The goal of mediation is to resolve conflict. One of the first things I do at the beginning of every mediation is to ask the participants what they aim to accomplish in the mediation. The goals of each party may not be the same, and in order for everyone’s time to be used most effectively, I want to assist them in identifying the significant issues.
It is important for the parties to clarify their goals at the outset in order to focus the mediation on what is of greatest concern. Sometimes, people in conflict don’t specifically know what their conflict is about until they are asked to articulate it in words. The very act of naming the conflict helps to clarify it and can provide direction for what type of outcome they might desire.
In addition to the goal of resolving the conflict that brings the parties to mediation, my objective is to enable the parties to gain a better understanding of each other and to help them, through the course of the mediation, to develop or improve the ways in which they communicate so that they will be able to resolve conflict when it arises in the future without the need for mediation.