A mediator is a person who assists and guides different parties toward their own resolution. A mediator doesn’t decide on the outcome but helps all parties involved to understand and focus on what’s important.
Mediators are skilled at sifting through the facts to better understand the whole picture. This expertise helps to clarify the issues at hand and assess the strengths and weaknesses of each party’s case. This expertise also helps to offer creative solutions that refrain from an unbiased perspective.
When mediators are required
A mediator may be required to manage a conflict that doesn’t involve a criminal matter. Mediation is a private and informal way of settling a dispute without relying on the legal judgment issued by a judge or jury. For example, two neighbours may be having a dispute about an encroaching bush or the brightness of outdoor lights. A divorcing couple may need to divide up assets and property and they can’t see eye-to-eye. These situations don’t merit a lawsuit but are left alone and the conflict can build.
Types of mediation include:
- Child custody arrangement or the dividing of assets during a divorce
- Employment disagreements
- Industrial strike action
- Landlord/tenant disputes
- Public interest
- Suing for money, eg. personal injury
Becoming a mediator
Whether taken as part of an undergraduate degree or as an individual training course, you’ll need to undertake specific training to become a mediator. Training requirements will depend on the type of mediation you wish to go into, but generally speaking, personal issues require a family or counselling-led mediator, whereas professional and legal disputes require commercial and employment knowledge.
One of the best ways to start your journey as a mediator is with an Executive Diploma in Mediation from the International Career Institute. This helps you to develop the skills required in months instead of years. The mediation course is designed in conjunction with senior professionals in the mediation profession and it recognises your capacity for initiative and judgment across a broad range of technical and management functions. There are no previous work or education requirements for entry into any course level, and once graduated you can expect a higher potential salary, positions and skill capabilities.
Life as a mediator
Being a professional mediator is all about conflict resolution. The job demands excellent reasoning, problem-solving, and peace-making abilities. Unlike lawyers and attorneys, mediators are often attributed with qualities of wisdom, trust and neutrality. Mediators help the parties involved to assess, evaluate and decide for themselves, rather than make decisions for them as a judge or jury would. A mediator’s job is to listen, sort through the differences involved in the dispute, and find common ground in which to find a solution.
Life as a mediator means a steady flow of income and regular working hours. Unless there is a pending deadline, you can expect to work the typical 9 to 5, Monday to Friday. A typical day as a mediator will involve communicating with opposing parties, investigating the facts, setting realistic expectations for the person left disadvantaged, creating a safe environment for those involved, and (if you do your job well) coming to an agreed resolution.
As your experience as a mediator increases, you may be called upon to help resolve high profile and larger disputes. Some more experienced mediators travel extensively to help resolve disputes anywhere in the world. For many mediators, every day brings a new and exciting challenge and a great sense of satisfaction with every resolved dispute.
Skills of a mediator
A mediator needs a range of skills to support the mediation process. These skills include:
Active listening skills
Communication is at the heart of every mediation process and active listening involves listening with all senses. Listeners should remain neutral and non-judgmental (especially early in the conversation), which means trying not to take sides or form opinions. Active listening is also about patience – pauses and short periods of silence should be accepted.
Questioning and clarifying skills
In communication, clarification involves offering back to the speaker the essential meaning, as understood by the listener, of what they have just said. Communication can be challenging for many reasons, perhaps sensitive emotions are being discussed or you are listening to some complex information.
Emotional intelligence
Emotions play a very important role in the search for dispute resolution. A mediator must take into account not only the economic, political and physical aspects of the process but also the emotional tenor of themselves as well as that of all of the parties.
Summarising skills
When guiding a dispute resolution you will often need to focus and remember the key points before briefly summarising them to support your suggested solution.
Empathy
Having empathy strengthens and enriches your understanding of others and enhances your ability to motivate and influence them. Empathy is an excellent tool for moving the mediation process forward and for creating the best resolution.
Starting your mediator journey
Mediation is a relatively young, exciting and expanding field of practice. Mediation practice appeals to those who are interested in helping people positively resolve disputes. Mediation can provide an alternative to working in a traditional law firm, litigation or other professional occupation and it offers a variety of part-time and full-time practice opportunities. To get started on your mediator journey, engage the help of our ICI professionals, who can help you learn the skills you need to succeed.
