Taking heat out of mediation

It's hard to ignore the blistering heat we've had recently, though voters for certain parties seem to continue to ignore the evidence of climate change as they sit a pool of their own sweat and claim it's just cyclical (like David Bellamy said). I can see the smoke on the moors from where I sit, and I'm 20 miles from the nearest fire, it's climate change 90+% of scientists agree.

And in such torrid conditions mediation can be difficult, tempers, as well as wild fires, flare, and things which perhaps would have gone unsaid in a cooler time get vented. However part of mediation is about letting clients let off some steam, be heard and in the context of "hearing" clients it can be beneficial to hear what they really mean. Not that mediation is ever A Few Good Men with one client suddenly losing their cool and shouting an undisclosed truth but if you listen carefully little snippets of information slip out during rants.

For instance a client recently used the word "now" in the middle of a sentence which allowed me some time later to reflect to them that this implied there had been a time before when things were different and from that one word mid-opening up we were able to explore what had changed, why and what might be done to get back to that point or at least address the changes that had occurred.

We tend to try for light in mediation rather than heat, but occasionally a little heat can expose the real centre of the issue. Allowing clients controlled release of stress and temper allows them to feel and be heard and all involved to move onward.

Change is upon us in many ways in mediation, I don't know where Andy Burnham (king in the north) stands on mediation but his approach to cross party talks is very much the example of how working together moves things forward whereas point scoring just results in stagnation.

There are changes afoot with the TDS as well Rail boss to head landlord-tenant mediation service with the a new incumbent, which will hopefully see further and faster change in landlord/tenant mediations.

And let's hope we also see some change in the approach to employment mediation 72,000 Claims and Counting: Why Workplace Mediation Deserves a Second Look - Mediate.com because that number is far too high and the backlog is ridiculous, give us a call if you have an issue within your business we can offer help at all levels and hopefully avoid the gamble of tribunal actions.

Don't take my word for it the mediation service is growing there's reports all around - https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-growing-demand-for-commercial-3873542/ which show the need for mediation is on the rise and the uptake is there as well.

I've gone from one a fortnight to 4 a week, yes that's how much my practice has grown in just over 10 years from a part time job to a full time commitment.