Basics of Mediation and Conflict

 

A New Year’s Resolution With Lasting Benefits

Right about now, you can see the unrealistic New Year’s Resolutions start to fade away. (Anyone else notice how the fitness center crowds are thinning?) Make 2011 your year of the New Year’s Resolution with lasting benefits. Give yourself peace of mind through Conflict Resolution. Resolve to find a solution to the business dispute, estate […]


Your “Big Picture” Year-End Review

As 2010 draws to a close, year-end reviews become popular. We’re all told to take a cold, hard look at where we are and where we need to go. Businesses are encouraged to examine where they can make marginal changes to improve their bottom line. Individuals are urged to pick one, small change that they […]


Administering, mediating and speed, transparency, and independence

I’ve written before about Kenneth Feinberg and and his work involving the BP Gulf oil spill. In today’s New York  Times, an article by John Schwartz, “Comments By Overseer of BP Fund Irk Lawyers,” talks about a lawsuit filed by plaintiffs’ attorneys over statements Feinberg has made that encourage claimants to apply for compensation through […]


Conflict resolution: gray areas and gray matter

When parties find themselves in conflict and begin to think about resolution of that conflict, they may be just starting to view the dispute with more input from their reason than their emotions. When we are caught up in a conflict for some time,we can fall into demonizing the other side and we can become […]


Mediation a Gamble? Part II

On September 19, 2010, the New York Times published an article titled “When Mortgage Mediation Is a Gamble” by Gretchen Morgenson. In it, she described some of the pitfalls of Nevada’s foreclosure mediation program.  Most of the time we think of mediation as a low-risk endeavor: there isn’t much to lose in a process where […]


Mediation a Gamble? Part I

On September 19, 2010, the New York Times published an article titled “When Mortgage Mediation Is a Gamble” by Gretchen Morgenson. In it, she described some of the pitfalls of Nevada’s foreclosure mediation program.  Most of the time we think of mediation as a low-risk endeavor: there isn’t much to lose in a process where […]


“Patience, persistence, and determination”

“Patience, persistence, and determination.” Those are the words used by Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell to describe how he will proceed in the Middle East Peace Process. Patience, persistence, and determination are the qualities that a mediator brings to a conflict. We work hard to get people in conflict to the table. […]


Labors of Love

The day after Labor Day is a good time to reflect on your labors of love. You work hard to take care of your family: You labor to take care of their financial needs. You juggle to make time for the things that matter to them. You strive to keep them safe. You know that […]


Conflict avoidance and mediation

It seems a natural instinct for some (most?) people to try to avoid conflict. They will excuse bad behavior, wait for things to get better on their own (with no real reason for a bad situation to improve), engage in denial, learn to live with it,make unreasonable compromises, etc., etc. Rarely does conflict avoidance lead […]


Conflict Resolution Interactive Skills Program (CRISP) – Part II

As I wrote about last time, last week I had the pleasure of participating in a daylong Summer Institute program presented by the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution (NE-ACR).  We were treated to a rich day of skills building from StageCoach improv. Specifically, we were part of their Conflict Resolution Interactive […]


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