ADRG02400 | Structure of a typical day of mediation

During a mediation day, three rooms are usually needed. The customer side and the HMRC side will have separate rooms allocated to them. They may hold private discussions there, either with or without the mediator.

When the mediation is held via a video call, these separate rooms are set up “virtually” with separate Microsoft Teams invitations sent to the participants.

The mediator will explain before the meeting how the day will run. For example, what room you should meet in and at what time. The main discussions happen in the joint meeting room with both parties present. After introductions, the mediator will recap how the mediation will work and agree ground rules. Each side then makes a short uninterrupted statement about their current view of the dispute.

The mediator may then start to draw out the underlying issues with both sides, exploring the impact of the dispute, and finding out what each side needs from the day. The mediator may also want each side to consider the consequences of success or failure to resolve the matter during the mediation day.

Once it is clear what topics need to be worked on, the discussion then continues as long as it is fruitful. The mediator will use active listening techniques to draw out the essential points, regularly summarising the discussions to help the sides focus on the essential points.

At a suitable point the mediator will end the joint meeting.

The two sides then return to their respective private rooms and the mediator will visit each in turn, having private discussions with each party in their own room, typically spending 20 or 30 minutes with each side per visit, talking through the issues that need to be resolved.

The mediator may ask the parties to creatively consider all the possible solutions there might be to help resolve the dispute. Are there elements to the dispute that have not been considered by both sides that can be brought into discussions that could help move things towards a settlement? The mediator may need to “reality test” the positions that have been taken up by the sides to ensure that matters do not get deadlocked. The mediator will want the parties to consider their “best and worst alternatives to a negotiated solution” to bring some perspective to the dispute.

Usually, a point is reached, maybe after a private discussion with each side, where matters are clearer, and the mediator will then bring the parties back together for another joint meeting to work on particular issues or explore possible solutions.
When discussions move into the bargaining phase the mediator may even act as a “negotiation coach” in the private meetings, helping the sides to frame offers and counter offers that help them work towards a mutually agreeable solution.

The above scenario is typical of the type of facilitative mediation process that is used but is not prescriptive. The mediator will be flexible and use whatever meeting formats they think will be most effective on the day and may revise the format several times during the day as discussions develop.