Below the line

Argument, Below the line, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Decision making, Dialogue, Experience, Framing, General, Joint Sessions, lawyers in mediation, mediation process, Mediators’ Conduct, Mistakes, Perception, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Tips, Uncategorized

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /6 Comments

Offers in mediation are too often approached with all the coyness of gauche teenagers at a school dance (acknowledging that this metaphor may reveal too much about my own youth!). It need not be like this. Here are some thoughts to ease the pain. Going first is not weakness. All mediations require offers to be…

Below the line, Clients, Conflict, Cross-cultural, Dialogue, Experience, Fear, General, Language, Lawyers and Psychologists, Mediation Lawyering, Mediation Practice, Mediators’ Conduct, Mindset, Mistakes, Neutrality, omnipartiality in mediation, Perception, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Reflective Practice, Transformation, user perspectives

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /1 Comment

I am not really one for elevator pitches. But I did hear one the other day about creating impact in a very short space of time, and I was struck by its relevance to mediation. Essentially, the message was that the people we meet make up their minds about us based on two key criteria,…

Appointment of Mediators, Below the line, Clients, Cognitive Bias, Conflict, Fear, General, Mediation Practice, Mediation Users/Clients, Mistakes, Patience, Perception, Reflective Practice, Skills

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /4 Comments

I blogged recently on the importance in mediation of not forgetting what is happening in the other room. It’s an easy mistake to make. Here’s another one that is easy to make. “Assumed motivation”. A lot of stuff happens both in conflicts and the process of their resolution. Things are said and done by each…

Argument, Below the line, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Cooperation, Decision making, Dispute Resolution, Experience, Flexibility, Gender, Joint Sessions, Mediation Lawyering, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediation Users/Clients, Mediation with Teams, Mindset, shuttle mediation, Trust, Uncategorized

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /8 Comments

Mediation can be an intense experience for parties and their advisers. Often there is a lot on the line. In the substance there may be money, control, reputation, pride. In the process, there are challenges such as influencing other parties, getting the best deal possible, making well-informed judgment calls about risk, developing effective offers, and…

Below the line, Business, Causes of Conflict, Commercial Mediation, Conflict, Developing the Field, Economics, Mediation Practice, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Reflective Practice, Scotland, Uncategorized

(University of Strathclyde)/ /Leave a comment
money

Twice today I’ve found myself responding to mediator reflections in these terms: the money’s not about the money. Both cases involved financial negotiation, even haggling, but that’s deceptive. The key to settlement lay not in the realm of calculation and rationality but in the more opaque social world of face, punishment, justice and emotion. In…

Argument, Below the line, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Dialogue, Experts, Fear, General, Joint Sessions, Lawyers, lawyers in mediation, Legal Issues, Litigation, Mediation Lawyering, mediation process, Preparation, Tactics

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /4 Comments

This is the first in a short series of how parties and advisers can best deploy the “assets” at their disposal in a mediation. Naturally, it is written from my perspective as a mediator, and so I recognise that it may look different when you are representing one side in a mediation, rather than in…

Argument, Below the line, Bias, Brexit, caucus, Cognitive Bias, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, Creativity, Decision making, Dialogue, Ethics, Fear, General, Impasse, Instinct, Interests, Intuition, Joint Sessions, Leaders, Leadership, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediators’ Conduct, Negotiation, Non-violent communication, Patience, Perception, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Reflective Practice, shuttle mediation, Skills, Status, Success in mediation, Tactics, Teamwork, The role of the mediator, Tips, Transformation

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /4 Comments

One of the privileges of mediating is to watch leaders at work. Every party, every team, has its leader(s). And as any mediator will tell you, the way in which they choose to lead during a mediation – and more widely during the conflict or dispute itself – has a significant impact on the outcome;…

Below the line, Conflict, conlfict coaching, Conventional wisdom, Framing, Joint Sessions, mediation traditions, Trust

(Brick Court Chambers / Clifton Chambers)/ /4 Comments

Pollyanna/pɒlɪˈanə/ noun/an excessively cheerful or optimistic person. “what I am saying makes me sound like some ageing Pollyanna who just wants to pretend that all is sweetness and light” Every mediator has been called a Pollyanna at some time or other, usually when encouraging those in conflict that resolution is just around the corner – and often in that…

ADR, Argument, Below the line, Brexit, caucus, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, Creativity, cross-border mediation, Decision making, Dialogue, Fear, Impasse, Instinct, Intuition, Joint Sessions, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Middle East, Negotiation, peace negotiations, Perception, Practical Challenges for Mediators, shuttle mediation, Stories, Success in mediation, The role of the mediator, Trust, Violence

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /2 Comments

Bloomberg (not my usual reading fodder, I confess) carried an interesting piece a couple of months ago, entitled “Meet the Real Force Behind the Brexit Talks”. Yes, it was about Brexit (yawn) but it was about an unseen side of the negotiations. Opening with the line “In every negotiation the most important work is done…

Below the line, Clients, Commercial Mediation, Communication, Community Mediation, Conflict, Conventional wisdom, Creativity, Dialogue, Dispute Resolution, Due Process, General, Instinct, Intuition, mediation as a career, Mediation Outcomes, Mediation Practice, mediation process, Mediation Users/Clients, Mediators’ Conduct, Perception, Playbook, Practical Challenges for Mediators, Reflective practise, Skills, Tips, Transformation, Understanding mediation

(Bill Marsh Mediator)/ /11 Comments

It’s not easy to blog once a month, even on a subject I love. Often I sit down to write with no real ideas or inspiration. Sometimes I end up that way too (as you may have noticed!). It becomes easy to dread the approach of my monthly publication date. Often the pressure lies in…