Embrace-all-styles-of-mediation-as-focusing-on-one-style-of-mediation-hinders-the-mediation-process-Discussion-help

Understanding is the beginning to conflict resolution.

I’ve been very lucky to have had two extraordinary mentors in my career.  Both taught me valuable skills in different areas of employee relations.  There is one lesson that both taught and reinforced with skill and grace.  It is this guiding principle that I practice regularly in hopes of being as impactful on others, as they were on me.  It is this guiding principal that I hope I am passing on to those eager to learn from me.  “Seek first to understand, then to be understood” (Covey, 1996).  We’ve all heard the phrase.  It sounds simple.  In reality, it can be difficult without discipline.  But when applied, can be a very successful tool.

It is this principle that has been extremely helpful for me when dealing with labor relations issues, employee conflicts and collective bargaining.   

“The term conflict denotes an understanding of the problem in a broader and deeper sense than the term dispute, which is typically defined by positions” (Alexander, 2008).  “Conflict can fester and cause systematic decay.  If things get bad enough, the most talented people, those that can leave [an organization] just do so” (COM655, 2013. Conflict Management).

Goldman & Cropanzano touched on the amount of time managers often spend on conflict resolution in their normal day-to-day roles.  “It was found some decades ago that managers devote up to a fifth of their time resolving conflicts” (2008).  With this time commitment, if not more, spent on resolving conflicts, it is imperative that managers learn and practice the mediation skills necessary to resolve these conflicts skillfully, such as ‘understanding’.  Skillful mediators “help participants understand each other by noting commonalities behind the participants’ concerns and clarifying where disagreement lies

“Wise mediators are typically selected for their communication ability, wisdom, sense of fairness, and ability to understand all aspects of the conflict” (Alexander, 2008).  Without understanding all aspects of a conflict, resolution is bigger a challenge.  Understanding the goals of both sides is also imperative.  Sometimes people aren’t even aware of their own goals in a conflict.  A skilled mediator can help uncover and identify those goals.  Additionally, “most people don’t know how to communicate.  Most people don’t know how to suggest solutions” (COM665, 2013. Mediation and Grievance).  These are skills mediators need to fix the parts of a conflict, which may only be “a little bit broken”.

One key lesson I learned early on when helping to maneuver through conflicts, “Skillful mediation is maintaining process control, but allowing the two conflicting parties to select their own resolution” (Goldman et al., 2008).  The most effective resolution is one not given to them, but instead created by both parties.

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References:

Alexander, N. (2008). The mediation metamodel: Understanding practice. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 26(1), 97-122.

Charkoudian, L., de Ritis, C. et al. (2009/Spring). Mediation by any other name would smell as sweet – or would it? The struggle to define mediation and its various approaches. Conflict Resolution Quaterly, 26(3), 293-316.

COM665. (2013). Conflict Management. Retrieved from https://chipcast.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=9ce6cc47-5220-4c30-9ed1-05f577e51653.

Resolving conflict to positively move forward.

Dailey, (2013a) indicates that when goals are so disparate or incompatible that a system can not function smoothly it is often called a state of conflict.  In organizations, a state of conflict can negatively impact employee moral, reduce efficiency and decrease profitability.  It is a professional responsibility as a member of the organization to identify the conflict and resolve the issue.  The issue may have to be resolved through mediation with a member of management or a third party depending on the information discussed.  “Mediation is a talent that all managers should have in their repertoire when dealing with the disputes in the organization” (Dailey, 2013b).  In my professional experiences, this has always been an opportunity with management.  The managers would view the conflict personally and were not able to draw the line between personal and professional feelings.  I believe in a culture of candor and disagreement in the workplace.  As long as the situation is approached and handled professionally, and never personally, then it can provide positive information for improvement.  I believe that the red marks that teachers give in school were not negative, but a sign of opportunity and improvement.  “Due to the manager’s inherent closeness to the conflict, they may adopt a different set of dispute resolution tactics than a detached third party” (Goldman et al, 2008).  Managers just need to define the situation as a conflict or a dispute and bring in a third party or a mediator if necessary.   Charkoudian et al (2009) discusses that many mediators may define themselves as facilitators in order to resolve the conflict.  “The term conflict denotes an understanding of the problem in a broader and deeper sense than the term dispute, which is typically defined by positions…” (Alexander, 2008).  Alexander (2008), defines the final discourse as a dialogue. Unlike the first two discourses of conflict and dispute, which are outcome oriented, the immediate focus of this discourse is on the nature of the interaction among participants. The essential idea behind dialogue-based mediation is that once parties are able to communicate constructively and with respect, they are much better placed to resolve conflicts and settle disputes themselves. Todorova, Bear, and Weingart (2014) show information gains from mild task conflict expression, employees feel more active, energized, interested, and excited, and these positive active emotions increase job satisfaction.  “Rather than eliciting negative associations, conflict can be a source of energy that ultimately makes employees more satisfied with their jobs” (Todorova, Bear, & Weingart, 2014).

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Reference:

Alexander, N. (2008) The Mediation Metamodel: Understanding Practice. Conflict Resolution

Quarterly, 26(1), 97-122.

