Growing a Mediation Practice: Practical Insights from the Field
The Conflict Management Academy offers regular Business Brainstorming Sessions as an accompaniment to our Beyond the Table course. These sessions are facilitated by experienced mediator and successful business owner Megan Lewis. Here are some of the key insights and tips shared in the last session. Building a successful mediation practice takes more than just excellent
Can a Mediator Provide Advice? Understanding the Boundaries in Australia
By Samantha Hardy and Claire Holland Mediators play a crucial role in helping parties resolve disputes, but can they actually provide advice? The answer is more nuanced than it may initially appear. In Australia, mediation is predominantly a facilitative process, meaning mediators do not make decisions for the parties. However, there are circumstances where a
How We Describe What We Do: A Guide for Mediators
In one of our recent masterclasses at The Conflict Management Academy, we discussed some of our recent learning from Dr Emily Skinner and Professor Elizabeth Stokoe, and workshopped improved ways to describe what we do. Here’s a summary of what we came up with. Thanks to participants (Debra Farrelly, Deb Black, Peter Hanson, Nurit Zubery,
The Subtle Art of Impartiality: Lessons from Conversation Analysis
Recently, we had the privilege of hosting Professor Elizabeth Stokoe for a webinar on her research into how intake staff at UK mediation centres communicate with callers seeking information. As a psychologist specializing in conversation analysis, Professor Stokoe examines real interactions rather than those happening in artificial experimental settings. Her work provides valuable insights for
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: The House of Kwa, by Mimi Kwa
This book is a memoir spanning generations of the Kwa family on different continents (including Australia where Mimi Kwa was born and lives). It’s a book about culture, family and conflict. At times shocking, at other times heart breaking, and in between sometimes hilarious, the book covers the challenges of conflict across families, generations and
Exploring the Diversity of Mediation
When someone says they’re a mediator, what image comes to mind? Probably someone who helps people in conflict work through their differences, right? Simple enough. But here’s the thing—mediators are not all the same. In fact, the mediation field is incredibly diverse, even though most practitioners don’t describe themselves beyond the generic label of “mediator.” There are many different