On 6/6/05, Michael Snow wikipedia@earthlink.net wrote:
I don't think the problem with mediation is a lack of training or skills (no offense, but by and large I wouldn't call the arbitrators professionally trained either). Mediation can be handled by anybody with good sense, patience, and the ability to resist getting over-agitated by the emotions of the disputing parties. We actually have had quite a few instances of successful mediation, but many of them have happened outside the formal process, often handled by people who are not part of the Mediation Committee.
I think you're partly right there - mediation can be handled by anyone with those qualities, and in many cases, has indeed worked. I know of many instances of successful mediation outside of the formal process. The problem, though, is that a) the formal process hasn't been working - people haven't been able to get mediators to a particular dispute when its needed to prevent it from going any further, and b) some of the disputes are just too heated for all but the best mediators to do - and we don't have very many of those. It's for the latter reason that I'd really like to see someone like Ed Poor put together a guide to help those of us who aren't quite so good at it.
[skipped a bunch of stuff that is very true]
As a result, I think that for us mediation is more likely to be useful much earlier in the process, as disputes are only beginning and before they have really had a chance to heat up. This would require watching more closely for situations where mediation can help, and a more interventionist approach from the mediators, rather than waiting for cases to come to them.
Once again, I think that's very true - but how can we get a system where these conflicts are actually attended to that quickly?
-- ambi