Building Confidence as a Mediator

One of the things I have noticed as I have become more comfortable mediating is when and how comfortable I am in pushing the parties and not giving up to soon. When I first started mediating I was a little bit apprehensive to push or ask certain questions when the parties were convinced that this was not going to work and they were not going to come to a settlement. As I have become more comfortable as a mediator, I have also become more comfortable in pushing the parties a little bit more and asking questions I would not have asked when I first began as a mediator. What I am finding is these questions are what will move people to settle. They push the parties to think of different ideas.



I remember a mediation I conducted that has been in civil litigation for over 4 years. The parties had made offers back and forth and back and forth. In the mediation session I encouraged them to think outside the box. I encouraged them to think of a settlement possibility that they could not get in the court that would be useful for them. In the end a settlement was reached and the parties agreed that one party would a give credit of services and product that his company made to the other party in lieu of a cash settlement. The other party had two years to use this credit. Both of the parties jumped right on the idea, it was a perfect settlement and something they could of never come to in a court hearing. The court could only look at cash damages. It was one of those win/win situations.



As you grow as a mediator you have to be a little bit assertive and be willing to ask the questions that may seem like you are keeping things going to long. There is the balance of course, that you cannot keep parties hostage until they settle and you have to know the difference. But quitting too soon is something that new mediators really need to pay attention to and make sure you work just a little bit to move the parties to settlement.

Control

Control of the Process
In basic mediation training we are all taught that we are in “control” of the process of the mediation… not the outcome. So, what does being in control of the process mean? Does it mean that you exert yourself at all costs? Do you set ground rules? Do you ever give over the “control” to maintain control?

I remember a case I mediated in which I had a very energetic party. It was a young Guardian ad Litem (GAL) in the case and he was fairly new in this role. The case was complex and the level of conflict was high so this GAL has a lot of energy wrapped up in the case.
The case involved a young child who had been abused physically and the parties were trying to determine the custody and visitation arrangements between the mother and the father. The abuse had been perpetrated by mother’s ex-boyfriend who was now being charged with criminal child abuse. So, neither of the parents directly caused the abuse, but the state child protection workers wanted both of the parents to take some responsibility in the form of failure to care charges.

The GAL was very animated and involved in the discussions regarding the care of the child. In order for me to suppress his energy and involvement in the mediation would have taken a lot of interventions and in doing so, I would have had to shut down many things that were happening in the mediation. It also happens that when he came into the room, I asked him to sit at the end of the table; instead, he pulled in right in-between the parents and their attorneys. This put him in direct line with those having the conversations.

So, he was put in the middle due to the seating arrangement as well as in regard to his role as the GAL. So, what did I do? I went with the flow. The GAL had lots of energy around the issue, he was working and engaging appropriately with both parents, so, for a portion of the mediation I basically stayed out of his way and he worked out the issues of custody and visitation.

He worked it out between the parents like a mediator would. The GAL was doing a fine job of negotiating custody and visitation, moving back and forth between the parents. The mother and her attorney were in the mediation room and the father and his attorney were in a caucus room. The GAL was the one moving back and forth negotiating the plans, instead of the mediator. I would not always do this, in fact, I would rarely do it. The reason I allowed it in this case is that I believe that we as mediators need to be aware of what is working and not working in the room. And in this case, it was working.

As mediators, we have to be flexible, we have to work with what is going on in the room and not force people into the format or the structure that we believe is best for them. Instead, we need to work with them and help them to find the format/structure that will work best for them in addressing the issues they have come to work on in mediation.

The other issue in this case was that of seating arrangements. When ever you have someone in- between the parties in conflict, they are going to end up being very involved in that conversation. My preference would have been for the GAL to be opposite me at the other end of the table and the parents to be side by side with their attorneys and the State Child Protection workers and their attorney across the table. Then, I, as the mediator, am in the middle of the conversations and in this case the parents could have had conversations without someone in the middle. Seating is very important and you have to think about it. In this case I could have been more assertive when the GAL first sat down and asked him to move, but I did not. Once I made that decision I had to work with it and not disrupt the flow of what was happening in the process.

