• E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Member Login

Scottish Mediation

Engaging positively with conflict

Call our Helpline: 0131 556 8118

  • Home
  • Why mediation?
    • What is Mediation?
    • Mediation in the Third Sector
    • Types of mediation
      • Business and Commercial
      • Community and Neighbour
      • Education
      • Equalities
      • Family
      • Family Separation and Divorce
      • Housing and Property
      • Planning and environment
      • Workplace and Employment
      • Other
  • Find a mediator
  • About
    • Staff
    • Board
    • Board Committees
  • Join
    • Become a member
    • Register as a mediator
  • News
    • Blog
  • Events
  • Resources
    • General
    • For members
    • For schools
  • Young Talk | Peer Mediation
    • Who are we?
    • What do we provide?
    • Who can join?
    • Peer Mediation
    • Contacts
    • Events
    • Resources
    • Young Talk Telegraph
  • Contact us

Clicking Into Place

11th October 2018

Sometimes things just seem to click into place and in September that hasn’t just happened once, but twice. Myself and my colleagues in Scottish Mediation have been promoting the benefits of using the skills of mediation, or mediating ways if you like. We’re doing so to help organisations improve the way they deal with disputes and conflict both internally and externally, to generate better conversations all round and by doing so to improve their organisational culture.

The first click came at the launch of Partners in Planning, an organisation set up by the Improvement Service, the Planning profession, Scottish Government and others to create an online resource for planners. Part of the resource is accessible skills training available online so that planners can access it when it suits them. I was delivering four sessions (in a row) on mediation skills for planners. In every session planners were relating to stories where they had either used the skills of mediation or where they could see how they could have improved their engagement with applicants, communities and developers. Many related that the skills would have helped them working with colleagues in their own organisations also.

People talked about the importance of active listening. Some commented that by listening, asking open questions and reflecting back to people that they felt someone had paid attention and given empathy for their points of view. Others talked about how by listening and questioning they discovered that the objection raised had been a position and that underneath lay interests that they could address and help people with. An example of this was a person who had objected to a housing development in a village. Deeper exploration found that the concerns were about access to roads and whether a child would have to attend a different school. These were issues that the planner could have explained and helped the objector to frame in a way which would inform the planning process. My observation listening to the comments and feedback was that mediation skills are useful for all professionals and that they should form part of the study required to practice.

The second click came at a conference I attended at the University of Dundee called “Collaboration – New Practices in a Changing World”. It was held to mark the 10th anniversary of Early Dispute Resolution (EDR) an organisation created at the University to help resolve disputes by training staff and students to be on campus mediators.

The idea for the conference came about from discussions regarding the new health and social care partnerships. Organisations with different cultures and values were being brought together with collaboration required for success but not necessarily supported by skills development. We identified areas where despite competition, constrained funding and increased demand, effective collaboration had brought solutions to problems previously thought to be intractable. There was also an examination of the difficulties in taking a collaborative approach and how the skills of mediation could provide a safe space for the exploration of issues and indeed some of the frank discussion needed for overcoming obstacles to progress.

A key part of the new health and social care landscape is the idea of multi-agency working. Part of the reflection at the conference was that we needed to equip more people with the tools that mediation skills provide if we are going to have successful work of this sort. The mediators from the University of Dundee were able to give great examples of how their interventions in the University had helped to resolve not just “normal” workplace disputes within departments but in a number of cases better working between departments and disciplines within the University. Part of the message about what 10 years had shown them was the added value of reflecting on the application of those mediation skills with colleagues and the benefits gained from the investment (relatively small) made in gaining and maintaining those skills.

The first two clicks have subsequently led to a third click. What clicked when I was looking at the experiences of both events was that there is an added value of learning the skills of mediation as a whole discipline. It gives an understanding of how best to craft the use of all the different skill elements that you can use, when to go from one to another and in some cases when they’re not appropriate too. It also confirmed that you’ve never learned enough and that there are always new applications and possibilities.

Email this to someoneShare on FacebookShare on Google+Tweet about this on TwitterShare on LinkedIn

Filed Under: Blog, News, News and Blog

Join Scottish Mediation

Membership of Scottish Mediation gives you access to a range of benefits and the opportunity to contribute to the future of mediation in Scotland.
  • Opportunities to Share and Learn
  • Free and Discounted Events
  • Exclusive Networking
  • Member resources
Join today

More news

Collaborate January 2019

29th January 2019

Collaboration using Mediation the Key to Success in North Lanarkshire

11th January 2019

New Chair for Scottish Mediation

26th October 2018

Archives

Contact Scottish Mediation

Helpline: 0131 556 8118

18 York Place
Edinburgh
EH1 3EP

T: 0131 556 1221

E: admin@scottishmediation.org.uk

On Twitter @ScotMediation

  • Don't forget to SAVE THE DATE for our upcoming Mental Health in Mediation CPD event! The events will be taking plac… https://t.co/DsCymyXbnJ 14th February 2019 3:21 pm
  • To all those budding peer mediation trainers we're delighted to announce the date for our Peer Mediation Training f… https://t.co/OupnfPtvS2 8th February 2019 12:37 pm
  • We had a great 2 days training @StJosephsDCC - hope everyone enjoyed it and will be part of offering a peer mediati… https://t.co/8qSwVtm6SR 6th February 2019 3:11 pm
  • It was a great meeting with fantastic examples of how mediation and mediation skills are making a positive differen… https://t.co/AEpgDVSuyS 24th January 2019 1:00 pm
  • We are delighted that Scottish Mediation has received a funding award from @scotlandtrust to develop and deliver wo… https://t.co/ZTGUr7hS7O 21st January 2019 4:59 pm
  • Great article from Rosanne Cubitt: Enduring conflict more upsetting for kids than a well managed separation https://t.co/wR6DWt6CaL 11th January 2019 11:53 am
  • Follow us

Sign up for our newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Sitemap

Copyright © 2019 Scottish Mediation · 18 York Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3EP · admin@scottishmediation.org.uk · T: 0131 556 1221
Scottish Charity Number SC034921 · Company Registered in Scotland SC258173
Site built by graphics.coop · Powered by WordPress