Several weeks ago, Connecticut Gov. Malloy was quoted as using the phrase “Getting to Yes or Getting to No Quickly.” He was applying this idea to the state’s foreclosure mediation program. Gov. Malloy was talking about the value of having consistent participants in each case, instead of a rotating cast of representatives of banks who each needed to be brought up to speed, and the necessity that the representative have the authority to enter into a binding agreement without a delay to check back with another person not immediately available.
These two specific points highlight some of the nuts and bolts necessary to a successful mediation process. And the quote itself addresses the very idea of “success” in a mediation process. Although a resolution to the dispute is the typical goal of any mediation process, learning sooner instead of later that a resolution will not be possible is a great help to all involved. The inability to reach a resolution at the time of a mediation is not necessarily failure, but wasting time and money because the process itself is flawed hurts the particular participants and any mediation program.
