Mediation
The definitions offered by the dictionary for mediation are: “Intervention in a dispute in order to resolve it; arbitration” and “Intervention in a process or relationship; intercession.” Potentials has mediators trained in two separate, comprehensive programs. Trace Haythorn has been trained through the Meadville Lombard Mennonite Program. https://lmpeacecenter.org. Claire Bamberg trained with Robert Benjamin Mediation and Conflict Management Services. http://www.rbenjamin.com. They have both been trained to work with dyads as well as organizations.
Conflict Transformation
To quote Max Lucado “Conflict is inevitable, combat is optional.”
Quoting Scott Sonenshein: There are “…two types of conflict that teams tend to have… one is what we would call the good conflict, that’s task conflict. This is when we have disagreements about ideas, this is when you see a healthy group really having strong ideas about what we should do and really looking at different possibilities. Then there’s …affective conflict or relationship conflict. This is the conflict about what happens when it’s more about the person and the personality conflict unfolding….what’s really hard about Zoom is that what the research shows is, that when you have task conflict, it’s actually pretty easy for that task conflict to spill over into relationship conflict…”
In her podcast/interview with Sonenshein (4/13/22) Brené Brown connects the dots, conjecturing that it is quite easy to slip from “You do not like my ideas” to “you do not like me.” At Potentials, we are aware that the world is a bit “edgy” right now. The pandemics and grief, the power vortices that change creates, the changes in organizational systems of all types and sizes pushed by “the great resignation” means conflict is a way of life. Learning to harness the energy that conflict is and generates; learning the skills necessary to transform “negative” conflict into positive and productive energy is important. At Potentials, we believe it is essential.