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Facilitation
Facilitation is a useful negotiating tool used to communicate difficult
situations when there is no dispute, but when one may well occur.
Take the example of coal gas mining companies, which have the right to
explore on farming land which is privately owned without first having to
ask the permission of the land owners.
While they have that legal right, it make obvious sense to negotiate on
a friendly basis before commencing. In this example and for many other
situations such as this ITO Mediation can be retained to conduct
Facilitation whenever it is needed during the period before and during
the activity until it has been completed.
With Facilitation, mediation methods are used to overcome any
disagreement before it arises when the nature of the matter could easily
cause disharmony between parties.
In the example above, if the coal gas miner requires negotiation mainly
with its own interests in mind then we can provide the service of
Advocacy which is more suited to the circumstances. However, with the
neutral Facilitation service, the weaker party is aware that fairness
will prevail during the negotiations.
The fees charged for Facilitation are generally paid only by the party
with the majority of vested interest in the project.
Are Facilitation fees different from Mediation
fees?
The Mediation fees are often shared between the
parties but in facilitation, since there exists a more significant
financial advantage for one party than the other, it is common for the
first party to pay all of the fees. Never-the-less, the mediating
Facilitator will conduct negotiations in a manner which is neutral.
If, in this example, the miner had preferred the negotiations to be
conducted with his or her interests prevailing, then our Advocacy
service is more appropriately used. However, the use of the neutral
Facilitation mediation process demonstrates to the weaker party that
complete fairness is of paramount importance. The fees charged are the
same as for Mediation. Please call us for details.
How does the Facilitator use mediation techniques
differently from the techniques of Mediation?
While there isn’t a lot of difference, a dispute
isn’t in existence; the parties are just mindful that one may well occur
because of the nature of the project.
The Facilitator’s first objective is to understand and document all the
potential areas which may give rise to a disagreement. The idea of the
methodology is to provide an environment which is conducive to
reasonable and friendly communication between the parties which will
encourage logical negotiation to secure agreement.
The example used here is of a business relationship, but Facilitation
can be used effectively in family relationships as well. They may, for
example, be most effective in handling discussions when two families
join through marriage and where there are children of both parties who
will be living together. It isn’t difficult to anticipate the sorts of
problems which may occur. After all, they already do present themselves
in families of the parents of all of the children.
Another is example is when children are near puberty. A discussion with
12 and 13 year old children about the types of arguments which might
occur between parents and children can be discussed on a theoretical
basis. That can set the scene for sensible and logical negotiations when
such events finally occur, such as dating, parties and alcohol
consumption arise.
Is this a hard task for everyone concerned? Of course it certainly is
quite difficult, but therein lies the wonderful potential of
Facilitation to minimize such adverse events.
Facilitation can be an invaluable tool for creating and maintaining
consensus in families, businesses, large corporations, and governments.
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