MEDIATION APPROACH FOR THE DISPUTE RESOLUTION BALTIMORE TRUSTS
There is no commercial or civil litigation lawsuit which names and involves you that is not personal. There is no workplace conflict that involves you that is not personal; and likewise, there is no workplace dispute which is under your management duties which is not personal.
Being sued, being blamed or not being treated with respect is all personal and deserves a personal process where it can be discussed and where appropriate decisions and resolutions can be made. Since our inception in 1993, Baltimore Mediation has followed an approach to Baltimore workplace conflict and to mediation which focuses on the quality of the interaction and dialogue.
The natural outcome of such an approach is fuller understanding of the situation and various possibilities within each unique context, including informed non-coerced decision making and resolutions. This is a transformative approach to mediation which Baltimore Mediation mediators practice exclusively and have been leaders in developing nationwide for workplace relationships and commercial disputes.
BALTIMORE WORKPLACE CONFLICT: BUSINESS, WORKPLACE & COMMERCIAL MEDIATION PROCESS
- Private
- Informal
- Flexible
- Confidential
- Constructive
- Cost-Effective
- Respectful
- Focused on the parties and the process for quality outcomes
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF MEDIATION FROM THIS APPROACH FOR BUSINESS,
WORKPLACE & COMMERCIAL CONFLICTS OR DISPUTES?
- The presence of an experienced neutral third party to facilitate
- Opportunity to be heard and understood fully
- Opportunity to discuss difficult matters
- Improvement in the quality of interaction between the parties and counsel, if present
- Opportunity to give explanations and receive answers without restriction to rules of evidence
- Opportunity for responsiveness
- Opportunity to give or receive an authentic apology
- For workplace and business matters, restoration of working relationship-personal or business contacts and clients
- For employees or contractors and subcontractors, clarification of roles and boundaries
- Change in overall negative experience such that the experience no longer haunts or has a sting for the parties directly involved; or at the very least, the bitterness or tenseness of the conflict or dispute is lessened as a result of the mediation experience, which allows all parties to better understand the reasons for the conflict and to move on with their lives
- Concrete outcomes including:- Clearer, more informed decisions
– Written agreement or contract if so chosen
– Settlement and release in litigated matters if so chosen
– Positive changes in institutional or other professional responsiveness
– Positive changes in individual’s future behavior
– Re-established good will- Clear next steps if another mediation is requested
Who Initiates the Mediation Process?
Executives, directors, HR managers, financial officers, general counsel, andindividual employees or members of the board may request mediation for workplace matters. In litigated cases, named plaintiffs or defendants or their respective legal counsel may request mediation at any time in the legal proceedings.
More and more companies are using baltimore workplace conflict and mediation to resolve internal employee problems, and calling upon Baltimore Mediation for such problems which range from difficult employee interactions to customer service complaints to vendor contract disputes to formal employee complaints to complex litigated lawsuits.
For internal employee matters or those difficult situations that occur from time to time between the business and e.g., a customer or vendor, or between employees whom the company hopes to retain, or with any employee where there is a problem and the company desires to be responsive and fair and practical, mediation is a process that allows companies and agencies to address important productivity as well as relationship concerns that may be otherwise difficult to discuss or resolve through other approaches. While other means may have already been attempted or may purposefully be being avoided because of exacerbating an already delicate situation, mediation may be the most responsive organizational response.
Whatever the situation, large or small, mediation is a confidential process where a mediator, who is a neutral third party with no stake in the outcome, promotes and facilitates meaningful discussion and negotiation that allows participants the opportunity to exchange views, make informed decisions and find responsive and workable solutions. Mediation is also appropriate for groups of employees when conflict within work groups or inter-departmental disputes has begun to disrupt work, cause friction within work teams, lower morale and cause delay in meeting important project deadlines as well as begun to reduce the overall quality of work for the organization.
In today’s competitive environment, it is well documented that unresolved conflict within the “work family” has a serious impact for organizations whose goal is excellence and high morale. Healthy and rapid dispute resolution Baltimore promotes communication, clarity, and collaboration and is an energizing force within organizations. Baltimore Mediation is proud to be a leader in workplace mediation.
In commercial and civil litigation, mediation is becoming the preferred choice of dispute resolution processes for both plaintiffs and defendants alike, as well as their legal counsel. Executives of companies and institutions, individual professionals as well as individual complainants may request mediation, whether in pre-litigation or in the throws of a litigated claim or contract dispute. Baltimore Mediation has assisted many hundreds of parties, and their counsel, in such matters. For those matters which are pre-litigation or which are already involved in an adversarial process, mediation is often the most productive, and usually the most cost efficient and satisfying dispute resolution process.
It is never too late to use the mediation process, and while most mediated matters are resolved with early intervention, many matters have been resolved within days or weeks of a trial date. Mediation is the choice for resolving not only the presenting matter, but the underlying claim as well. Claimants as well as companies, institutions and individual professionals choose Baltimore Mediation mediators as the best for providing the type of forum and intervention that aids in quality negotiation and resolution. The mediator, who has no stake in the outcome, has a wealth of experience in dispute negotiation, litigation and complex situations and brings a reasoned third party presence to otherwise stagnant or difficult negotiations. The likely outcome is parties’ choosing to resolve or settle a matter on authentic terms.
For businesses and those in the workplace, Baltimore Mediation, the dispute resolution Baltimore trusts, is also a leader in workplace conflict resolution training for managers, executives, physicians, health care professionals, and organizational employees on such topics as How to work through difficult interactions in the workplace—How to maximize ongoing interactions in the workplace– How to foster quality
interactions–How to approach difficult situations and conflicts—all with Personal Skill and Self-Awareness Enhancements in an interactive, experiential learning environment with individualized coaching, see Business & Organizational Training. [See LINK to training]
For businesses and those in the workplace needing the dispute resolution Baltimore depends on, Baltimore Mediation mediators are also available to work with individual employees as conflict resolution coaches for two or more meetings to break through communication or behavioral barriers and reestablish effectiveness, with or without additional resources as needed. See Workplace Disputes.