When can mediation help you

Mediation is an alternative to court, also known as alternative dispute resolution. The beauty of mediation is in its flexibility and informality focused on dealing with real interests and needs.

What is mediation?

As the mediation process unfolds, parties are able to uncover underlying issues without being aggressive as they would otherwise succumb to be in court.

Instead, the positional negotiation is replaced with recognition of each party’s story with a clear intention to bring in perspective, experience, motivation, hope, fear, aspiration and objective.

It is a creative option that isn’t limited by legal concepts that can be deemed arbitrary.

In fact, modern behavioural psychology supports mediation as a more sophisticated approach over traditional dispute resolution methods of going to court.

With an experienced, impartial mediator who helps facilitate the process, discussions are confidential with the primary purpose of reaching a constructive solution that satisfies real interests and needs.

Parties who are faced with a conflict or disputes are encouraged to sit down and talk about their differences in a respectful and dignified manner. The aim is to find a mutually acceptable way to move forward, beyond the issue by resolving disputes.

Mediators do not impose solutions, and the parties are responsible for creating desirable solutions to move forward. All that is said or done in the mediation process is not legally binding unless and until all parties involved record their agreement in writing.

When can mediation be used?

Mediation is most effective when people are not able to effectively negotiate for themselves or have reached a deadlock. As direct negotiations can make things worse and often isn’t the best approach to settle issues, mediation is preferred. Through mediation, awkward situations can be prevented from escalating.

It is also worth noting that a skilled mediator will make the mediation process go a lot smoother, given the challenging and difficult issues the parties are faced with.

Often, mediation is used in as an alternative to litigation and no lawyers are involved. Where court cases start to incur high costs, mediation is also seen to be a way to reduce further cost and time taken to undergo legal court proceedings.

Other situations where mediation has proven popular and effective include finalising if contracts, joint venture creations, and building better personal, professional and business relationships. Mediation is a less confrontational way of resolving conflicts. Naturally, this setting creates an environment that harbours sharing and cooperation to work toward an acceptable solution to which all parties can agree to.

Typical mediation cases involve disputes concerning:

• Family members
• Neighbours
• Work and employment
• Money
• Debt
• Community
• Associations

How can you benefit the most from mediation

Ultimately, the real challenge to effective mediation is to find a skilled and experienced mediator who has a proven track record for successful outcomes.

With technological advancements that have created online mediation platforms, the mediation process has never been more straightforward. The ease of accessibility has allowed it so that anyone can now engage in mediation without having to leave the comfort of your home.

Never miss a mediation meeting or session thanks to the convenience of online mediation platforms. Also, the costs of mediation online are significantly lower than traditional mediation with some platforms offering fixed pricing.

There are some cases which need face to face confrontation to deal with the matter. Although many online mediation platforms are crossing this obstacle by integrating video conferencing solutions, not all facilitate video.

Nevertheless, when deciding whether to engage in mediation to solve your issue, it is worth looking into utilising online mediation as a platform.