by Daniel B. Griffith
Motortion Films/Shutterstock
The world needs more mediators to help others work through their conflicts. More concretely, your world needs more mediators. As noted in a previous article, perhaps that person is you.
We often understand a mediator as someone who has received specialized training and has special certifications and qualifications to serve in that role. Some specific situations, such as the judicial system, require specific qualifications and training. However, mediation skills are broadly applicable and professionals can informally mediate conflict situations and communication challenges for peers, direct reports, and constituents in the fields, disciplines, and workplaces in which they serve. For example:
Human Resources. The human resources profession has evolved over time regarding the competencies needed for supporting employees and the organizations in which they work, including competence in managing conflict [link removed no longer active]. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) requires competence in “relationship management” as part of its accreditation process. This includes “mediating difficult employee relations as a neutral party.” John Ford, author of “Peace at Work: The HR Manager’s Guide to Workplace Mediation” notes this expectation reflects “what it is that HR professionals (and other leaders for that matter) do a lot of the time in the management of employees: mediate. However, for the most part, they don’t know that they are already mediating. Certainly they are mediating informally more often than they realize. This is encouraging as with a little training and guidance HR professionals make great mediators.”
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. DEI professionals must handle complaints of perceived discrimination, harassment and other forms of mistreatment, and uncivil conduct that are often subtle and difficult to substantiate as violations of anti-discrimination law and policy. Complainants don’t always want to pursue a “federal case” but rather seek non-compensatory remedies such as improved interpersonal relationships, reduction of stress, apologies, and freedom from abrasive and retaliatory conduct by co-workers and supervisors. DEI professionals can offer informal, face-to-face mediation to address such concerns and avoid protracted and often unsatisfying outcomes that can occur through more formal processes, such as filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Ombuds. Organizational ombuds help constituents address concerns in an informal, confidential manner outside the standard procedural frameworks for addressing complaints. Ombuds can serve as informal mediators or refer such issues to others within the institution who can mediate. Because the role usually resides outside an organization’s traditional hierarchical framework, the ombuds may, at times, be ideal for facilitating informal mediation compared to human resources which can’t ensure absolute confidentiality due to its obligations to management.
Leaders and Managers. Managers must step in to address employee conflicts and use skills like those used by traditional third-party neutrals. While they aren’t true neutrals because they often have a vested interest in the outcome, concerns about their neutrality can be minimized by their “reverent power,” meaning they have earned the respect of team members to appropriately and equitably mediate their conflicts. Managerial mediation is especially welcome when there is an organizational culture that values collaboration and workplace harmony. Effective managerial mediation processes create a psychologically safe place for employees to express concerns, afford them opportunity to be fully heard, and help parties identify and address the needs and interests that underlie their positions in the conflict.
Health care. Health care professionals typically receive training and develop skills in counseling, but not mediation. Yet the skill sets are similar [link removed no longer active], including skills in communication, reflection, goal-setting, managing emotion, breaking down psychological barriers, facilitating the attainment of mutually agreed upon goals, focusing on outcomes, and summarization. There is an increasing need for nurses to develop mediation skills to address patient and workplace conflicts. Nurses are also called to assume leadership roles to engage in proactive mediation processes to address ethical challenges before and during treatment, which can better support positive health outcomes in contrast to more formal ethics consultations that are traditionally directed, authoritarian, and utilized after a treatment concern has developed.
Higher Education. I have facilitated mediation training for various academic institutions which are attended by professionals in multiple roles, including human resources, diversity and institutional equity, student conduct, student and faculty affairs, academic and fiscal administration, managers, and faculty. These institutions see the value of informal mediation to address workplace conflicts at the lowest, least invasive level. Informal mediation processes can also support student conflict situations and teach students, faculty, and staff involved in these issues problem-solving, leadership, and “soft” skills, as well as afford students opportunities to avoid the harsher consequences of formal discipline.
There is clear need for informal mediation in multiple work and learning settings. Professionals must envision the expanded role they can play as mediators in their work. For some, this may simply involve adapting skills they have already developed through other training, education, or practical experience to a new context. Consider the traits I noted previously and how you may develop and incorporate them in a mediation context.
If you wish to develop mediation skills, realize it does not require the same formalized training as required in specialized contexts, such as lawyer-mediators in the courts. Inquire about possible learning opportunities available within your institution, such as programs on conflict management and mediation training available through human resources or your institution’s continuing education unit. Explore whether such opportunities exist through professional associations to which you belong. For example, human resources associations may offer such programming through conferences and special training offerings. Vendors offer workplace mediation training certification programs you can attend if you have the time and financial support to participate. These can provide a “stamp of approval” your employer may recognize as a valuable add-on to support its efforts to address organizational conflicts. It may also be attractive to future employers. Lastly, contact community mediation programs in your area, which seek to train and utilize volunteer mediators to address community conflict situations, such as neighbor disputes and victim-offender discussions to afford youth the opportunity to avoid criminal penalties for lower-level offenses. The skills you develop are transferable to other situations.
The world needs more mediators. Be creative and expand your mind-set regarding the role you may play to mediate conflict situations in the world around you.
