TEST 20.
Part 4
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You will hear a woman called Samira Joshi giving a short talk about workplace mediation.
Hello, my name is Samira Joshi and I've been asked to come here and talk to you about my
job as a professional mediator. Workplace mediation, in a nutshell, is an informal way of
resolving employment-related disputes.
It involves a mediator, like me, acting as an impartial third party who facilitates a meeting
between two or more people in conflict. When considering mediation, there is no need for a
company to take seniority into account, but voluntary agreement from both parties, on the
other hand, is essential. Without this commitment to proceed, the mediation process is not
really worth pursuing.
Workplace mediation is by no means a panacea, but it can be an effective way of dealing
with many common workplace issues, including relationship breakdown, personality
clashes, miscommunication and so on. In my experience, though, it's workplace incivility
that company representatives most often mention when they contract my services. This
could involve any kind of behaviour with an intent to harm, with social undermining on the
low end of the spectrum and bullying on the more serious end.
Generally speaking, mediation is a chance to resolve disputes without resorting to legal
processes or disciplinary action, or ultimately dismissal. Ideally, it's better to mediate a
conflict at the beginning, that can avoid escalation, but even if a conflict is well entrenched
and employees have, say, resorted to sick leave to escape anxiety generated in the
workplace, mediation can still be an effective way to get them back at their desks. So what
does the mediation process look like in practice? Well, in the first stage, I meet with each
individual in separate rooms.
Everything said here is completely confidential. Note-taking is usually fine, but recording
devices are generally prohibited. My job here is to actively listen while each party walks me
through their experience of the dispute.
This helps me wrap my head around the key issues. Here, flip charts are a mediator's best
friend. They're a great place to brainstorm ideas.
In the second stage, called the facilitated joint meeting, both sides come together and try to
settle their differences. I act as facilitator, first letting each side say their piece with no
interruptions, and then I lead a discussion of the key aspects of the dispute. Here, mediators
need to keep a close eye on pace because the goal is to reach a mutually acceptable
solution on the day.
At the same time, though, we need to be led by the parties in terms of what they are ready
to discuss. It's a delicate balance. Particularly during this second stage, emotional
intelligence is crucial, I think.
To excel in this profession, you really have to be able to understand not just what people are
saying, but also what they aren't saying. Listening between the lines, so to speak. Good
problem-solving skills also come in handy, not to mention lots of patience.
You might think of these competencies as innate, but in my experience, it's possible to
develop and greatly improve them over time. On a personal note, I've long thought the key
to successful mediation is to get people to move away from the past, that is their grievances
and obsessed-over-life experiences, and focus on the future. This sort of subtle alteration in
mindset can be hard to achieve, but is ultimately very powerful.
Alright, so, if the first two steps of the process have gone well, we then move into the final
stage, where I prepare a written agreement for both parties to sign up to. Everyone involved
has to not only agree to the statement, but also to share responsibility for its enactment. It's
important to note that this agreement is morally, but not legally, binding.
Talking of legal questions, I should mention that whether or not the mediation process
succeeds or fails, and every so often it does fail, the entire process is what lawyers would
call without prejudice, meaning that if an employee wants to go on and pursue an
employment tribunal, for example, they can take their case straight on and don't have to
worry about any information from the mediation process being disclosed. So, before I move
on, I thought this would be a good time to open the floor to any questions you might have.
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