Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
other party or parties and you are in your room waiting patiently for
the mediator's return. It can be a time when the process is set back, when
people disengage because they are bored and when they start to think
about things that they could be doing if they were back at the office.
Idle time is inevitable in mediations so it is prudent to plan for it: not, as
some mediators would suggest, by bringing a topic or the newspaper -
that encourages disengagement; more by using the time creatively, both
physically and mentally. The mediator will be very aware of the problem
and should manage the idle time effectively by
setting a task - something for you to do whilst the mediator is with
the other party
keeping the private meetings relatively short - this means that the
idle time is limited and also creates a momentum to the process; the
mediator does not have to cover every issue in every meeting, and
indeed it is much better to leave some issues outstanding so that a
party can prepare to discuss other issues when they next meet
encouraging parties to get some exercise and fresh air so that ev-
eryone is still as fresh and active in the late afternoon as when they
started
creating working groups, perhaps experts or lawyers together - this
at least keeps some people working but does leave other (though
fewer) people idle; if the mediator has an assistant they may sit in
and perhaps chair a working group, if only to keep the discussions
on task and ensure the group is being productive - of course, in
a co-mediation the mediators are likely to split and be in separate
meetings anyway
The best way of avoiding idle time is to keep everyone together and so,
whilst private meetings are essential for parties to discuss confidential
matters, with or without the mediator, joint meetings are by far the most
efficient and will ensure that people remain engaged in the process. They
also mean that everyone hears the discussions first hand and, even if
people do not participate, they get the same story. So often when people
return from working groups they filter their reporting back and each
side receives different stories, or different emphasis.
5.8
Others' shoes
I mentioned earlier that different people see the same thing differently,
owing to a whole lot of reasons, and this does not necessarily mean that
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