1. Meet with all of the people involved individually. Based on your individual meetings you will now have a clearer picture of the key issues for each person, how important the issues are for each person, what they need out of the situation, and any the common ground (eg. they are both committed to the team). These are the key ingredients to a successful mediation – satisfying each person’s individual needs (as much as possible) and bringing the people together, based on common ground.
2. Arrange to meet with both (/all) people. Encourage each person to summarise their view of the key issues, uninterrupted. This is essential, as people involved in conflict often don’t feel heard. Sometimes resolving workplace conflict is as easy as encouraging people to effectively communicate their views.
3. Pay careful attention to each person’s concerns. Sometimes people have shifted their view since your first meeting with them. Ensure everything that was discussed at the first individual meeting remains confidential. Allow the people themselves to raise what they consider to be important on the day. They may have changed their mind about what they see as the key issues. Raising issues yourself can create unnecessary conflict. Listen carefully to all the issues raised so that all the key issues raised are later addressed. Take notes if you and the people involved are comfortable with you doing so.
4. Summarise the key issues once you have heard from all the people concerned. Ensure that you pay close and equal attention to everyone’s needs. Failing to do so may lead to others feeling that you are biased towards one person or another.
5. Encourage the people involved to discuss options for resolution. Always try to get more than three options to resolve each of the key issues. Failing to do so can result in only two options, which is why they are there in the first place.
6. Reality test the options. Use “What if…” questions to help ensure that the proposed solutions are practical and workable back on the job. Think of hypothetical situations that may lead to the chosen option from working.
7. Negotiation. If people start freely negotiating, do not interrupt them. This is your chance to sit back and listen carefully. If they get stuck at any stage, summarising what you have heard so far, what  they have achieved so far, and outline any agreements or concessions made.
8. Ensure everyone involved is satisfied before concluding the meeting. Check in with each person that they feel heard and have had their needs met to some degree. Explaining to people at the outset that resolution is often about meeting their most important needs, not all their needs, helps with setting up realistic expectations.

Effective conflict resolution in the workplace saves your organisation time, money, and workplace relationships, so…

Act Fast

Conflict in the workplace can be disruptive and interrupt business. It doesn’t need to. Effective conflict resolution in your workplace is just a phone call away. The sooner you attempt conflict resolution in your workplace, the quicker, easier, and cheaper the resolution process will be. It is also less likely to cause collateral damage to leadership and teams.

Prevent Claims

Most litigation and claims against organisations can be prevented through acting fast and choosing effective conflict resolution processes for your workplace.

And if you get stuck…

Mindful Mediation offers professional workplace mediation services to assist you with conflict resolution in your workplace at all levels of your organisation:

• Between Founders / Owners
• Between Executives
• Between Senior Managers
• Between Middle Managers
• Between Staff and Managers
• Between Staff and Customers, Clients or Stakeholders

We can help you with resolving a diverse range of workplace conflicts…

We are highly experienced in resolving a range of workplace issues quickly and effectively including:

• Leadership
• Communication
• Relationship issues
• Interpersonal skills (emotional intelligence, communication)
• Style incompatibility (communication, personality, leadership, and working style)
• Team mistrust, breakdown of relationships, dysfunction
• Allocation of work and performance
• Bullying and harassment
• Changes to work practices, processes, or technology
• Demarcation of job / roles
• Perceived unfair disciplinary action
• Application or operation of a new award
• Sexual harassment, racial discrimination

We tailor each resolution process to your workplace situation…

Our workplace conflict resolution services are designed around your unique business needs. We help you to resolve the immediate dispute, and prevent or minimise future conflict. Our goal is to create a more harmonious workplace through enhance self-awareness, more effective leadership, and a commitment to ongoing growth and development.

There are vast benefits of employing our Professional Workplace Mediators…

Some of the benefits of having Mindful Mediation to assist you with conflict resolution in your workplace include:

• Diagnosing the issues and needs
• Determining the most effective dispute resolution process for the issues and the people involved
• Confidentiality
• Impartiality and Independence
• No conflict of interest (with the people involved and / or other business concerns)
• Enhanced self-awareness / learning for those involved
• Professional development for leaders / managers like never before – life and career changing

“You helped us dig deep to reach agreements and secure sustainable outcomes – real cures, not just bandaids for superficial wounds.”

Mindful Mediation specialises in conflict resolution in the workplace. Call 1300 MINDFUL (646 338) for fast, effective, and durable conflict resolution in the workplace.