Family Business Conflict Mediation Resources

Typically when business conflict occurs there is no family business mediator to be found. Just as importantly you would have to tell the mediator, an outsider, some of the secrets that created the conflict - the need for the mediator in the first place. And nobody is going to be willing to do that.

But that's OK.

During the last three decades we have been working with family and privately held companies we've been convinced, from actual observation and study, that most of our clients had the capacity to 'figure it out for themselves' when it comes to self-mediation of their differences, but are either unwilling to trust their instincts or felt a second opinion was in order.

They would look to us - seeking our advice - because they knew of our work with people in their industry, people like them. Even so, to be successful, we'd have to get them to alter the behavior that caused the conflict to begin with.

That led to the inevitable situation where everyone recognized the issues, everyone agreed to do what was required to stop doing whatever they were doing that caused the problem, and everyone agreed to consider their differences between themselves and the others - so peace instead of conflict would be the order of the day.

Then after our plane had taken off they'd begin to drift back into the behaviors that seemed to dictate the need for a mediator in the first place.

Nothing lasting had been accomplished, they now had even more ammunition for the next blow up, and they'd spent a lot of their company's hard earned profits of me. Not a very satisfying result.

Eventually we worked out a process they could use without us or any other mediator, using their natural interpersonal skills that will help the create an atmosphere that generally prevents conflict in the first place. No conflict, no mediator is required.

These preventive mediation techniques can be found illustrated in many ways among the many mediation and conflict resolution resources on our web site and in our newsletter.

It is much cheaper and much more effective to stop conflict before it starts and the mediators and conflict resolution professionals are brought it.

In a nutshell the process of workplace conflict prevention is a simple four 'rules' process. Each participant must agree to stick it out, no walking away from the table.

There can be no 'power plays' where one party uses their power within the business or the family to intimidate the other person.

Both parties have to trust - so they are each willing to take the risk of reaching out to the other.

And they must each agree not to exploit the other's risk taking - by taking advantage in a way that further exploits the current atmosphere.

This workplace conflict prevention process is part of the arena of self-help and managerial mediation that is described and illustrated throughout our web site and whose articles can be found using our site's keyword search tools.

We regularly search for new articles and continually update our resources database to provide the most relevant mediation content and mediation resources so I hope you'll take a second and bookmark this site . We are always on the lookout for relevant information for business owners so we update our content regularly. Also there are live RSS feeds on each page of our web site. This is information that will help you keep on top of what's happening today that will impact you tomorrow.

And be sure to note that mediation is only a small part of the equation. We now have over two dozen family business related web sites, all located at or linked to our main web site. I urge you to visit us at www.FBNews.net.

~ BTW: We are advertiser supported, so tucked into and around each article you'll find extensive resources and valuable information on leading mediation products and services to help you on your way to success.