Throughout the year, my thoughts are on conflict resolution. Most of my work involves mediation, the type of conflict or dispute “resolution” where a dispute has come to a head and needs to be resolved effectively.
Yet this time of year we hear a lot about New Year’s Resolutions. This type of “resolution” is more of a plan to tackle something that needs to be done. That’s where a facilitated meeting can be useful: those involved can dig in, create a roadmap to address a challenge before it becomes a crisis, and preempt the full blown dispute.
For many of us, it is hard to take on the second type of resolution — even if it can prevent the first type from occurring at all!
