Conflict Resolution

Life is full of conflict. We cannot avoid it. It can be big or small. We regularly encounter difficult conversations and situations in both our personal and professional lives.

We can benefit from learning more about how to manage conflict and how to embrace the potential creativity which conflict can bring.

If we are unable to remove the conflict ourselves we may seek the help of an unbiased third party a mediator. This is a quicker, more positive and cost effective way to resolve conflict than through litigation.

From time to time, we all have to engage in difficult conversations, and conflict situations in our personal and professional lives. Sometimes coaching can help resolve disputes before they become too entrenched. However, if the dispute has gone beyond this stage there may be the need for external third-party unbiased help.

Many people then go to litigation which is costly, time consuming and does not offer confidentiality. An alternative way to resolve disputes is by mediation. Mediation is non-judgemental, creative, future-focused, and confidential. This means that mediation can offer a way of resolving conflict which is collaborative rather than combative.

In a dispute people tend to argue about ‘the facts’ of what happened. However, we cannot change the facts, so in mediation we work with individuals’ perceptions of the ‘facts’. Facts cannot be changed whereas perceptions can be, and this knowledge allows us to engage with conflict as a creative opportunity. The process helps to build a golden bridge to allow parties to move away from a win-lose approach with the aim that both parties are able to end the dispute whilst retaining their self-esteem.

I have mediated in a variety of disputes, including between gangs, families, corporate organisations, work colleagues, paramilitaries, and tribes. At the heart of all mediations, even those which seem the most corporate, there are psychological factors in play.

With colleagues I offer training in Dealing with Conflict, Conflict Coaching, all the way through to training which qualifies successful participants to practice as mediators (please see training section). All these covers start with the premise that a psychological approach will be of greater benefit to the parties and is more likely to create a sustainable resolution which is in line with the parties’ values.

My approach to conflict resolution is explained in my book Psychologically-Informed Mediation.