Celebrated on the third Thursday of October, "Conflict Resolution Day was conceived in 2005 by [the Association for Conflict Resolution] ACR to:
I have been studying Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) almost my entire life! I completed my first formal mediation training at the Milwaukee County Courthouse in the fifth (5th) grade:
Since then, I have continually studied ADR processes and techniques even earning a Certificate in Dispute Resolution from NCCU School of Law in 2014.
When I served as an impartial facilitator during mediations at the Durham (NC) County District Courthouse, I would discuss some of the benefits with the parties. One reason mediation is beneficial and different from litigation is because it allows parties to be in control. In mediation, instead of taking a gamble with litigation, the parties retain the power. I remind the the parties that they are the issue experts of their dispute. I hope that the parties would see the value in allowing themselves to take the lead in determining what exactly the resolution of their dispute should be since they have the intimate knowledge and personal stake in the outcome. Another difference between mediation and litigation is that in court, there are winners and losers. However, in mediation, you have the potential to create a win-win situation.
- Promote awareness of mediation, arbitration, conciliation and other creative, peaceful means of resolving conflict;
- Promote the use of conflict resolution in schools, families, businesses, communities, governments and the legal system;
- Recognize the significant contributions of (peaceful) conflict resolvers; and
- Obtain national synergy by having celebrations happen across the country and around the world on the same day."
(NOTE: The quoted text is from the ACR website)
I have been studying Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) almost my entire life! I completed my first formal mediation training at the Milwaukee County Courthouse in the fifth (5th) grade:
Since then, I have continually studied ADR processes and techniques even earning a Certificate in Dispute Resolution from NCCU School of Law in 2014.
When I served as an impartial facilitator during mediations at the Durham (NC) County District Courthouse, I would discuss some of the benefits with the parties. One reason mediation is beneficial and different from litigation is because it allows parties to be in control. In mediation, instead of taking a gamble with litigation, the parties retain the power. I remind the the parties that they are the issue experts of their dispute. I hope that the parties would see the value in allowing themselves to take the lead in determining what exactly the resolution of their dispute should be since they have the intimate knowledge and personal stake in the outcome. Another difference between mediation and litigation is that in court, there are winners and losers. However, in mediation, you have the potential to create a win-win situation.
My tag line, "building a win-win", was used by the North Carolina Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Commission in the video it produced for use by court-affiliated ADR centers statewide in 2014:
After being named a semi-finalist at the Jeffry S. Abrams National Mediator Competition in 2013, I was selected to discuss and demonstrate the mediation process in the video above.
Bottom-line: Mediation and other forms of ADR work! You don't have to take my word for it. The Maryland Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO) published "The Impact of ADR on Responsibility, Empowerment, Resolution, and Satisfaction with the Judiciary: Comparison of Self-Reported Outcomes in District Court Civil Cases" While I encourage you to read the ENTIRE report (available at: http://www.courts.state.md.us/macro/pdfs/reports/impactadrondistrictctcivilcases2014report.pdf), I want to call your attention to this particular graph:
Arguably, this finding is true not only in Maryland but in other states as well.
It is my hope that ADR continues to transcend traditional applications for use with children and in courts. The truth I want to send up during the week of October 13, 2015 is that ADR processes and techniques are not only helpful for children at school or for adverse parties in a courthouse. ADR can be applied to most, if not all, conflicts in most, if not all, industries. As I advance in my personal life and professional career, I pledge to do my part to help expand the reach and improve the quality of ADR.
#Call to Action: Explore how to use ADR processes and techniques in your personal and professional life this week.
#Call to Action: Explore how to use ADR processes and techniques in your personal and professional life this week.
