Disagreements and conflict can happen to anyone – family members, close friends, or neighbors; your boss, your employee, or your co-worker; a local merchant, your landlord, your mortgage holder; or any other situation where two or more people wind up on opposite “sides.” The possibilities are almost endless.
Sometimes just a small disagreement continues to irritate like a sticker in your sock…or sometimes it can become a BIG disagreement, to big to even touch, so you and the other party feel you have to tiptoe around it, as if it didn’t really exist. Sometimes it escalates into a full-blown disagreement that threatens to undermine a relationship, or cause problems at work, or wreak havoc with your finances, or even escalate into violence….and the parties find themselves stuck.
• Stuck with a barking dog next door…
• Stuck with a “tyrant” for a boss…
• Stuck with a “good-for-nothing” employee…
• Stuck with a broken hearted over the lost of a close friend, a live-in partner, or family member…
• Stuck with a loan that may go into foreclosure…
• Stuck with a financial transaction gone wrong…
• Stuck with a bully at school who’s making your life miserable…
• Or…you name it: anyone can get stuck in a conflict with another person or persons!
Sound familiar? Take heart, mediation could help you get un-stuck.
What is mediation?
Mediation is the peaceful resolution of conflict with the help of a neutral, trained mediator who helps the parties identify and address their conflict and design a solution that works for them.
How does mediation work?
- Parties meet with the mediator at a neutral location.
- The mediator establishes ground rules and explains the process.
- The mediator guides the parties through a process that helps them explain to each other how they see the conflict and how it is affecting their lives.
- Often the mediator meets privately with each party to help them talk about the conflict and what they need to resolve it.
- Parties come back together to share their thoughts about the conflict and what they need to have happen to resolve the conflict.
- Ideally, parties develop an agreement that outlines what each person will do to resolve the disagreement.
What is a mediation agreement?
This is a balanced agreement written in your own words that describes specific steps each party with take to resolve the conflict. Details are included so parties can remember what they have agreed to do. Each person takes a signed copy of this agreement with them.