What strategies can you use to mediate conflict between parties with a history of tension?

1 Prepare yourself

Before you enter the mediation process, you need to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally. You need to be aware of your own biases, assumptions, and emotions that may influence your perception and judgment of the situation. You also need to be clear about your role and goals as a mediator. Your role is not to take sides, judge, or impose solutions, but to facilitate communication, understanding, and collaboration between the parties. Your goal is not to eliminate the conflict, but to help the parties find a mutually acceptable and sustainable resolution.

2 Establish ground rules

One of the first steps in the mediation process is to establish some ground rules that will guide the interaction and behavior of the parties. These ground rules should be agreed upon by all parties and should include expectations such as respecting each other, listening actively, speaking honestly, avoiding personal attacks, and committing to the process. You can also ask the parties to identify and acknowledge any previous issues or conflicts that may affect the current situation, and to express their willingness to address them constructively.

3 Explore interests and needs

The next step is to help the parties explore and articulate their underlying interests and needs that drive their positions and perspectives on the conflict. Often, parties with a history of tension may focus on their differences and demands, rather than their commonalities and desires. By asking open-ended questions, summarizing, and reframing, you can help the parties discover and express what they really want and need from the situation, and how they feel about it. You can also help them recognize and appreciate the interests and needs of the other parties, and how they may overlap or complement each other.