Workplace Mediation Case Study
A manager (A) and employee (B) had previously enjoyed a good working relationship, however following a number of events their working relationship had soured over a 12 month period.
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There are a whole host of statistics about mediation success rates, there are several that indicate that it is successful in around 90% of cases.
In this case study I want to tell you about a mediation that I carried out, that helps show what that 90% looks like in practice.
A manager (A) and employee (B) had previously enjoyed a good working relationship, however following a number of events their working relationship had soured over a 12 month period.
As with all our mediations, I met them individually in the morning to talk about what had happened and what their goals were for mediation. In those individual meetings both A and B said to me that this last year had been the worst one of their lives. The tension between them had got so bad it had impacted on their personal lives and it was affecting their health. B was considering leaving their role and possibly the profession entirely.
Both of them had convinced themselves that the other did not like them and they were convinced that the other wanted them to fail in their role or leave.
Both A & B found the morning individual mediation meetings challenging, as we unpacked what had happened and I asked them to think about what they wanted to say to the other in the afternoon. Both, separately, said it was harder than they thought it would be, both were very emotional but both embraced the process and could see that it was an opportunity to try to improve things.
In the afternoon session the mood could not have been more different. When they both explained to each other what had happened from their perspective and what they wanted it was possible to witness the relief from both A & B as their conversation turned to looking to the future and building bridges. They apologised to each other, they discussed and explained numerous episodes where one had misunderstood the other’s intentions.
They finished the session in a much happier, more constructive and collaborative place. They made it clear they wanted their professional relationship to work and they wanted to get back to working as a team. They resolved to promptly talk to each other if there are any problems between them in the future, rather than stewing on it and they both recognised the consequences of not addressing issues promptly.
The session was very obviously a genuine re-set in their working relationship. I felt like I had made a difference to A & B both in their working lives and by extension their lives outside of work. I have been in touch with them since the mediation (as I do with all successful mediations) and they have both said that as a result of the mediation session they have been able to communicate more effectively since.
One of the things that they both said (which has also been said by a number of people in our mediations) is that they regret not doing the mediation earlier as doing so would have saved them a lot of professional and personal problems.
Please do give me a call if you want to discuss a possible mediation for your colleagues who are experiencing difficult working relationships.
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