My Approach to Business Mediation Services



I believe the personal qualities of a mediator are more important than particular areas of specialism.

So I am comfortable mediating most kinds of dispute.

By the time the participants reach mediation the issues have generally crystallised so any experienced and competent person can understand them, regardless of subject-matter. Mediations are not about wants they are about interests and needs.

The sooner the participants stop talking about the issues and start talking about their interests and needs, the sooner a settlement is reached.

I don’t like mediations which don’t settle; they spoil my day, even my week. But I don’t take it personally. I will have given it my best shot and some disputes aren’t ready to settle. Often, when the dust has settled, in the days and weeks ahead a solution is found.

I try my best to secure settlement on the day as that’s why I’m there. At the very least if I can see that settlement is out of reach that day I try and achieve an agreed route to settlement. It’s also important to me that people don’t feel under pressure to settle at all costs on the day, as that can bring an unsatisfactory settlement. So if we are close to a settlement and there are some points outstanding, it is often best to “sleep on it” and resolve those issues the next day.

There is No Magic Wand

But I have no magic wand. If a mediation doesn’t settle, it may be because it was never going to settle, or one of the participants didn’t want to, or for whatever reason there was insufficient common ground.

One of the skills of mediation is the ability to dig deep below a “position” and discovering a “need” or an “interest”.

I always ask for feedback on my performance as it helps my professional development and keeps me on my toes and helps me improve my service. For full details of my feedback see my Clerksroom profile

You may always email me at roger@rogerlevittmediation.co.uk