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Why Good Conflict Management Is Essential for Psychosocial Safety

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Imagine walking into a workplace where people feel anxious, silenced, or wary of one another. Collaboration slows. Creativity wanes. Absenteeism creeps up. Resignations start to pile in. What you’re witnessing isn’t just poor culture—it’s a breach of psychosocial safety. For leaders navigating an increasingly complex and people-focused workplace, this concept has never been more important. […]

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Now’s the Time to Train as a Mediator!

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If you’ve been thinking about gaining formal mediation skills — whether to launch your own conflict resolution practice, strengthen your leadership or HR capabilities, or simply become a more skilled communicator — this is your opportunity. The Conflict Management Academy is offering a brand-new Facilitative Mediation Course, combining flexible online study with an inspiring, in-person

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Co-Mediation: A Reflective Guide to Working Together in Conflict Resolution

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Most mediators begin their journey solo — managing the process, reading the room, responding to shifting dynamics, and carrying the emotional load of conflict all on their own. But what happens when two mediators share that space? Co-mediation is a powerful alternative model where two practitioners work together to facilitate a mediation process. It’s more

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Growing a Mediation Practice: Practical Insights from the Field

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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

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Can a Mediator Provide Advice? Understanding the Boundaries in Australia

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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

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How We Describe What We Do: A Guide for Mediators

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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,

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The Subtle Art of Impartiality: Lessons from Conversation Analysis

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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

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Exploring the Diversity of Mediation

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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

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Embracing Inclusivity in Mediation – A Pathway to Justice for Neurodivergent Individuals

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* Thanks to Rebekka Kornmehl, Danielle Hutchinson, and Carol Bowen for their helpful feedback on this content. People in the conflict resolution field typically think of mediation as a client-centered, informal, and flexible approach to managing conflict.  However, as highlighted by participants in the Symposium for Access to Justice for Autistic People in ADR in

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When the Boss Is Exhibiting Challenging Behaviours

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I recently had an interesting conversation with someone who started out by describing their boss as a “narcissistic personality” and who was looking for some advice about how to get them to change their behaviours towards staff. Work with behaviours, not labels The first step is to emphasize the importance of avoiding labelling the boss

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