Conflict Resolution Management Companies Mediate Disputes to Achieve Business Goals

One of the key roles of a conflict resolution management company is to act as a mediator in business disputes. Mediation helps businesses face challenges that threaten everything from jobs to revenues to the sustainability of businesses themselves, with objectives of improving performance and minimizing conflict.

Becoming an effective mediator takes time and requires specific skills. A mediator must be trusted as an objective third-party who commands respectability and credibility, and oversees a mediation process that enables both sides to feel that they are victorious while also accepting compromises.

The goals of the conflict resolution management company are to provide a neutral, objective, and safe place where both sides can constructively participate in resolutions; to open the free flow of communication and encourage creative problem solving ideas; to be the trusted liaison for both parties in settling the problem; and to provide strategic guidance and honest feedback that leads to an amicable solution.

It’s important to keep in mind that the mediator’s goals are only attainable if the members within each team share a common vision, are committed to the same objectives, and understand their roles in achieving those objectives. After all, how can mediation work between two groups if each group is already divided from within? So before even beginning a mediation session, the conflict resolution management company must meet with each group separately to ensure each is focused on cooperation and teamwork. Every team member must express a willingness to:

• Share information to keep everyone in the loop and up-to-date with current, evolving issues

• Communicate expectations about one another

• Empower each other by publicly recognizing that every member’s ideas contribute to the success of the team

• Promote positive morale and protect the team’s reputation with outsiders

• Quickly and effectively resolve conflicts by openly sharing differences of opinion to arrive at a consensus that results in a united front

Once the teams are united from within, it’s time for the conflict resolution management company to begin the mediation process, which can be defined in three phases:

• Phase One: Establishing credibility. The conflict resolution management company plays a passive role in this first phase, establishing the primary and secondary points of contention. Its main goal is to gain the trust of the conflicting groups. Each must be confident that the mediator is looking out for their best interests, does not have a stake in the outcome, and is only present to assist with a fair resolution. The mediator should focus on listening in this phase, leaving most of the talking to the disputing groups. When appropriate, the mediator should interject probing questions to identify the root causes of the dispute, the obstacles that exist, and a prioritized checklist of all of the issues that need to be addressed. At this point, it should be possible to begin genuine negotiations.

• Phase Two: Guiding the negotiation process. The conflict resolution management company is still impartial in this phase, but begins to take a more active role by directing the negotiations. It delves deeper into the source of the contention, offers advice to both sides, and discovers areas in which compromises can be reached. The mediator encourages each group to develop and communicate proposals and counter-proposals, and may begin to exert pressure for both sides to agree to a settlement.

• Phase Three: Producing a final, mutually agreed-upon settlement. In the last phase the conflict resolution management company may have bilateral discussions with individuals to help draft proposals for consideration by both groups. The mediator may then assist with crafting the terms and conditions of the final agreement.

When a company arrives at an impasse, whether within its own walls or with another business, hiring an experienced conflict resolution management company can turn a seemingly untenable situation into a resolution that gives both sides more of what they desire.

Learn more about mediation and resolving business conflicts by visiting http://www.ThinkBlueThinking.com or calling 619.550.8052.