Task #16: At what point did you first have any realization of betrayal, bad faith, or loss of confidence?
The resolution of a dispute does not just occur on the day of the mediation. Each participant to mediation needs to prepare their own strategy for negotiation in the settlement. Based on my experience as a mediator, these are a collection of tasks each participant needs to complete and to discuss with their council and the mediator before the mediation.
In the previous task, you spent time determining the trust and goodwill that supported your original agreements. Now we need to look at the point when you had your first realization of betrayal, bad faith, or loss of confidence. This is generally one specific point of time and place. It might have been building in the back of your mind for some time, but there is usually a point that you change your mind about the relationship with the other party. It can be as simple as one phone call not returned, or a dirty look. It is often after miss communication between the parties.
Knowing when this missed communication occurred will be helpful to you in the mediation. In one of my mediations, it was obviously a missed communication between the parties. Both parties knew what the problem was and when it occurred. With that knowledge they were able to correct the problem, restore trust and goodwill between themselves and quickly settle the dispute.
About the Author: Ken Strongman (www.kpstrongman.com) has years of experience and a growing national reputation as a mediator and arbitrator. He has successfully resolved more than a thousand disputes in the fields of construction defects, real estate, intellectual property, and employment. He is also a Mediator and Arbitrator for FINRA.
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