Wiki to Yes Report on Mediation 2019

Wiki to Yes is a mediation metaportal (a portal for mediation portals) that captures and links everything related to mediation. The Wiki to Yes report on mediation is the logical consequence of an overview coming out of that. On 1st of March in 2019 the first report on mediation was published. On 65 pages, the publisher, Arthur Trossen, compiles observations, facts and trends of mediation in Germany up to the year 2019. The result of the study shows a surprising insight into the development of mediation and a necessary change of the view on it.

The first edition of the annual report on mediation shows already, that the development of mediation is better than some evaluations suggest. The combination of statistics shows an increased interest in consensual conflict resolution and mediation. Especially mediation is more widespread than expected. However, the picture of how mediation is presented to the general public and the professional community is very much confusing. The understanding of mediation is even misrepresented among the experts. The resulting understanding of mediation therefore does not only irritate the consumer.

Comparing evaluations and statistices, it comes out that the increased demand on mediation does not go together with the demand on court processes. That means: though the demand on mediation ascends, the demand on court processes is not descending accordingly. It looks like mediation is creating a parallel market instead, where conflict avoidance is the mean and where cases are involved, that never will go to court.

In their attempt to implement mediation, people are looking for selective solutions and explanations that are misleading and not really covering the whole view. Mainly they are not geared towards a common goal. What people expect from mediation goes rogue. Expectations about the benefits also differ very much. Many efforts go nowhere therefore. The wheel is reinvented again and again, which also contributes to the confusion.

Mediation is at a crossroads. It has to choose between a cultural asset and a product to be demanded. Implementing cultural assets and products is causing different strategies. Mediation is able to gather them together. It just needs a chance for that.

To make the decision a common goal, some basics have to be worked up. What primarily has to be constructed is a clear and common terminology that will be understood the same way in all the professions and disciplines. It also is important to build up a comprehensible system of the procedures where mediation has a definite place. A systematic consistently helps to differing the ways of conflict resolution, the differnt appraoches, the varying depth and the competences behind.

Both steps will help to avoid misunderstandings about mediation and to clearify what one precisely can expect when asking for it. A mediation theory like the cognition theory could help to improve understanding and to show off what concretely is different from other ways to conflict resolution. It makes very clear what the difference is between just a smart talk with active listening, a facilitated negotiation, a conciliation or even an arbitration.

Mediation is different. Comparing it with a court process means to compare the uncomparable. Mediation has an own USP, which makes it unique. Not just the customer needs to understand that.

The varity of mediation allows to use it almost everywhere. It therefore is not clear what the mediation market is. Professions are afraid to loose their markets. For that they cannot support mediation as it should be. There very different interests and many protagonists, including politics, legislation and justice that do not really go together. Unclearness allows them to stir up the idea of mediation easily. They help measure mediation at different scales.

Like in a mediation, it would be useful to first understand the general benefits that mediation can bring to society, the market, the judiciary, consumers and citizens, and the interests of each professional application in order to find a common goal where all stakeholders can walk the same road. Under the common goal a common base is needed as a fundament on which the steps to promote mediation are to be worked out.

Not surprisingly mediation is able to adjust the different aims and to build up the base for further development. It just needs the chance to do so. Doing so, it will become visible how benefits for all can be realized. The simple message is: Use mediation if you want to implement it!

The Wiki to Yes Mediation Report is available at https://www.wiki-to-yes.org/Mediationreport-2019. (unfortunatlely in German kanguage only) From there you can also download the print version as a PDF. A forum specially designed for the report allows the reader to contribute their own opinions and to discuss questions. Wiki to Yes is a project of Win-Management GmbH, in partnership with the Association of Integrated Mediation.