HR FORUM

Keeping Peace in the Workplace

A guide to using mediation to handle staff conflict

peace, man. That’s what we all want in our workplace. Because a happy staff makes for happy patients. But what do you do when conflict arises between staff members, to the point where the workplace is being affected?

According to Daniel Dana, founder of Mediation Training Institute International (MTI), the essential process of any mediation is uninterrupted talking about an issue long enough to find a solution. Usually, when this dialogue takes place between individuals who are in conflict with one another, resolution happens pretty quickly.

Sometimes though, the conflict is severe enough to require some help. Before you call in a professional to resolve the conflict, try using an independent, neutral third party to facilitate the dialogue. Use the steps outlined below to guide you and the facilitator through the process.

1. FIND A NEUTRAL MEDIATOR. Pick an individual to act as an independent neutral who truly is neutral. That means if you feel no one in the practice can stay objective and neutral, including you if you’re the CEO, then go outside the practice to find some help. Perhaps a doctor, manager, employee, or other member from the community would be a good choice.

2. SET THE TONE. Make sure all involved understand this is a business meeting to solve a business problem. Set the business problem for the individual acting as the independent neutral, to help make sure all three individuals at the meeting focus on the issues causing the problem and not the people engaged in conflict.

3. NEUTRAL LOCATION. Choose a place and time to meet that is away from the office and is as discreet as possible for the two individuals caught in the conflict situation. Make sure to set aside at least 90 minutes for the meeting. If there is no resolution at the end of the allotted time, set another meeting.

4. PLAN FIRST. Hold preliminary meetings with both individuals whose conflict is causing the business problem. Let them know that this meeting is not about finding out what is causing the conflict nor is it about placing blame. Rather, this meeting is to figure out HOW each person in the conflict is going to work together to solve the business problem you have laid out. Explain to them that there will be an independent third party to act as a neutral facilitator to help keep the conversation moving forward.

5. ESTABLISH GROUND RULES. At the meeting, MTI suggests, the independent neutral sets some ground rules.

No power plays. This means no coercion or intimidation.



No walk-aways. No one leaves the meeting either physically or mentally. Both parties stay engaged for the full 90 minutes.



Address each other. The individuals involved in the conflict speak to each other, not the facilitator.



Keep focus. The conversation stays focused on solving the business problem.

6. WRITE A CONTRACT. Create a formal agreement. Since this is a business meeting about a business problem, the independent neutral records points of agreement that come up throughout the meeting.

These points are basically commitments from each party on what they will do moving forward to maintain the resolutions coming out of the meeting.

7. SIGN OFF. Send the agreement to each party for sign-off and then send the agreement to the individuals’ immediate supervisor(s) for inclusion in the performance review notes. This agreement becomes the list of goals that each individual will work toward accomplishing over the next six months and will be discussed at the next performance review meeting.

When conflict is severe and the parties involved can’t seem to work through the issues on their own, having a neutral third party who is independent from and objective to the business problem can and often does help to resolve the conflict. If this option doesn’t work, then it’s definitely time to call in a professional workplace mediator to help bring about resolution.

—Ginamarie Wells

Ginamarie Wells is senior director of client services at Cleinman Performance Partners, a business consultancy specializing in the development of high-performing optometry practices. ©2015 Cleinman Performance Partners, Inc.