MEDIATION: THE NEED FOR PREPARATION AND CREATIVE THOUGHT

If you have decided to appoint a mediator to help you resolve a property or business conflict, and are unsure of how to prepare yourself, here is what you should consider.

1. In every mediation, each party is given an opportunity to present the facts as he sees them. That presentation is best kept factual. In other words, don’t exaggerate or resort to insult or criticism. Attacking the opposite party won’t persuade him to compromise.
2. Once the mediator guides you past your fact presentations and asks you to list all of the issues that concern you [call it a wish list], you will be able to determine whether the other party shares the same concerns. You just may be surprised at how many interests you do share in common.
3. The critical part of any mediation, or negotiation for that matter [mediation is third party assisted negotiation] lies in creative thinking. At this stage both sides are looking for practical options [ie  an exit strategy. This is where out of the box thinking needs to take over. The obvious settlement options are the ones that can be executed quickly, at the least possible cost and that do not depend on the support or agreement of anyone else.
4. Because preparation is a universal key to success, it is a good idea to canvass any third parties whose support or agreement you know you may need, in advance of the formal mediation. In other words, put all the pieces together so that you don’t propose an option without knowing whether it is workable. The solutions that matter are the workable ones.
5. The next thing each side needs to do is a ‘loss-benefit’ calculation. If the financial costs of one or more proposals outweigh any likely benefits, you are on the wrong track. Again, try to do this as part of your pre-mediation preparation. By doing as much homework as possible in advance, the more persuasive you are likely to be when you get to meet. And an effective presentation is much more likely to produce compromise.