Conflict Resolution Archives - Conflict Management Academy

REAL WORLD INSIGHTS: Why We All Say “Self-Determination” But Practice It Differently

Leave a Comment / REAL World Insights: Bridging Theory and Practice / Samantha Hardy

Robert Baruch Bush’s recent article in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review tackles something most mediators have noticed: we all agree that party self-determination is fundamental to mediation, yet we practice it very differently. The Gap Between Theory and Practice Bush identifies two distinct approaches: In facilitative mediation, self-determination matters, but it can be set aside […]

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Can a Mediator Balance Power and Remain Impartial?

Leave a Comment / Articles / Samantha Hardy

Many mediators have been taught, explicitly or implicitly, that part of our ethical role is to “balance power”. At the same time, we are told that we must remain impartial. Both are framed as professional virtues. Rarely do we pause to ask whether they can comfortably coexist. What do we actually mean by “power”?

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Mediator and Broader Consulting

Leave a Comment / Articles / Samantha Hardy

A reflective look at impartiality, consultancy, and the blurry edges between them Many mediators encounter this tension. You are invited into a workplace to support the resolution of a particular conflict between two individuals, and along the way you notice broader structural or cultural problems. You may be qualified and well positioned to help. The

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Tending the Fire: A Conflict Makeover

Leave a Comment / Articles / Samantha Hardy

Conflict really does have a bad reputation. We tend to treat it as something to prevent, contain, clear up, or make disappear. But what if we are wrong about conflict? Civil rights, women’s suffrage, and workplace safety laws did not come from people politely agreeing not to rock the boat. Progress came from people who

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How Do We Get Party B to Agree to Mediate?

Leave a Comment / Articles / Samantha Hardy

It’s a deceptively simple question. After all, mediation is voluntary. If one person says no, that should be the end of it. Yet, in practice, mediators are regularly drawn into the space between willingness and refusal. How far should they go in encouraging participation? When does providing information turn into persuasion? This blog post unpacks

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Are Conflicts Really Getting Harder, or Are Mediators Just Getting Nostalgic?

Leave a Comment / Articles / Samantha Hardy

Samantha Hardy and Peter Hanson Every mediator, at some point, has sighed over coffee or in supervision and said: “The cases are getting harder these days.” But is that true? Are disputes genuinely more complex and intractable, or are we simply remembering the past through rose-tinted glasses? This question keeps coming up in training rooms,

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Mediation Doesn’t Have a Marketing Problem, It Has a Clarity Problem

Leave a Comment / Articles / Samantha Hardy

By Sarah Blake and Samantha Hardy Why the world needs mediation, but clients aren’t buying in We know the world needs mediation. The research is overwhelming: Dr Emily Skinner’s work, among others, shows that conflict is everywhere, in workplaces, communities, families, and politics. The cost to organisations and individuals is massive. And yet, despite this

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Seeing Difference: Eye Colour as a Lens on Neurodiversity

Leave a Comment / Articles / Samantha Hardy

When we walk into a workshop or classroom, one of the first things we notice is how varied people are. Tall and short, loud and quiet, confident and hesitant. But sometimes it helps to step back from those obvious differences and look at something we rarely think about: eye colour. It’s a simple feature, but

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Wenn Entschuldigungen ausbleiben: Verstehen und Umgang mit der Weigerung, sich am Arbeitsplatz zu entschuldigen

Leave a Comment / Articles / Samantha Hardy

Von Dr Samantha Hardy and Dr Judith Rafferty Hinweis: Dieser Beitrag wurde von Judith Herrmann-Rafferty aus dem englischen Original übersetzt und leicht angepasst, damit er speziell auf HR und Führungskräfte zugeschnitten ist. Den ursprünglichen Artikel in englischer Sprache, der den Blick stärker auf die Arbeit von Mediator*innen richtet, gibt es hier. Entschuldigungen können enorm kraftvoll sein.

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When Apologies Don’t Come: Understanding and Managing Refusal to Apologise in Mediation

Leave a Comment / Articles / Samantha Hardy

By Dr Samantha Hardy and Dr Judith Rafferty Apologies can be transformative. A brief “I’m sorry” has the potential to mend trust, restore dignity, and signal a willingness to move forward. Yet in practice, many mediators have sat through sessions where one party waits, sometimes desperately, for an apology that never arrives. The other party’s

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