Benefits of Workplace Mediation

What is Mediation

Workplace mediation can be a hugely effective intervention to improve relationships when things are tense, strained or affected by significant conflict. Mediation gives people stuck and absorbed in conflict a chance for healthy change. Often, people involved in unresolved disagreements are bearing wounds, scars and trauma and thus understandably reacting to a sensitive situation. The mediation process provides a safe, structured and focused space to look at the issues, what is contributing to them, and how they can be resolved. Agreements from mediation allow people to walk away with a plan and a way forward.

In many workplace mediation cases, the sense of a weight being lifted, increased awareness of self and others, and a new willingness to work together is nothing short of miraculous – especially if you saw the parties in the midst of conflict the week before!

So exactly how does workplace mediation help? What should parties and organisations expect as an outcome and how will this improve things?

Benefits of Mediation

For the people involved

Mediation is an empowering process. Rather than an organisation stepping in to mandate a particular course of action, mediation allows parties to have a say in outcomes that directly affect them. Mediation involves parties in the process of generating options, testing what will and won’t work, and future-proofing the plan so that if issues come up again, a constructive response is possible.

In terms of personal benefits, mediation allows parties to move beyond a simple binary view of the conflict. Often people come to mediation with a very black-and-white view that positions the people involved in simple (and often incomplete and only partially accurate) ways, e.g. they are the ‘victim’ fighting against a powerful, sinister ‘other’. This allows people to excuse themselves for not taking action, and it leaves them in a pretty hopeless situation. When mediators are able to help parties see a deeper and more complex version of the conflict, it actually gives people a sense of hope – they have choices here, and the power to affect things.

When mediators are able to help parties see a deeper, more complex and accurate version of the conflict, it actually gives people a sense of hope – they have choices and the power to affect things.

Mediation also allows people to look at themselves, and to develop as a person. Conflict coaching as part of the mediation often results in an increased awareness about a person’s own way of responding to conflict, which isn’t unique to the current situation. Thus people develop new skills and tools which they can use in other workplace relationships and other areas of their lives.

Finally, mediation offers a way out of stressful conflict situations. People who are in conflict often talk about the deep effects that conflict has on them, affecting other parts of their life like relationships, sleep, health and day-to-day happiness. Finding a way to reduce the conflict, and thereby lessen the negative impacts, can have profound benefits to an individual as well as their team, family, and friends.

For Managers

Managers are often stuck in a difficult spot when conflict emerges within their teams. Perhaps they don’t want to intervene too heavily in a situation, and they might only have part of the story to help inform any course of action anyway.

Taking action as a manager can also present a conflict of interest. The manager might be responsible for only one of the staff’s line management or is responsible for hiring decisions involving the parties. Or perhaps the content of the conflict isn’t actually directly relevant to the individuals’ official responsibilities (e.g. we mediate often in situations where romantic relationships have caused complications in professional roles).

Having an external conflict management professional facilitate the mediation allows managers to take a supportive position. They can maintain their own impartiality as well as their authority, but won’t leave the problem unaddressed (and festering).

An accredited and qualified workplace mediator also brings a particular set of skills and tools to the mediation session, and thus can set it up in the way most likely to produce a positive outcome. Many managers are good at dealing with people, but might lack some of the fundamental conflict resolution skills. A mediator also sets up the process right from the beginning in a structured way. Often a manager has already been partially involved in a conflict situation, so it is impossible to set up a ‘pure’ process to address the issue.

Managers also often get a copy of the agreement reached from mediation. This is a document in black and white that both parties sign, and is a basis for addressing future concerns. This can provide a manager with a tangible starting point for any future issues, e.g. “You agreed to x in mediation, what’s going on for you now? What will it take to get things back on track?”

For Organisations

Organisations benefit from workplace mediation in hugely significant ways. Our previous article on the cost of conflict showed the staggeringly high costs that conflict can have in terms of staff productivity. Mediation offers a simple, cost-effective and powerful intervention to address conflict and help staff to work together effectively. The benefits in terms of increased productivity, healthy team functioning, and lower rates of leave and staff turnover means that workplace mediation is one of the highest ROI options that an organisation can take up.

Mediation offers a simple, cost-effective and powerful intervention to address conflict and help staff members find ways of working together effectively.

Because parties are involved in the mediation process themselves, mediation typically results in a higher level of compliance with the outcomes. This makes sense – because people were involved in the process, helped to generate the options, agreed to the outcome and signed the written Agreement, there is a higher likelihood that they will do what they said they would.

Mediation using an external professional also provides a ‘procedurally just’ process. This is important because the objectivity of the process is evident to both the parties involved as well as everyone else privy to the conflict. This can avoid later claims of a ‘biased’ process and helps people feel confident in the outcomes.

If you would like to know more about our Workplace Mediation services or discuss our Managing Conflict Professional Training, please give us a call on 1300 163 020 or email us at enquiries@rebootresolve.com.au