The Most Challenging of All Di...

Is that an Elephant in the Room?

Raising an undiscussable issue in a team has to be the ultimate challenge in the league of difficult conversations. One of the most problematic undiscussable issues in a team is another person’s behaviour, style or competence and more often than not it’s the leaders behaviours or style that is often undiscussable. Like most other difficult conversations, the risk of NOT raising this issue can be detrimental to a team’s performance and in some cases has far reaching consequences  - as this story illustrates. (more…)

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NEW – Free eBook ‘...

NEW – Free eBook ‘How to Survive a Difficult Conversation’
For most normal people (I include myself in this category) a difficult conversation will generate higher than average levels of stress and anxiety, after all more often than not there’s a lot at stake in a difficult conversation. Irrespective of the substantive nature of your conversation, if you...

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Mediation Process...

Mediation Process
The Phases of Mediation Most mediations will follow a similar process from start to finish, well at least that’s the expectation although many seasoned professionals out there will testify to having to ‘freestyle’ on many occasions as the best laid plans are put to rest! Nevertheless...

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Mediation Wings – How to...

Mediation Wings – How to Gain Experience
One of the challenges facing every newly trained mediator is getting relevant and frequent experience. However in a market where supply exceeds demand and the supply is largely dominated by a handful of seasoned pros, getting experience is a challenge for the rookie mediator. However all is not lost!

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Mediation Training – How...

Mediation Training – How to choose?
With so many mediation training courses on the market, how do you decide which one to go for? When I first trained as a mediator back in the late nineties in South Africa, mediation was a relatively unknown quantity. Today, in the UK if you Google “mediation training” you will be presented...

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Intensive Facilitation Trainin...

Intensive Facilitation Training led by Roger Schwarz
Following the huge success of the UK’s first ever Skilled Facilitator Workshop, Internationally-renowned expert on facilitation and author of international best seller ‘The Skilled Facilitator’, Roger Schwarz returns to London with his team for a second time to run his Skilled Facilitator...

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Confronting Workplace Bullying...

Confronting Workplace Bullying
The National Bullying (Confidential) Helpline made the news headlines last week for all the wrong reasons. Christine Pratt, founder of the charity, revealed to the national press that her organisation had received a number of calls from 10 Downing Street suggesting that senior members of government were...

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Mediators – Experts in F...

Mediators – Experts in Facilitation
Is having subject matter expertise really a pre-requisite for effective mediation as was suggested by Lord Jackson in his recent review of civil costs?  Lord Jackson claims that Personal Injury Mediation should be carried out by mediators with specialist experience of personal injury litigation. Lord...

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Mediation Approaches...

Mediation Approaches
For most employers and organisations, mediation is a relatively new idea – so to understand what it is and what it isn’t will help you make an informed choice about whether and how to best use it as an intervention. In a nutshell mediation is a non-adversarial approach to addressing conflicts and...

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Weapons of Mass Assumptions...

Weapons of Mass Assumptions
As former PM Tony Blair answers questions today at the Iraq inquiry I wonder about the untested assumptions that may have been made which led to the decision to invade Iraq. Assumptions inform our views and guide our behaviour, they can also lead to unintended consequences for ourselves and others.

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