What the Mediation World Needs, is Mediation

“What the mediation world needs, is mediation”, said Sir Alan Ward as he opened the All Mediation Conference in London this week. As representatives from all areas of mediation met and exchanged information and ideas for the first time, it was striking that the most common theme across all disciplines was a need for mediation to become embedded into British culture.

 

Why Do We Need Mediation?
We live in a country where an adversarial process is the norm. Both the Westminster style of parliamentary government and the Court process involve people taking opposite positions, ultimately trying to prove that they are right and someone else is wrong. All forms of mediation, whether commercial, community, workplace, family or the practice of restorative justice involve moving away from that adversarial process; empowering people to resolve conflicts themselves; to find solutions or compromises that work for them, or at least that they can live with. Culturally, mediation requires a shift in thinking.

 

Raising Awareness of Mediation Services
So, how do we embed a collaborative process into our culture? Do we need the media to get on board; to show mediation on programmes such as EastEnders or Coronation Street? Possibly. I recently trained as a Restorative Justice practitioner precisely because I watched a programme many years ago about the process, which I found extremely moving. But resolving conflict by mediation is probably not conducive to a headline grabbing story-line – after all, Court rooms are ideal for dramatic tension. So what can be done? From a commercial mediator’s perspective, it was very interesting to learn more about how the process works in a family law context, where parties are obliged to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting before they are able to commence proceedings through the Court. It is perhaps telling that when discussing the commercial mediation process with parties to a dispute, I often find myself referring to mediation in a family law context – many more people have experienced it, or know someone who has, in that arena. Understanding that a mediation process is available is key. Victims have the right to be told about restorative justice, but in many cases this does not happen. Should parties to a commercial dispute be forced to mediate at some point within a legal process? Would this measure help prompt the sort of culture shift that is needed?

Bearing this in mind, the work Southwark Mediation Centre has been doing for the past 10 years with Bacon’s College in Rotherhide is truly inspirational. Training young people to become peer mediators within a secondary school not only has a positive impact on student life at the College, but normalises a process which encourages collaboration, rather than an adversarial approach. Who knows what long term effect that experience – whether as mediator, or a student experiencing resolution of a problem by mediation – may have on those young people. When they go out into their communities and workplaces, will a different approach to resolving conflict be embedded? It will be interesting to see.

I became a commercial mediator after using the process many times to resolve complex legal disputes in my role as Head of Litigation at a major lender. When I started in my role, the business was reluctant to mediate (why compromise?). However, once we started mediating disputes, the benefits were absolutely clear. Mediation is a cost effective and controlled way to manage risk – something all businesses are keen to do. But unless you have experienced mediation, you don’t necessarily understand this. So how to embed it in culture? Perhaps rather than mediators trying to effect this rather self-serving cultural shift, it is the users of mediation that are its best advocate.

 

How Does Mediation Work?
To increase the use of mediation in general civil and commercial issues, it’s also important that your audience understand the process behind mediation. Although the precise structure of a mediation will depend on the issue at hand, the spirit, aims and methods are often very similar.

Find out more about how mediation works, here

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