What is business mediation?

We are convinced that almost all conflicts can be solved.

Cooperation and entrepreneurship inevitably involve friction, hassle and conflict. Usually, the parties are well able to solve the problems among themselves. If solutions are not reached and the conflict causes stagnation, energy loss or stalemate, mediation is a perfect tool to restart movement in a stalled situation.

Parties have an interest in having their problem solved (‘the upper current’). In practice, negative emotions, assumptions, distrust and old pain tend to be obstacles on the road to finding a common solution (‘the under current’). That is the case, when the parties are more occupied by fighting and obstructing eachother than by resolving their common problem and/or to bridging the gap that separates them by negotiation.

In mediation we assist in reducing the under current and boosting the upper current, such that space is created and parties can reach a solution. And within that space we assist mediation participants in their negotiations. Business mediation is in fact is a form of guided negotiation.

Basic elements of mediation are: voluntariness, commitment, trust and the guidance of the independant mediator.