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Getting others to work with you, not against you

The Self-as-Mediator Seminar*

"Every conflict is started by two people."

A flexible and impactful one-day program, The Self-as-Mediator Seminar is the most cost-effective way to empower your employees to handle the challenges of today's intensely interdependent workplace. They will learn how to use a simple yet powerful communication tool — "Self Mediation" — to manage the differences that impair teamwork, quality, decision-making, and cooperation throughout your organization.

This is more than just a training seminar; this practical program contains resources for changing organizational culture, surgically altering the norms that so often cause obstructive behavior and replacing them with constructive, positive behaviors. The Self-as-Mediator Seminar puts the tools of the professional mediator in the hands of every employee to build better workplace relationships. It is an essential component of every successful organization’s HRD and OD strategic effort.

Learner Outcomes

Following the training, the learner will be able to:

1. Assess the workplace conflicts they are in to determine whether Self Mediation is appropriate based on:
     A.   Level of seriousness of the conflict
     B.   Degree of interdependence between oneself and the co-worker
     C.   Balance of power, and risk of power abuse
     D.   Characteristics of the co-worker that would contraindicate Self Mediation
2. Identify the two reflexive behaviors that obstruct joint problem-solving, and describe a better way that eliminates those behaviors.
3. Identify the five elements of the retaliatory cycle and describe how to interrupt the cycle to make joint problem-solving dialogue possible.
4. Initiate dialogue with a co-worker to solve a workplace conflict.
5. State the issue in terms that promote cooperation and minimize defensiveness.
6. Persuade a reluctant co-worker to participate in dialogue to solve a workplace conflict.
7. Describe the necessary features that help prevent failure of dialogue.
8. Use techniques for dialogue that focus attention on the issue and remove obstacles to successful conclusion.

• Perform the two essential tasks that are necessary to produce a shift in attitude from me-against-you to us-against-the-problem.
• Recognize and identify the gestures that naturally occur during arguments that can be opportunities to resolve the conflict.
• Recognize and use the psychological forces that produce consensus.
• Form agreements that can prevent recurrence of conflict.

Organizational Outcomes

As a result of employees’ achievement of these learning objectives,

1. The financial cost of conflict will decline by 50%.
2. The frequency of conflicts in the host organization will decline by 50%.
3. Conflicts that do occur will be satisfactorily resolved 80% of the time without involvement by the supervisor or manager.

• Employee satisfaction with the workplace will increase by 30%

Who Should Attend

Benefits

• Take control of conflicts, rather than be controlled by them
• Negotiate solutions to conflicts, rather than fight
• Mediate conflicts between staff who are locked in personality clashes and petty bickering
• Reduce job stress and tension that may be affecting health
• Handle "difficult people" (and avoid being seen as a "difficult person" by others)
• Save the thousands of "invisible dollars" now being lost by impaired production and missed opportunities
• Remove a key obstacle to success of TQM and Self-Directed Work Team efforts
• Change organizational culture to make healthy communication the norm, rather than commonplace dysfunctional "crazy-making" behavior

Every seminar participant receives

• The primary sourcebook: Managing Differences: How to Build Better Relationships at Work and Home (third edition) by Daniel Dana.
• Secondary sourcebook (optional): Conflict Resolution: Mediation Tools for Everyday Worklife (McGraw-Hill, 2001) by Daniel Dana.
• Wallet card job aid: Handy guide that summarizes Managerial Mediation for immediate use
• The Dana Benchmarking Instruments: Unrestricted personal access to these on-line tools for organizational assessment:

Continuing Education Approvals

• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM):   Approved for 7 credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification by the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI)

• Employee Assistance Professionals Association:   6.5 Professional Development Hours
• Sun Microsystems Corporate University:   SunU course code SU1225
• Nursing Continuing Education:   9.0 contact hours, all states except Iowa and California