A discussion of mediation and arbitration. Some tips for using these tools as a third party mediator or arbitrator. Find out when you should step into a conflict as a mediator or arbitrator help resolve third party conflicts.

This Issue:
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An update on our Article Directory Project and an excerpt from The Complete Idiot's Guide To Dealing with Difficult Employees

Update:
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We've been diligently working on our Article Indexing Project (AIDP). It now can be accessed by its own domain name at http://www.articles911.com. We've purchased more disk space and bandwidth to fit our plans of indexing 10,000 of the best articles on the net. At present there are 600+ articles indexed and checked out by our editors. Over one third of these relate to work issues (human resources, training, management, change, performance appraisal, etc).

We invite you to browse the directory (all listed articles are free on the net), OR add your own articles to the directory...it's a great way to get exposure for you articles and websites.

Once again, it's at http://www.articles911.com OR if that doesn't work (it's new) try http://www.work911.com/pages.

I have returned from presenting at the Organizational Excellence Conference In Chicago, and due to a number of requests, hope to place my conference material on the web, and do a review piece of two. The delay had to do with disk space limitations which have now been addressed.

Article/Except
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The following is an excerpt from Chapter 10 of The Complete Idiot's Guide For Dealing With Difficult People. You can access more information about the book and other short excerpts at:
http://www.work911.com/guide. We suggest you purchase the book from amazon.com and you can do so from our site.

MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION

(note - strange formating may occur here because you are seeing what appeared in the manuscript).

Here’s the situation. Bob and Terry report to you. Bob and Terry seem to be like oil and water. If Bob says “white”, Terry says “black”. If Terry says the “Earth is round”, Bob says the “Earth is flat”. They argue publicly, and interfere with each other’s work. Except for these clashes with each other, both are decent workers, do their jobs, but just don’t get along. It’s like two monkeys heaving bananas at each other. And the bystanders are getting showered by the pieces.

What’s your responsibility here? What do you do about this situation? How do you go about addressing the situation?

What sets this situation apart from others we have talked about so far is that you are not the target for either Bob or Terry. In this chapter we are going to look at two tools, mediation and arbitration, that you can use, and sometimes must use to address this kind of ongoing conflict between two employees.

(c) Deciding When To Step In – Whose Banana Is It?

As with most difficult situations, your first step is to do the reality check we’ve talked about. You need to ask yourself whether the conflict between Bob and Terry is one that deserves or requires action on your part. Where do you start? From the results and consequences of the conflict and the difficult behavior connected to it. Is the conflict affecting the work output of Bob and Terry? If you do nothing, what is likely to happen? Is the difficult behavior a small annoyance or is it having an effect on others in the workplace? The bottom line: Who needs to own the problem and banana throwing? Just the two people directly involved or do you, as a manager, have to take some ownership.

When thinking about these questions, don’t limit your thinking to the two people directly involved. Consider the effects of the difficult behavior on all of the staff and on your entire work unit. That’s very important, and it’s easy to forget that the actions of even two people can negatively effect the productivity, attitudes and morale of ALL your staff.

There are two more factors to consider. Here’s the first one. How will you be perceived by your employees if you do nothing? Since most employees expect (fairly or unfairly) that management will step in and do something about disruptive situations, will doing nothing end up in you losing credibility with your staff? Will they turn on you if you do nothing?

The second factor is this. While doing nothing in the face of such situations may cause problems, doing something may also cause problems. When a third party intervenes in a conflict, there is a tendency for the warring parties to target the third party. It’s exceedingly upsetting to try to help remedy a situation between two people only to find that both people start attacking you!

***Begin Watch Out***

Watch Out

Be aware that involving yourself in a conflict between two employees may end up with both employees targeting you. That comes with the territory. In situations of serious conflict, you probably have to intervene regardless.

***End Watch Out***

Let’s assume that you’ve come to the conclusion that you need to try to address the situation between Bob and Terry because it is causing fallout for others, and it is affecting the ability of your work unit to achieve its goals. So, what options do you have?

(c) Mediation – What Is It? When Does It Fit?

The most powerful technique managers use to intervene in conflict situations between two employees is called mediation. What is it?

Mediation is a process where the parties involved in a conflict are brought together to negotiate their own solution in a non-adversarial, non-coercive way, and assisted by a third party (that may be you or someone outside your organization).

***Begin So That’s What It Means***

So That’s What It Means

Mediation is a process where the parties involved in a conflict are brought together to negotiate their own solution in a non-adversarial, non-coercive way, and assisted by a neutral third party (that may be you or someone outside your organization).

***End So That’s What It Means***

It’s important to understand the key points in the definition. The idea behind mediation is that the two parties, since they are so emotionally involved, need to be brought together so they can work to find a solution. That “bringing together” must NOT involve coercion. For mediation to work, both parties must consent to the process.

The other point you must pay attention to is that a mediator must be neutral. That is, if you are the mediator, your sole objective is to help the two parties solve the problem. That means refraining from judgement about who is right or wrong.

There’s one other thing that is really important. Mediation is future oriented, and at the end of a successful mediation both parties should know what they have agreed to in terms of any specific behavior changes they must make in the future. As Dan Dana, sometimes referred to as Dr. Conflict, says: The purpose of mediation is “not to identify guilty parties and assign blame, or to punish either party for past behavior, or to determine who is right or wrong”.

***Oh Really!? Bet You Didn’t Know***

Oh Really! Bet You Didn’t Know

The skills involve in successful mediation can be quite complex. We recommend that you upgrade your existing skills (no matter what the level) before you start mediating. Here’s a great resource. The Mediation Training Institute International provides a number of training and hard copy resources. You can get more information on the Internet at http://www.mediationworks.com or 1-800-DR CONFLICT. Much of the material in this chapter is based on their work.

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