Mediation insights: practical ways to shape the outcome

Generations of people and businesses had become used to just two means of settling disputes, namely arbitration and litigation, until recently. Now mediation has joined the fray and been adopted by the judiciary, central and local authorities, agencies, businesses and many professional bodies and groups, nationally and internationally. It is destined in the long term to become even more popular as the most commercially viable method for securing positive outcomes for disputes. This paper deals with the principles of mediation and gives insights for maximising the chances of achieving success. It is backed by examples of real mediations using similar techniques but with different outcomes. It will also show why the vast majority of mediations succeed and the remaining few do not.