So, as with all other things in mediation…. Control is a relative and flexible concept. I guess that is why we all love the work so much.

The Balancing Act of Time

Time .....
How much Time is really needed for a productive mediation session?

In today's world, time is in such short supply for all of us. When I present to groups or individuals and talk about mediation, one of the most common questions asked is "how much time will it take?" When I tell them it could take hours, they cringe at the thought.

I recently had a meeting with some school officials talking about truancy mediation. What we ask of the school officials is to block two hours out of their very busy day to engage in the mediation process. There is some resistance to the time and most want to know what we can do to make the process faster.

I explained to the school officicals that truancy mediation is about building relationships and building relationships takes time. Often when the student and parents come into truancy mediation they are feeling one down, they are in a powerless position. In order for them to become comfortable and to speak their truth, the first goal is to get them to feel comfortable. That takes time, time and consistency and you cannot do this in 5 minutes. You have to do this over a period of time and everyone is different, so there is no standard time.

There is also a balance to this..... in that you cannot take forever to complete a mediation. If things are not moving along, the mediator cannot continue to try everything possible hoping that parties will move in a direction that seems meaningful. Sometimes you have to be willing to let it go, end the session. In the truancy mediation program we train mediators to be aware and if the mediation is taking over two hours they should have a really good reason why it went that long. The mediator should be able to explain why the process is taking so long.

If you medaition sessions are lasting an extremly long time be willing to examine the reason your mediation sessions are taking so long....... if there is an understandable reason, OK. If you cannot identify the reason the mediation took so long, then you have some searching to do.... What is going on?

I believe that Time cannot be pushed, you cannot force through a mediation any quicker than the slowest party is grasping and moving along in the process. In addition to the parties understanding you must also take into consdieration the time that is needed to create positive relationships.

On the other side... are you losing parties by allowing the mediation session to go on for too long?
That ever present balance of TIME..........

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Emotional Intelligence & Social Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to bring intelligence to emotion. To view the human experience without bringing in emotion is short-sighted... Emotions are part of the human experience as much as thought. In his book Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman outlines Emotional Intelligence as:

• Knowing Ones Emotions;
• Managing Ones Emotions Appropriately;
• Motivating Ones Self;
• Recognizing and Understanding Other Peoples Emotions;
• Managing Relationships -- Managing the Emotions of Others.

Mediators who work with high conflict parties need to examine their own level of Emotional Intelligence. To appropriately intervene with parties in high emotion, I believe we must first be able to accept our own emotions and manage them, not deny or suppress them. The role of a mediator is to hold the space for parties so they can work on and address difficult issues. If the mediator is unable to accept and manage their own emotions...how can they create a space for others to accept and manage strong emotions?

I encourage all mediators to take an emotional intelligence test available on-line. There are many out there if you google for them.... One quick and easy test can be found at

http://psychologytoday.psychtests.com/cgi-bin/tests/transfer.cgi?partner=pt&part=1&teaser=0&ref=free&ad=0&test=eiq_abridged&AMT=0.00&item=Emotional%20IQ%20Test%20-%20Abridged

The next frontier appears to be Social Intelligence.... Here is an article about Daniel Goleman's latest book.....

Daniel Goleman, the author of the best-selling book "Emotional Intelligence," is back with a new book on social intelligence -- the ability to read other people's cues and then act on them.
In "Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships," Goleman says that our brain is designed to make connections with other humans, and that our relationships have a real biological impact -- whether it's flirting with the opposite sex or succeeding at work.
Social intelligence means being smart in relationships by being empathetic, or being able to sense what others are feeling and their intentions.
Secondly, it means having the social skills to act on that information.
The people with the most social intelligence are those who are good listeners, Goleman says.
You can become a better listener by being motivated and mindful in social situations.
Instead of just saying what you think, stop and listen to the other person, and fine-tune your response to them.
Once you make the effort, and practice the skill, it comes naturally.
For full article see this link
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/story?id=2496899&page=1

Check out Daniel Goleman's books:
http://astore.amazon.com/rcblog-20