Program works to resolve conflicts
Ruth Stevens
A program that helps Princeton staff members resolve conflicts in the workplace is expanding -- and it's not because there is an increase in the number of problems.
The University's Peer Mediation Program has proven so successful that representatives from the Ombuds Office are hoping to involve more people in the process.
"Mediation in its purest form is about people communicating and understanding another person's perspective in order to develop a solution that works for both people," says Anu Rao, ombuds officer. "It's a win-win situation."
The office is seeking applications from faculty and staff members who are interested in serving as mediators (see related story on this page). Rao hopes to fill 25 slots in the program by January 2001.
The Peer Mediation Program grew out of a review of the staff grievance process several years ago. While it currently is still part of the Fairness Review Process for administrative and support staff, it also has evolved into an option that is open to all groups on campus. Rao would like to expand the mediation program in order to encourage more members of the University community to use it as a means of conflict resolution.
The point is to help promote more civil and timely communication on campus, Rao says.
"When people have feelings about their relationships that are not expressed, their interactions are affected," she says. "Hurts build, tensions escalate and the situation becomes worse.
"We want to help people communicate with each other before an escalating problem results in a lack of trust, lack of respect or a hostile environment," she continues. "Mediation minimizes the destructive potential of conflict, as the mediators facilitate communication by focusing on the interests of the disputants rather than on issues of right and wrong. Mediators seek to create an environment of parity between the disputing parties and to help them develop solutions they can live with."
In many cases, the participants in a dispute have found mediation preferable to resolving their dispute in a rights-based process, such as a panel hearing, because it's less adversarial and the participants feel they have more control over the outcome.
"It's often very hard for employees to re-enter the workplace after a panel hearing," says Michael Ann Walstad, assistant to the ombuds officer. "It sets people up to try and prove that they're right. With mediation, the whole idea is that it doesn't matter who's right and wrong. We want to help both parties craft an outcome they can both accept and live with. It's finding the best possible outcome in a situation for everybody involved. The mediators facilitate, but they don't make the decisions."
The Ombuds Office staff also is careful to distinguish mediation from arbitration, in which a third party reviews a case and makes an independent decision. "That tends to be a win-lose situation," Walstad says.
At Princeton, the Peer Mediation Program works like this: Once the Ombuds Office has referred a case to mediation, Rao or Walstad contact some of the 12 current mediators to find two who are available and do not have a conflict of interest. The selected mediators, who already have been extensively trained, meet with Rao to go over the case and to receive some "just-in-time" training for the process.
The mediation typically starts with one-on-one meetings between the mediators and each party. A joint session follows, in which the mediators lay out the ground rules, describe the timeframes, and review the confidentiality requirements. Each party then gives a statement about the situation. At some point, the mediators meet individually with each party in caucus so any questions or concerns can be aired privately. Through the process of the caucuses and joint discussions, the mediators help the parties develop and write an agreement. The parties then sign the agreement, which is binding on both.
The process requires the mediators to maintain the highest level of confidentiality and neutrality. The disputants are protected from retaliation and told that a breach of the mediation agreement can be subject to disciplinary action.
The average mediation session lasts one to three hours. Most mediations are concluded in two to three sessions, with the disputes being resolved in 30 days or less.
Some cases that are too complex for peer mediation are facilitated by Rao or an outside mediator. In 1999, Rao facilitated nine mediations and the peer mediators facilitated eight cases. So far in 2000, Rao and the peer mediators have each conducted 12 cases.
While the benefits of resolving disputes through mediation are fairly obvious for employees, they may not be so apparent for managers. "By using a mediator, managers are giving themselves some space to think about the problem in a fresh way," Rao says. "It improves the team morale and the work environment if people feel they can work something out. It gives the managers another way to resolve a conflict in the workplace."
For more information on the Peer Mediation Program, call the Ombuds Office at 258-1775, send e-mail to <ombuds@princeton.edu> or visit the mediation Web site at <www.princeton.edu/ombuds/mediationwebsite.html>.
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