The Mediator's Handbook

A standard model for effective mediation and conflict resolution, now in an updated fourth edition, can be used in diverse environments. Original.

Vorwort

• Coop available
• This book will be promoted to professional group facilitators through the International Association of Facilitators
• Bloga ds will be placed on leadership, group process, training and management sites
• Advertising will be placed in Mother Earth News and The Progressive
• There will be an e-mail campaign to Business Management colleges and universities

Autorentext

Dr. Jennifer E. Beer, PhD, combines mediation experience with her cultural anthropology background to lead courses and workshops in mediation, conflict resolution, and cross-cultural communication. She regularly teaches a negotiation course at Wharton (University of Pennsylvania). Author of the Mediator's Handbook and of Peacemaking in Your Neighborhood, she has mediated conflicts and facilitated meetings for communities and organizations for 30 years. She lives in Pennsylvania.

Caroline C. Packard, JD, is an organizational change and conflict response specialist and mediator with 30 years' experience in the field. A graduate of Yale College and NYU School of Law, and a former corporate litigator with extensive formal training in individual and group psychology, Caroline has a special interest in the evolutionary psychology of group conflict and cooperation. She provides mediation and conflict-resolution services and training to organizations, families, and family businesses. She lives in the United States

Eileen Stief developed the mediation process and principles documented in The Mediator's Handbook, and trained a generation of mediators to work with community, multi-party, and environmental disputes. Now retired, she led the Friends Conflict Resolution Program's experiment in community dispute settlement and later specialized in environmental mediation. She lives in the United States.

Elizabeth Elwood Gates provided the delightful cartoon illustrations in honor of her aunt, Ann Richan, who was a passionate champion of community mediation.

Klappentext

Resolve workplace and community conflicts with proven mediation frameworks that achieve 85% success rates. Professional mediators reveal step-by-step processes used in thousands of successful mediations, from family disputes to corporate negotiations, with complete guidance for both new and experienced practitioners.

Why Professional Mediation Skills Are Essential:

Litigation costs average $50,000-200,000 per workplace dispute. Mediation resolves 85% of conflicts at under $5,000 while preserving relationships and preventing recurring issues.

What You'll Master:

• Five-phase mediation process - systematic approach that works across all conflict types

• Advanced communication techniques - defuse emotion and focus on underlying interests

• Multi-party dispute strategies - manage complex organizational and family conflicts

• Cultural competency methods - navigate diverse community mediation successfully

• Professional development pathways - certification requirements and career advancement
  Real-World Applications:

Used by Fortune 500 companies, family courts, and community organizations worldwide. Practitioners report 90%+ client satisfaction and 65% reduction in recurring conflicts.

Master the skills that turn adversaries into allies. Essential for HR professionals, managers, community leaders, and anyone who deals with conflict.

Zusammenfassung
The Mediator's Handbook presents a time-tested, step-by-step model for helping people work through conflict from first contact through reaching a lasting resolution. The Toolbox section details the skills mediators need to understand conflict,facilitate the process, and help participants make decisions.

Inhalt

Preface

Overview
What is mediation?
A useful tool
What makes mediation work?
The mediator's role
The anatomy of the mediation process
The anatomy of a session
Process-centered mediation
Guiding principles
Mediation terms

THE PROCESS

Getting to the Table
Can mediation help this situation?
How people find a mediator
Voluntary or mandatory?
Initial conversations
Do they want to participate?
Defining the scope
Approaching the other parties
Should I be the mediator?
Pre-mediation agreements and review
Choosing a location

**The Mediation Session Part I: Exploring the Situation
** Preparing yourself, co-mediators
Setting up
Opening
Opening: Welcome & warm-up
Opening: Logistics
Opening: Orientation
Opening: Participants' role, willingness
Listening to Each Perspective
The Exchange
The Exchange: Facilitating
The Exchange: Tasks & flow
Clarify information
Check out interpretations
Listen for their concerns
Example + impact
Restate their interests
Note other relevant interests
Encourage empathy and reconciliation
Transition to Reaching Resolution
Separate Conversations
Uses for Separate Conversations
Breaking for Separate Conversations
Separate Conversations: Template

**The Mediation Session Part II: Reaching Resolution
** Reaching Resolution
Reaching Resolution: Sequence
Topic List
Topic List: Why it is crucial
Topic List: Drafting
Topic List: Wording
Midpoint check-in
Options
Options: Together come up with ideas
Options: Gut, interests, workability
Options: Reality testing
Decisions
Decisions: Gut, interests, workability
Decisions: Emotions, hesitations
Writing the Agreement
Writing the Agreement: Specifics
Writing the Agreement: Positive framing
Closing
Afterwards: Wrapping up
Multiple sessions

THE TOOLBOX

**Understanding Conflict
** Disputes & conflicts
Metaphors for understanding conflict
The conflict core
Common effects of conflict
The pleasures of conflict
When things heat up
The way out is through
The Conflict Triangle
People, Process, Problem
Which mode are you in?

**Supporting the People
** Supporting the people: Main skills
Setting the tone
Level of formality, taking notes
Confidentiality in practice
Giving your full attention
Elements of full attention
Acknowledging
Handling judgmental remarks
Protecting
From adversarial mode to cooperative mode
Avoid this Kettle of Fish
Attending to comfort & accessibility
Language and hearing difficulties
Working with people in all their variety
Finding commonalities
Scenarios: Emotionally difficult situations 111

**Facilitating the Process
** Facilitating the process
Impartial facilitation
Structuring the session
Structuring the discussion
When you can be directive
When to consult
Keeping on track
Crafting questions
Crafting questions: Word with care
Crafting questions: Spin it positive
Crafting questions: Follow up for clarification
Kinds of rewording
Reflecting back
Summarizing
Summarizing: Its many uses
Working visually
When to intervene
When to intervene: Stopping the momentum
When to intervene: Slowing the process down
Is it time to quit?
Ending a mediation
Scenarios: Facilitation challenges

**Solving the Problem
** Participants' starting point: Power & rights
Changing the "positions" mindset
Interests
Layers of interests
Why interests matter
Finding space for solutions
Reframing
Checking out (mis)interpretations
Lies, perceptions, deceptions
Plain description of facts and needs
Flip it! ? Outcome-focused interests
Tactful wording of interests and topics
Summary of interests
Topic List examples
Eliciting ideas: Brainstorming
Eliciting ideas: Opening up possibilities
Can mediators suggest options?…