Family Mediation

Family conflict can arise from differences in personality, opinion, or vision, and can affect relations between individual members or the entire family.

Family conflict is normal and predictable and can be resolved if addressed appropriately. Family conflict resolution does not mean that differences disappear and that the family becomes a harmonious unit. What it means is that individual differences are acknowledged and respected and that the family makes decisions for the future based on those differences.

Family conflict can take many forms, from marital to family businesses. In every case, the earlier the conflict is addressed, the easier it is to resolve. Unresolved conflict grows and becomes more complicated with secondary conflicts stemming from the underlying conflict and often masking the root of the conflict. The ideal way to resolve conflict is to address it continuously and organically as it arises. The key is respectful, open communication. Listen actively to the other person, do not assume, ask for clarification as needed, and try to view the situation from the perspective of the other person. You may not agree with the other person, but if you are able to view the situation from the perspective of the other, you have a better chance of resolving it.

Conflict at times becomes too complicated and emotionally charged for even knowledgeable, highly emotionally intelligent people to resolve if it involves them personally. Whatever the reason, when family conflict becomes unhealthy and unmanageable, it is better to hire a professional third party.

We offer mediation and consultation for

• Marital conflict
• Conflict related to family businesses
• Conflict related to power of attorney
• Conflict related to inheritances
• Estranged family members of any age and family reconciliation
• Parent child conflict
• Conflict related to the children’s education and/or religion
• Parenting plans

Workplace Conflict

Conflict in the workplace
Internal conflicts between partners, between managers, between employees, between a manager and an employee, or other combinations are normal, predictable, and can be resolved if addressed rather than ignored. Traditional professional work environments have implicit policies repressing and/or avoiding conflict, and differences in personalities and/or business values and can get out of control, if ignored, or not addressed properly. Denial, avoidance, dismissal, or simply hoping that conflict settles on its own has proven to exacerbate otherwise manageable conflicts. Unresolved conflict leads to employee disengagement, reduced productivity, lawsuits, and to violence in extreme cases. Internal conflict is serious business and it needs to be addressed with the same level of care as any other business decision. Addressing internal conflict appropriately helps create and maintain a business environment conducive to recruiting, retaining, and engaging the best employees, increases productivity, and ultimately improves the bottom line.

Conflict in the workplace increases with diversity, but diversity is also correlated to better, more diverse outcomes, and higher sales and profits. The reason for, both, the higher performance and the higher propensity to conflict stem from diversity itself. Diversity is a catalyst for thinking outside of one’s comfort zone, for continuous growth, and for belonging in the global market. The key is to manage the necessary conflict that arises from diversity to ensure that conflict becomes and asset, not a liability.

Resolving internal conflict in the workplace
The best way to resolve conflict in the workplace is to address it continuously and organically. Conflict is not an equilibrium; it simply escalates if unresolved, and the more it escalates, the more difficult it is to resolve. Effective conflict management requires training, and experience, both of which make conflict resolution more manageable and productive. Staff that have clear team charters, or company charters, and ADR training is likely to thrive with conflict. That staff would be constantly seeking dissent as a way to improve performance by constantly finding better solutions.

Conflict outside of the abilities of the staff can be resolved through mediation where the parties can, not only resolve the conflict, but improve their conflict resolution skills. The sooner conflict is addressed through mediation, the easier it is to resolve the conflict and the hence the more cost effective, ceteris paribus.

B2B Mediation: External Conflicts

Conflict between businesses is normal, predictable, and can be resolved if addressed rather than ignored. Conflict can arise from misunderstandings and miscommunication. Sometimes, poorly written contracts, can leave each party with clear and opposing understandings of their rights and obligations under such contracts, and in conflict amongst the parties. Good business relations based on well-articulated contracts can also sour when employees of two companies are not well informed, or do not understand each company’s responsibility to the other company.

There are a host of other reasons for well-intended businesses to have conflict with other well intended businesses. Litigation is a conflict resolution method, but that method tends to be expensive, takes control of the situation away from the companies in conflict and puts it in the hands of lawyers and the courts, has “winners” and “losers”, and it makes doing future business between the two companies difficult. Lastly, the court orders are public record, removing all possibility of confidentiality.

In contrast to litigation, mediation is cheaper, more efficient, more expedient, gives parties more control over the process and the outcome, the outcome is confidential, and it has the potential of preserving your business relationships. Quite often business relations strengthen after successfully resolving conflict fairly and ethically.

We can conduct mediation in one of the businesses, in a neutral location, or in any combination of those.