Before hiring a mediator or choosing any type of dispute resolution, I want you to understand two things. First, I want you to understand how mediation “fits” with the broad spectrum of dispute resolution methods. Second, I want you to understand the different approaches involved in mediation.
Before explaining the three main types of mediation styles, I would like to explain how mediation fits into a variety of styles of dispute resolution.
The “cooler” and more conservative types of dispute resolution, courtroom, and arbitration methods. In both the court of first instance and in arbitration, the parties compete to convince the judge or arbitrator, respectively, of the validity of their position. At the end of the case, a decision is made, and one of the parties returns to his victorious home, and the other party returns to his home while he is the loser.
Right at the opposite end of the spectrum in conflict resolution is advice. As you can imagine, the advice is based less on what the law books will define as the minimum dispute. Instead, the advisor seeks to achieve peace between the conflicting parties by trying to uncover the deeper causes of the conflict. The consultant will then work with the conflicting parties to solve their problems, either together or separately.
Mediation falls somewhere between more conservative, law-based, and more liberal, emotion-based methods of conflict resolution. At the end of the mediation process, the two parties mutually agree on a solution, and as a result, no one is forced to give up feeling like a loser.
Let us analyze the different mediation methods on the mediation scale more closely.
- Evaluative Mediation: Evaluative mediation is the most conservative method of mediation. This method is carried out by a mediator who analyzes the arguments of the conflicting parties from the viewpoint of the judge. The Houston mediator then makes recommendations on the desired outcome of the settlement based on the law books. As with all mediation techniques, conflicting parties have the final say if they want to follow the mediator’s advice or if they want a more creative approach.
- Facilitating mediation: In facilitating mediation, the main focus is on getting the parties to the conflict to agree regardless of the legal interpretation of the issue or the underlying issues causing the dispute. Simply put, the entire approach of the facilitating mediator is to simply “facilitate” the agreement.
- Transformational mediation: Transformational mediation is the most liberal form of mediation, as it roughly regroups advice. The referral mediator will encourage the conflicting parties to explore the deep issues causing the conflict. Assuming that these deeper issues can be resolved, the disagreement should naturally be able to end with a happy and peaceful ending.
A talented mediator can often apply more than one method when it comes to disputes. Often the method of mediation applied by any mediator is a reflection of the type of mediation education they received. For example, a mediator who uses evaluative mediation may have received or should have had appropriate legal training. In any case, whenever you use any type of ADR signature, make sure that they really have extensive experience with the subject matter of your dispute.