Mediation Process
Stage one - Initial contact with party 1
- Introductions
- Explaining Mediation, the role of the mediator and confidentiality
- Finding out about the situation
- Acknowledging emotions
- Establishing what Party 1 wants
- Deciding on the best course of action
- Seeking agreement to continue with Mediation
Stage two - Initial contact with party 2
- As in stage one: Party 2 is treated in the same way as Party 1, plus:
- Gaining trust
- Exercising impartiality
- Maintaining confidentiality
Stage three - Preparing to work on the dispute
- Identifying the best way forward
- Choosing face to face mediation or another model
- Preparing the disputants, including establishing their commitment
- Preparing the Mediators
- Preparing the venue
Stage four - Face-to-face session
- Welcome and introductions
- Establishing the ground rules
- Explaining and agreeing the process
- Providing uninterrupted time for each party
- Summarising each parties view
- Giving an overall summary of the dispute
- Eliminating non-mediable issues
- Encouraging an exchange between the parties
- Managing early disruption/dispute
- Setting and agreeing the agenda
Stage five- Exploring and working on the issues
- Sorting the issues with the parties
- Managing the conversation
- Checking understanding and clarifying assumptions
- Re-framing
- changing the focus from the past to the future
- Identifying people’s concerns and interests
- Summarising areas of consensus
- Acknowledging and moving on from differences and disagreements
- Weighing up the consequences of not settling
- Re-visiting (and re-negotiating) the agenda
- Using side meetings
Stage six - Building agreements
- Highlighting offers and options
- Encouraging problem solving
- Noting conciliatory gestures and statements
- Helping parties to generate and evaluate options
- Drafting agreements
- Deciding who will see the agreements
- Considering further sessions
- Creating fall-back arrangements in case the agreement breaks down
- Considering contingencies if agreement is not reached
Stage seven - Closure and follow-up
- Closing the session and thanking participants
- Agreeing whether a follow-up or monitoring period is appropriate Debriefing the mediators
Mediation Navigation
