ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the role of mediation in helping people in organizations effectively understand, address, and resolve conflicts. It explores several types of organizational mediators and the diverse approaches and strategies that can be implemented to settle differences. The mediation approaches described specifically focus on the resolution of organizational disputes, but mediators have used these same procedures to settle a range of other conflicts–interpersonal, family, small group, community, inter-ethnic or religious, environmental, business, public policy and international. Peer mediation may be conducted by one or more of the disputants' peers, or a combination of their colleagues and members of management. Mediators provide various forms of assistance to disputing parties depending upon a range of factors. Many informal, peer, administrative/managerial and independent mediators principally provide procedural assistance to help disputing parties reach mutual understandings and agreements. Closely related to causes of conflicts are the issues parties expect to be addressed through the mediation process.
