The Value of Mediation for Business

Before reading this article, please choose which thought feels natural to you:

a) I already know how to resolve conflict because I've been living my whole life with them and I am working with people.

b) Conflicts only happen with conflict-prone people, and I'm not one of them.

c) In a conflict, someone is always right, and someone is guilty; you just need to find the "guilty".

d) We are adults; we can sort things out without mediation.

e) As a manager, I'm against workplace conflicts, so I will fire both conflict-prone individuals and be done with it.

Chosen?

My option is A, I used to think like that, but then I realized that at some point instincts alone are not enough to resolve conflicts. Personal charm is also insufficient. And so is the power of authority. That's where mediation can come in handy – if you know what it is and how it can help you.

So, what is mediation? mediAtion, not mediTation ????

Mediation is a communicative process between parties involving a mediator with the aim of reaching mutual agreement in conflict. It's a structured and gradual communication process. And this process helps parties find solution that satisfies their needs.

What does this mean for business?

Preservation of confidentiality and reputation. The public escalation of a conflict affects the company's reputation both in the market and among potential candidates and clients. It involves reputational losses and legal risks.

Preservation of material resources, i.e., money - calculate the costs:

1. Time spent in conflict. People don't work well when they're in conflict; they're tense, thinking about the conflict, its resolution, and the risks involved — their productivity is low or none at all.
2. Add the value of the hours of all indirectly involved individuals. Those who don't talk about the conflict still feel the tension and are on edge, also not working.
3. When the conflict escalates to a higher level, add the time of managers who have to dive into all the details of the conflict.

Preservation of know-how, knowledge, and experience within the company, possible retention of the employee in their position. Conflicts within teams often lead to one or both participants quitting. Sometimes managers who don't know how to resolve a conflict fire both participants under the slogan, "I don't need conflict-prone people here." Even if the conflict seems resolved with the termination of the people involved, it affects others, who start looking for less toxic work environments. So, consider the cost of staff turnover, hiring, adaptation, and training of new employees.

Preservation of culture – in conflicts, communication stops flowing freely, which affects creativity and innovation in the company. Stress impacts physical and mental health, which also increases company costs. Unresolved conflicts breed a culture of resistance and mistrust in teams, which is challenging to change. And passive-aggressive communication, which doesn't aid productivity, persists. Worst of all, even if you dismiss the "conflict-prone" people or they leave on their own, the culture stays with you.

Preservation of relationships – this is especially crucial in family-owned businesses. And also if sides of the conflict are childhood friends or spouses working in the same company, department, or team. It's easy to ruin relationships, but healing them is hard. Moreover, besides being painful, a conflict with one person affects your relationships with all family.

Process management – a professional mediator manages the process in such a way that people no longer see each other as stubborn, aggressive, or incompetent. No, on the contrary, they begin to see each other again as rational individuals capable of taking control and reaching agreements. Additionally, the mediator helps test the feasibility of implementing agreements; that is, we find out about the "unrealistic" of one or another contract right at the mediation.

Now let's think back to the options at the beginning of the article. Which one did you choose? Would you choose mediation if it were among the options?

For me, the real find was the program of the Ukrainian Mediation Center [kmbs] Kyiv-Mohyla Business School and the Academy of the Munich Chamber of Commerce, where I am currently studying. As an HR professional in IT, I naturally deal with the topic of workplace conflicts. This program was a real gift and an opportunity to develop mediation skills and effectively prevent and resolve conflicts.

Among the community of graduates are mediators of various specialties – family mediation, partnership mediation, niche mediation – such as tax disputes, or like me – in IT. In any case, mediation means saving money and other resources for any business.