Educational Initiatives and Workplace Services

As in any workplace or business conflict in schools can be a costly and time-consuming concern be it conflict between two staff or between school personnel and a parent.  With mediation, each person or party has the opportunity to express their concerns and be heard by the other party.  Once all concerns have been voiced, the mediator can help parties find a resolution that works for everyone involved, ending the conflict and potentially strengthening the existing relationship.  Mediation services for schools may include:

• Issues Between School Personnel
• Employee and Supervisor Disputes
• Parent/Teacher Disputes
• Sports-Related Disputes
• Truancy Mediation
• Student Internship Opportunities

A core group of students representing a cross-section of the school, chosen by their peers and school staff, are trained to mediate disputes which arise in schools. Students trained as mediators help their peers work through such common issues as peer conflicts, racial tension, clique rivalry, poor sportsmanship, and gossip.

This workshop and/or consultation is designed for administrators, guidance counselors and teachers. The focus is on organizing and implementing a successful school peer mediation program. Participants also learn practical conflict management principles such as separating the person from the problem, power dynamics and communication and listening skills.

Drawing from the work of folk songwriter Peter Yarrow’s Don’t Laugh At Me curriculum, this program introduces communication, anger management, cultural sensitivity, and conflict resolution skills. It is designed to be implemented in after-school programs and group settings. This program can be tailored for Pre-K through high school. It is useful for D.A.R.E. or other drug prevention programs and for character-building programs.

Programs can be tailored to a school’s, classroom’s, youth group or organization’s specific needs and interests on a variety of topics focusing on anger management, negotiation skills, resolving conflict between parents and teachers, communication and conflict resolution.

Businesses, organizations, and government departments and agencies may proactively and efficiently address interpersonal employer or supervisor/employee or employee/employee conflict prior to escalation and lost productivity. Workplace mediation can:

• Provide fast, creative & mutually acceptable resolutions.
• Foster mutual respect through improved communications.
• Mend and preserve frayed working relationships.
• Educate staff on how mediation can be beneficial and save time and money.
• Improve participants’ abilities to resolve issues on their own in the future.
• Enhance the organization’s ability to undergo change.

Businesses and organizations can quickly, fairly, and cost-effectively agree to submit their dispute to mediation. Types of issues may include: Breach of contract, nonpayment for goods and services, debt issues, insurance disputes, property disputes, partnership conflicts, and many other business-related conflicts.

Mediation provides a means for dispute resolution that allows parties to preserve their business relationships, which is particularly useful in the real estate industry where numerous disputes arise between brokers, agents, residential buyers and sellers, and other interested parties in the context of an ongoing transaction or development.

Workshops and trainings are designed to meet individual client needs and specifications. Past clients include businesses, non-profit-organizations, churches, schools, civic groups, governmental departments and agencies. The length varies from 2 to 20 hours, depending on client needs. Types of fee-for-service seminars, workshops, and trainings available:

• Conflict Management and Conflict Resolution Skills
• Work Teams That Work
• Effective Communication
• Dealing With Customer Complaints
• Dealing with Difficult People
• Diffusing Anger and Calming People Down
• Resolving Workplace Disputes
• Designing Conflict Resolution Systems That Work
• What Is Your Conflict Style and Why It Matters
• Effective Negotiation for Everyday Life