Business mediation

A classic example

Two children are arguing about an orange. Their mother stops the argument by cutting the orange into two equal-sized halves and giving one half to each child. But both children are unsatisfied, sad and disappointed. The children cannot quite fulfill their needs with only half an orange. The mother made a compromise.

There is another answer to the argument: The mother could have asked both children what they wanted to use the orange for. This would have been the only way to find out, that one of the children wanted to have the orange in order to press out the juice because the child is thirsty. And that the other child needed the orange peel to back a cake. Then, the mother could have asked both children to make suggestions for possible solutions. After that, both children would have had to agree on a suggestion which they both considered fair.

The solution is simple here: One child will get the juice and the other one the peel.

What happened when choosing the second solution?

The mother identified the real needs of her children and let them look for a solution which both children had to agree on. The argument has been settled to everyone’s satisfaction. The mother succeeded in finding an appropriate solution for everybody when creating a win-win situation and solving the problem in a profitable way. In this context, it is important that the possible solutions for the conflict were suggested by the children and not their mother and that the children had to agree on one suggestion.

The argument was settled by means of a mediation.

Definition: What is mediation?

Mediation is an informal dispute settlement process run by a trained third party, called a mediator. The process is voluntary.

Business mediation is a special field of mediation which covers all issues of commerce and business. A business mediator is a specialist who is trained to use appropriate techniques to solve business-related conflicts and bring his qualifications.

Mediation is intended to bring all parties together to clear up misunderstandings, find out concerns, and reach a long-lasting resolution of the conflict.

Put into three words: Mediation – Compromise – Reconciliation

Why not go to court directly?

“Before the court and on high seas, one is in God’s hands”.

This means that the decision is very often more than open before courts. In a trial the parties might tend to give up voluntarily their decision. A third party is then going to make a decision following impersonal and inscrutable rules and standards.
There will be a winner and a looser and most of the time, the compromise is painful for both sides. Moreover, personal concerns are brought to public and the costs for a trial are sometimes higher than those for a mediation.