For some years now, driven by the growing use of the Internet as something basic and essential in our daily lives and even more so with mobile devices, conflicts that arise in many areas of our lives are being filtered and even resolved by the use and implementation of electronic mediation as a technique for conflict resolution in this digital age, providing advantages and resolving some unique challenges.
Advantages of electronic mediation
- Accessible and flexible: Electronic mediation is based on resolving conflicts without paying attention to the geographical location of the parties in conflict or even the mediator, and this increases access to these services, facilitates participation and generates comfort in all aspects and for the parties. This has resulted in a significant increase in the number of conflicts resolved by these virtual means. (https://cec.consumo.gob.es/CEC/consultasReclamaciones/comoReclamar/viaExtrajudicial/ral/odr.htm)
- Efficient: Online mediation processes are usually faster and more efficient than methods based on the physical presence of the parties. During the period during which the pandemic lasted, different mediation associations from countries in both the EU and the US reported an increase of 30% in virtual mediation processes.
- Cash: Different studies of mediation centers indicate that 85% of the conflicts resolved through virtual mediation resulted in satisfactory agreements for both parties.
- Sure: One of the most striking cases must be taken into account, that of Zoom, which experienced brutal growth, going from 10 million daily meetings to 300 million in just three months. Extrapolated to virtual mediation, this has also posed a challenge in terms of security, connectivity networks and hardware and software consumables for consumers and professionals, a real challenge.
What is the outline of a digital mediation process?
1. Preparation: It is important that all parties establish prior agreements and basic rules of respect and confidentiality for the mediation process, both at the beginning and end of the agreement.
2. Conflict detection: analyze the problem from different perspectives, that is, from the “three parties” that are going to work on the conflict and therefore in the case of virtual mediation.
3. Unify all the information: Investigate and analyze the interests of each party, based on what has been stated above, all parties involved in the conflict must analyze and compile everything that will be discussed in the mediation and its subsequent sessions.
4.Option Creator: We must encourage constructive dialogue to find creative solutions.
Keys and considerations of electronic mediation
- Virtual security and digital privacy: It is essential to ensure data protection and the privacy of participants in the virtual environment, and to do so it is very important to use software that guarantees these points. https://www.incibe.es/ and https://www.aepd.es/
- Technological capabilities: Online mediation obviously requires that both the mediators and the parties involved have a certain level of digital skills, although today we have to admit that we find very basic and secure software that brings these tools closer to everyone.
- Nonverbal communication: It is obvious if we stop to think that the lack of face-to-face contact, in a room where all those involved in the mediation are physically present, makes it difficult to interpret non-verbal signals, which affects the dynamics of the mediation. That is why it is important to respect turns and adapt the entire environment in the best possible way to avoid these errors of interpretation.
Electronic mediation is an effective and efficient solution to resolve conflicts allowing flexibility, efficiency and a global reach. Despite the challenges it presents, its potential is to facilitate conflict resolution in a connected world. The continuous adaptation and evolution of mediators to new technologies and the constant development of specific skills for the virtual environment is the key to increasing the effectiveness of this method or mode of mediation.
