Articles

Many people have heard of Mediation. However, a majority really do not understand how it works or how the process will benefit a family, business or organization. Mediation may be your only opportunity to create a desirable settlement. Mediation is a voluntary and confidential settlement process whereby a neutral third party, called a mediator, acts to facilitate a resolution to the dispute, which is called a mediated agreement. The mediator’s role is that of a neutral, impartial, third party who…

Two extremely emotional and stressful events in any person’s life are divorce and workplace conflict. Workplace conflict may linger for months or longer before some event breaks the camel’s back, and you find yourself either at the receiving end of disciplinary action or you’re the one issuing the disciplinary action. An enormous amount of misery and conflict is avoided when managers and supervisors use mediation for resolving workplace conflict. Mediation can effectively de-escalate seemingly irreconcilable differences. Mediators assist employees and…

Two very emotional and stressful events in any person’s life are divorce and death. For years mediators have helped siblings with estate disputes after their parents are deceased. An enormous amount of misery and conflict could be avoided if parents would talk to their adult children about their estate planning goals. A professional mediator can help parents through the emotions and complexity of mediated estate planning. Parents are experienced in making decisions for their children. However, when the kids are…

A key business skill for the twenty-first century is knowing how to manage conflict. Choose your conflicts as carefully as you choose your approach. In business, commitments are made to perform and we rely on each other to fulfill promises made. These commitments may be written or verbal. For the small business owner when a party fails to keep to those promises it can be costly to the business owner. Mediation can be an effective way to de-escalate seemingly irreconcilable…