A quote on Friday from a participant in the NFL court-ordered mediation process in Minneapolis, Minnesota reminded me of a point I was made on Thursday in a University of New Haven classroom in Connecticut. According to today’s New York Times, Hall of Famer Carl Eller, who is representing retired NFL players in the dispute, “said that he thought the two sides were ‘moving forward,’ but the process ‘slowed a little bit’ Friday.”
Although it can be discouraging and frustrating to the the participants in a mediation, it is common to experience the “two steps forward, one step back” sensation in the mediation process. It’s no concern to the experienced mediator — who has seen this many times before — but it’s a concern for the parties that the good mediator will address in order to keep the parties to the conflict engaged and focused.
