The essence of mediation is speaking openly about conflicts. The idea is that a series of conversations will help the people involved to arrive at a joint solution. As a neutral third party with conflict expertise we will guide you through the mediation proces.
Pre-mediation is all about preventing conflicts. Pre-mediation conversations are mainly about the experiences and expectations of people who live or work together. These conversations can be useful in business relationships but also for partners in personal relationships. Whether the parties are shareholders, management teams or spouses, the key in pre-mediation is to bring their interests out into the open in order to create room for more understanding and better agreements.
Pre-mediation can be seen as a MOT test for your relationship. Conversations can be worthwhile as a way of preventing a maintenance backlog in your relationships. As the ‘pre’ in the word suggests, its effect is preventive. And that’s also its strength: the earlier you sit down with one another around the table, the easier it is to prevent a conflict. One conversation every three months can be enough for some business or personal partners to maintain mutual understanding.
If it transpires that there are major problems, several in-depth mediation sessions may be needed to find a solution for the people concerned. Two mediators (we always work in pairs) help them look for common interests. This process may result in the participants deciding to stay together but it may also result in a decision to go their separate ways. Separating can also be a harmonious process. The best outcome is when the participants obtain a picture of each other’s interests and wish one another all the best, whether in a joint or separate future.
The unique aspect of our approach is that we are mediators from different backgrounds (the legal profession, organisational psychology etc.). That means we can guide the conversations from multiple perspectives. We have started with Pre Mediation as of 2012 and have been spoken to hundreds of start-ups.
We work in various fields:
Business matters
Start-ups
Employment mediation
Tax mediation
It is essential in mediation processes that the conversations take place on a voluntary basis. Only then can you reach a better understanding of one another. And, naturally, all conversations are confidential.