Mediation builds collaboration.  In my previous company, there were a large number of frivolous legal employment claims, that often took years and lots of money to resolve through an already overburdened court system.  As Dailey (Mediation & Grievance, 2013) indicated, “America is addicted to legalism adjudication” and the US Virgin Islands is no different.  To alleviate the burden of defending lawsuits, my company implemented a Dispute Resolution Program (DRP).  At the time of implementation, active employees could voluntarily participate, however it became a condition of employment for new employees.  To increase active employee participation, the company required membership in the program as a condition to receiving a year end variable compensation bonus.  While I was not an initial supporter of the change, the DRP proved to be a good solution to reducing the number of employment cases and the number of employee relations issues.  Most importantly, it helped to build collaboration while working to resolve conflicts between employees and the company.

One benefit of the DRP was an onsite Ombudsman.  The Ombudsman independently examined complaints from employees and served as a mediator for resolving disputes.  The Ombudsman’s role in facilitating the conflict was to serve as the first point of contact for employee disputes and to “help guide others to reduce frustration and enhance achievement” (Dailey, Managing Conflict, 2013).  As Dailey (Mediation & Grievance, 2013) explained, mediators should “get to the root of the problem”, so the Ombudsman would immediately work with employees to resolve conflicts before issues escalated.  â€œMediating workplace disputes as they arise, before positions have hardened and while numerous possibilities for creative solutions still exist can be a great benefit to corporations.” (Farrow & McSweyn, 2002).

The primary focus of resolving conflicts included collaborating with the complainant to “create a better socialized community” (Goldman etal, 2008, p. 302).  This allowed us to maintain focus on the “parties underlying interests, needs, motivations, and concerns rather than their positions demands, legal rights or claims” (Alexander, 2008, p. 102).  As Goldman et al (2008) explained, the mediator retained process control but we allowed individuals to find their own resolution (p. 295).  As such the employee was able to maintain some control over how the dispute was resolved because we intimately involved them in the investigation and resolution process.  The employee was able to represent their interests but the process also forced them to consider the interests of others and the interests of the company.  As Charkoudian et al (2009) suggested, transformative mediation should be used to create an “opportunity to transform people’s conflict interaction” (p. 295).  This type of mediation enhanced the level of collaboration between the complainant, peers, supervisors and the company while resolving conflict.

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Tarah

References:

Alexander, N. (2008). The mediation metamodel: Understanding practice. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 26(1), 97-123. doi:10.1002/crq.225

Charkoudian, L., Ritis, C. D., Buck, R., & Wilson, C. L. (2009). Mediation by any other name would smell as sweet-or would it? The struggle to define mediation and its various approaches. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 26(3), 293-316. doi:10.1002/crq.234

One of the guiding principles in conflict with others in organizations is recoginizing face concern to prevent or de-escalate conflcts. Historically, mankind has engaged in conflict for centuries. As societies revolutionized and partnerships emerged within the context of organizations, employee relations were needed due to frightened, angry, or self righteous parties concerns. Conflict has grown, especially in the past two-decades. According to Putnam (2007) “This growth stems from the interdisciplinary nature of the research, especially in the arenas of negotiation, mediation, and alternative dispute resolution. Traditional organizational studies typically center on interpersonal conflict styles of superiors and subordinates, union-management collective bargaining, and managers as mediators and arbitrators” (p. 637-640). 

It is important to work out differences by using strategies such as conflict goals. According to Dailey (2013), “If you can help the other side get what it wants to reach their goals, they may not have any need to block your goals” (CMU Lecture, PPT Slide 5 of 10). This type of communication strategy works well with “face concern.” According to Griffin (2009) “face concern is the “regard for self-face, other face, or mutual face” (p. 404). Managing conflict not only begins with recognizing face concern but identifying distinct responses in managing conflict. (Griffin (2009) listed Ting-Toomey as initially identifying five distinct responses to situations involving conflict:“avoiding (withdrawal), obliging (giving in), compromising (negotiation), integrating (problem solving), and dominating (competing)” (p. 405). 

The guiding principle that one would use in conflict with others is to never take it personal. No matter what, we must not take it personal. Ruiz (1997) argues”What causes you to be trapped is what we call personal importance. Personal importance, or taking things personally, is the maximum expression of selfishness because we make the assumption that everything is about “me” (p. 48). Fisher and Ury (2011) argues”A working relationship where trust, understanding, respect, and friendship are built up over time can make each new negotiation smoother and more efficient” (p. 21). Bolemanand Deal (2014) states “When conflict burns too hot, it overwhelms reason, underminesdialogue, and increases thelikelihood of destructive warfare. Such cases call for peacemakers” (p. 97). Mediators may call a time out, briefly separate to arrive at resolutions. 

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                                                                                                   References 

Boleman, Lee., & Terrence E. Deal. (2014).How Great Leaders Think: The Art ofReframing. Jossey-Bass. Wiley Press.

Dailey, W. (2013 b.)Mediation and Grievance. Central Michigan University. Retrieved fromhttps://chipcast.hosted.panato.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=44b3486c-fzeo-46e8-9cf2-56oedc929045. 

Fisher, Roger, &WilliamUry. (2011).Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In.Penguin Books.

Griffin, Em. (2009).Communication: A First Look At Communication Theory (7th ed.). Wheaton College. McGraw- HillHigher Education.