in 2004. We now offer 4 types of mediation; family, inter-generational, community and commercial. All of our mediations are undertaken by volunteer mediators who are all trained and qualified mediators committed to serving their local community. WMS is also involved with delivering a number of conflict resolution training courses within secondary schools in the borough.

Sponsored by

Training Providers

TRAINING PROVIDERS:

BRENDAN SCHUTTE

CEDR

CMP RESOLUTIONS

CONSENSIO

EISELE CONSULTING

ERIKA SZYSZCZAK

FIELD COURT CHAMBERS

FOCUS MEDIATION

BRENDAN SCHUTTE

t: +353 (0)868758471

e: brendan@brendanschutte.com

w: www.brendanschutte.com

A fully accredited trainer and BPS certified supervisor, Brendan has trained hundreds of people across the UK, Ireland, Germany and Holland. Courses include Mediation, Investigation Skills, Managing Difficult Conversations, and Dignity at Work training. Next open accredited course ‘Skills of Mediation’ (6 days) to be run in London in September.Contact Brendan now to register your interest, or to discuss running an in-house course.

CMP RESOLUTIONS

t: +44 (0)1763 852 225

e: info@cmpresolutions.co.uk

w: www.cmpresolutions.co.uk

a: Low Farm, Brook Road, Bassingbourn, Hertfordshire

SG8 5NT

Contact: Rebecca Foreman

Set up in 1989, we have led the field of workplace mediation, setting up the UK’s first inhouse mediation service for Birmingham City Council. Since then we have set up over 200 services for employers large and small. We offer a range of accredited training, from short workshops to raise awareness, through national certificate in workplace mediation programmes, and advanced learning.

REGENT’S

CEDR

t: +44 (0)20 7536 6000

e: training@cedr.com

w: www.cedr.com

CEDR Mediator Skills and Workplace Training are five-day programmes of comprehensive tuition and participation in effective dispute resolution where participants are trained and assessed for CEDR Accreditation, internationally recognised as the standard of excellence. CEDR has accredited over 7,000 mediators in over 70 jurisdictions.

CONSENSIO

t: +44 (0)20 7831 0254

e: hannah.king@consensiopartners.co.uk

w: www.consensiopartners.co.uk

a: 51 Musard Road, London W6 8NR

Contact: Hannah King

Consensio is a leading workplace mediation training provider, helping organisations to manage workplace conflict. Our services include: 1) mediation and conflict management training, ranging from taster events to accredited training, 2) external mediation services for two-party and team disputes, 3) conflict coaching and 4) consultancy services to transform organisational responses to conflict.

EISELE CONSULTING

t: +44 (0)20 3714 3405

e: nicole@eiseleconsulting.com

w: www.eiseleconsulting.com

Contact: Nicole Eisele

Eisele Consulting provides leadership training and consultancy improving communication skills, conflict management and organisation effectiveness. Our training is designed and delivered by experts in the field. Our core training is broad and centres on developing people and improving performance: conflict management, resilience/stress management, investigations skills, conflict coaching, executive presence, assertiveness and our flagship course the National Accreditation in Workplace Mediation.

GREATER LONDON AND EAST ANGLIA MEDIATION LLP

UNIVERSITY LONDON

ERIKA

SZYSZCZAK

t: +44 (0)7789 761 251

e: eszyszczak@littletonchambers.co.uk

w: www.littletonchambers.com

a: Littleton Chambers, 3 King’s Bench Walk North, Temple, London EC4Y 7HR

Training Providers

Experienced mediator in civil, commercial, family and employment areas. I provide in-house training for HR, employment and trade union professionals, as well as dynamic, facilitator and team building Away Day or in-house short courses.

FOCUS MEDIATION

t: +44 (0)1908 231132

e: mary@focus-mediation.co.uk

w: www.focus-mediation.co.uk

Contact: Mary Banham-Hall

Focus Mediation Training Division has a team of high profile trainers offering established and bespoke courses covering Negotiation and ADR Skills, Managing and Resolving Conflict, Difficult Conversations and Coaching and Mentoring on a one to one or team basis. Please contact Mary Banham-Hall for details of programmes, trainer profiles and costs.

REGENT’S UNIVERSITY LONDON

t: +44 (0)20 8339 0767

e: paul@paulrandolph.net

w: www.regents.ac.uk

a: Regent’s University London, Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4NS

Contact: Paul Randolph

Study the skills for conflict resolution and become an accredited mediator with our five-day courses. At Regent’s our unique psychotherapeutic method of mediation training will equip you with a framework for conflict management and resolution crucial for dealing with commercial, employment, workplace, legal, industrial and personal disputes. We focus on providing a high standard of teaching from experienced tutors delivered in a quality environment.

FIELD COURT CHAMBERS

t: +44 (0)20 7405 6114

e: clerks@fieldcourt.co.uk

w: www.fieldcourt.co.uk

a: 5 Field Court, Gray’s Inn, London WC1R 5EF

Field Court Chambers Mediation Service is made up of highly experienced mediators and dispute resolution practitioners, at all levels of seniority, with skills across a broad range of Chambers’ practice areas. Our Barrister Mediators have been trained in the psychological approach to mediation, and so are especially proficient at handling disputes with a high emotional content.

t: +44 (0)1206 217 133

e: mediation@gleamed.co.uk

w: www.gleamed.co.uk

a: 63 West Stockwell Street, Colchester CO1 1HE London Office also available

Contact: Tom Thomas

GLEAMED offers mediation awareness training presentations to businesses, organisations, lawyers, etc. and the School of Law at University of Essex. We also offer OCN accredited and Civil Mediation Council compliant mediator training courses for civil/ commercial mediation, workplace/ employment mediation and community mediation - including neighbourhood mediation, intergenerational mediation and peer mediation.

GREATER LONDON AND EAST ANGLIA MEDIATION LLP

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Mediators with over 20 years’ experience of workplace mediating

PROFESSIONAL

Mediators with over 20 years’ experience of workplace mediating

Expert mediation training

Professional

From a national certificate in mediation at work through to awareness raising and short courses

EXPERT MEDIATION TRAINING

Mediators with over 20 years’ experience of workplace mediating

From a national certificate in mediation at work through to awareness raising and short courses

Expert mediation training

From a national certificate in mediation at work through to awareness raising and short courses

Over

Audit

this is your tool-kit for managing conflict at work...