Here are the mediation “building blocks” proposed for the main Mediation Process section. We renamed them to indicate what the purpose of each part is, rather than a description of what people do. (thus “listening to each party” rather than “uninterrupted time”, etc.) It’s more cumbersome when you want to refer to it as a unit (“During the Exchange” vs “During the ‘Understanding the Situation’ phase”) but probably more helpful to mediators in the long run as it reminds them of why the X or Y segment is valuable.
It seems that getting people TO a mediation session deserves to be a full-fledged phase of the mediation process. In the book it will be a short chapter before the chapter on “The Mediation Session”.
I’m looking for (your) suggestions for one or two word shorthand labels for each “block”.
2. Starting the conversation // Opening
- Listening to each perspective
- Understanding the situation
4. Meeting separately as needed
- Identifying Issues and Options
- Reaching Decisions
6. Closing and Next Steps
Dear Jennifer,
Looking at the new terms, I guess I still feel that it is better to have strong terms that identify clearly the sections. Your new terms are great, but seem more descriptive for mediators in understanding the process than words that communicate directly to the participants. So possibly,
Listening without Interruption
Exchange of Views
Identifying Issues and Topics
Developing Options
Reaching Decisions
I totally will accept whatever you feel is best, because you are the author and should go with your instincts and experience. I will ask my students when I see them on Thursday what they think about the language. All the best, Susan