In a dispute between staff members, attitudes tend to polarize; perspectives usually get set in concrete; the middle ground is ignored; and a feeling of ‘win‑lose’ predominates. To prevent this conflict from reaching such an impasse, you may find it necessary to intervene as a third-party mediator (as opposed to an arbitrator who makes the final decision after both sides have presented their cases). Your aim as a mediator would be to defuse the emotions of the combatants and to catalyze their own efforts to reach a mutually acceptable resolution. For practical advice on this issue, you’ll need our e-Topic How to mediate in a staff dispute which advocates…

1. Intervene before it’s too late.
2. Prepare both parties for the mediation process.
3. Get the issues out into the open.
4. Identify the issues.
5. Generate solutions.
6. Reach an agreement.
7. Follow-up the agreement.
8. Remember also…

The e-Topic elaborates upon these strategies and concludes with a wealth of useful hints, advice, anecdotes and inspiration to help the reader better understand and implement the core material presented.

Do you want a brief fragment from the wealth of practical information in this e-Topic?
“Mediation is based on the belief that no one else can possibly know as much about the conflict as those actually involved and no outsider can conceivably know what will satisfy the disputants as well as they themselves. If a win-win solution is possible, the parties involved are the most likely to be able to discover it.”

Simple, step-by-step solutions to your management problems and issues – that’s the aim of our e-Topics series. For busy managers, it’s literally management2go!