| You are a decision-maker in mediation. Your
participation makes mediation fundamentally different than
your role as a party in a court case.
In striving for an agreement, it is helpful
to realize that the terms have to satisfy you and the other
party. They may mean different things to each, and each may
arrive from different places or for different reasons, but
ultimately the terms of an agreement must be agreeable to
all.
Here is your checklist to prepare for mediation:
- Tell me in detail – the earlier the better – about
your dispute and the challenges you face.
- Be prepared to identify and bring the decision-maker(s)
with full authority to settle.
- Collect documents and other material that have to do
with your dispute and make notes about your recollections
of your problem.
- Anticipate a fairly brief process that may finish in
a few hours or, possibly, last up to a few days. In any
event, the process of mediation wraps up much, much faster
than a court case, and at considerably less cost. Mediation
is a matter of hours or days; litigation is a matter of
months, if not years.
- Come to mediation open-minded and committed to remaining
so with respect to a demand, “bottom line” or
other notion for resolution. The more open you are to the
possible outcome, the more meaningful it will be.
- Recognize that you and the other party, not a judge,
are in control of the outcome. Appreciate the joint effort
involved in reaching agreement.
- Understand that the exercise of this control makes the
present most relevant; the past, less so. Mediation focuses
on the here and now in light of present resources available
to bring about resolution. Litigation, on the other hand,
focuses on the past, over which no one has control.
- Work with the fact that mediation is a fluid process
during which I am present, as the neutral facilitator,
to help get you and the other party ‘unstuck’ and
moving toward a mutually agreeable solution. In court,
the procedure is strict.
There is a general consensus that private mediation
yields a 90-plus % likelihood that you will walk away with
an agreement in hand, and that agreement is an enforceable
contract.
A suggestion: For the actual
mediation, dress comfortably for a business meeting. |
