Prepared by Mr. Juan Diego Mata Chacón, Lawyer at ICA Seville and expert teacher at the Network mediation specialty (ODR)
All work sessions with our clients must be built on two basic pillars to guarantee the success of our work. On many occasions, professionals with whom we work in their professional training want a work route to follow a protocol as if they were the instructions for assembling a piece of furniture. However, one of the characteristics of mediation work is the integration of the process to provide a tailored response to the case that the client brings to our office.
If we take this idea to the field of online mediation, we must differentiate between those two pillars that, in my humble opinion, are relevant in the design of any work session that can occur in each file: structure and content. I believe that both elements are the responsibility of the mediator's work and therefore, both the structure of each work session and its content must be evaluated by the mediator and, above all, worked on.
Regarding the organization of any work session, I propose the following structure for all work sessions that occur in the file:
– Summary of the previous session.
– Work on the points of the day.
– Proposed work points for the next session.
With this work scheme we achieve that the client has a feeling of progress in the management work that is being carried out and we achieve, from the perspective of the professional, to structure the line of work that we are following. This work structure is not at odds with the flexibility that characterizes work in mediation because it will be the parties who provide the mediator with their content whether we are in the information, analysis and proposal of solutions phase.
The second professional pillar is directly related to on-site work as each of the non-face-to-face meetings in conflict management is held, but from the mediator's perspective, what elements can help us grow professionally in the field of network mediation? It is important to keep in mind that making a difference in holding the meeting depends on the mediator and therefore, I recommend these three ingredients with which to “cook” a good network mediation work session:
- Preparation: regarding the content of the session, that is, the parties decide, but it is the mediator who energizes the work meeting. There are differences between a conflict identification session, an option search session or an agreement closing session. This is the responsibility of the mediator and must be configured before the session.
- Knowledge: Depending on the type of case we are working on, it is time to analyze which tools are useful for the work session that is going to be carried out, but, above all, the professional defines what his intention is when using that tool. Only then will you be able to evaluate your work later, asking yourself if the objective you wanted to achieve has been resolved.
– Creativity: The adaptability of the mediator in situ is perhaps the most difficult area of work because there is no time to think, you have to have the ability to change the way of communicating, speech and non-verbal communication depending on the needs of the situation. meeting that is being held.
We therefore have an opportunity to apply this proposal to achieve network mediation meetings that are efficient, practical for our clients and satisfactory for the professional who has promoted it.
There are more and more procedures that combine traditional conflict resolution and management processes (such as mediation, arbitration, dialogue facilitation, etc.) with online technology.
The network mediation specialty (ODR) offered by the International School of Mediation, can help you cover this area and serve as a fundamental complement to other professional areas, allowing you to access the main records.
