Workplace Mediation
Whether you have two employees not getting along or two departments or teams not working well together, mediation can help those involved communicate across the impasse, resolve the conflict, rebuild trust, and lay the groundwork for working more effectively together.
Mediation is a confidential process, but working with employees in mediation will often produce information that, when passed along to management with approval from the parties, can lead to improvements that will prevent future conflicts and improve relationships and systems.
I can meet with the parties either on-site or off-site. In either case, we will include in our discussion any possible impacts their conflict may have had on their co-workers and how best to address that, if necessary. I am based in Eugene, Oregon but can work with you wherever you are located via online video platform.
How I work with my clients
When working with an organization, whether to mediate a particular dispute, to facilitate meetings, or to conduct an assessment and make recommendations for improving its conflict management capacity, here are some fundamentals underlying how I will work with you:
- There’s a saying, “Everything that you add to the pot makes the soup taste different than if you had not.” I understand that, coming into an organization, I will affect the organization in several ways, unavoidably. My goal is to come in gently, not like a bull in a china shop but more like a cat in a china shop. I want to be sure that what I add makes a positive contribution. To do this, I have to listen well, pay attention, and learn.
- Conflict is not a sign of failure; poorly managed conflict is failure. Poorly managed conflict is expensive. One of my goals is to help organizations become less conflict-averse and more conflict-competent. Conflicts and problems, when addressed well, become an organizational resource that can be used to improve systems and relationships and the bottom line.
- Identifying the source of a problem is key; for example, sometimes what appears to be a relational problem between two individuals is actually a structural problem. Fix the structural problem, and the relationship improves.
- Fundamentally, people want to get along, want things to work, want to resolve problems. People want to be successful. Sometimes they need help. When given the right tools and support, they’ll usually be on board to fix the problem or resolve the dispute.
- Effective communication is the key to unlocking thorny problems and making good decisions.
- My work with you is a partnership. We learn together.
