As in any other job, mediators are still people who have their own feelings, emotions or responses, which can intervene in these moderation processes. And, despite being experts trained to do their job appropriately, no one is exempt from the emotional burden that different situations can have.
Past experiences or the emotional state of the moment can lead the mediation professional to feel affected, in such a way that they do not conduct these processes effectively and do not allow them to act objectively and with a neutral attitude. That is why one of the main challenges of the mediator is learn to manage emotional states of the parties, but also their own, since no matter how insignificant these may be, they can intervene in the development of the sessions.
Experience and education in communication of these professionals is essential for them to be able to develop successful strategies when dealing with certain cases, which may or may not please the mediator. The most important question is knowing what to do in each situation and how to reach a good agreement.
To do this, it is also important to reflect on ourselves. What are we doing right and what are we doing wrong? Observe how we react and respond to intervene later in similar situations in a triumphant way. That is to say, even though there are circumstances that affect us as professionals for different reasons, experience and know-how make us control these impressions and not influence users.
On the other hand, and in relation to the management of these emotions, the non-verbal communication, both from the mediator and from the clients. The 93% of what we transmit is through gestures, looks, postures... That is why the communication skills of the mediator must be enhanced so that they can understand the speech of the affected people as a whole. That is, we cannot study gestures in isolation, but simultaneously with what is said, taking into account the context in which the situation develops and the coherence between what is verbally said and what is done.
Also, the person mediating must not only be objective in their feelings but in the way they express these through their gaze, facial expression, gestures, appearance or the distance they maintain with their client.
As we see, this process of translating feelings helps the person progress in the work of mediation, since these observation techniques can be very interesting in helping them realize the course that the conversation needs to take in order to improve the lives of others. the affected people.
