Mediation

A negotiation between two or more parties facilitated by an agreed-upon third party. Skilled third-party mediators can lower the emotional temperature in a negotiation, foster more effective communication, help uncover less obvious interests, offer face-saving possibilities for movement, and suggest solutions that the parties might have overlooked. (David A. Lax and James K. Sebenius, 3-D Negotiation [Harvard Business School Press, 2006], 108-109)

The following items are tagged Mediation.

Avoid judicial bias with negotiation

Posted by & filed under Conflict Resolution, Daily.

Adapted from “Blind Justice? Think Twice Before Going to Court,” by Chris Guthrie (professor, Vanderbilt University Law School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter, April 2007.

Planning to resolve a personal or business dispute in court? Consider that judges don’t make decisions based on a thorough accounting of all the relevant and available information.  Instead, like

Shuttle diplomacy examined in July issue of Negotiation Journal

Posted by & filed under Daily, Mediation.

In the July 2011 issue of Negotiation Journal, mediator David Hoffman takes a thoughtful look at the role of caucusing in mediation in an article entitled “Mediation and the Art of Shuttle Diplomacy.” The practice of meeting separately with each disputant, while widespread, is not without controversy. Critics have argued that these private sessions give

Negotiation tactics in the spotlight as debt ceiling debate continues

Posted by & filed under Daily, Negotiation Skills.

The lack of progress on the debt ceiling negotiations has raised serious concerns that an agreement will not be reached before the August 2nd deadline.  How have the negotiations gotten so derailed?

In a recent interview on Radio Boston, Professor Robert Bordone, director of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program, suggested that one of the

Announcing the 2011 PON Summer Fellows

Posted by & filed under Daily, PON Summer Fellowships, Students.

About the PON Summer Fellowship Program:

PON offers fellowship grants to students at Harvard University, MIT, Tufts University and other Boston-area schools who are doing internships or undertaking summer research projects in negotiation and dispute resolution in partnership with public, non-profit or academic organizations. The Summer Fellowship Program’s emphasis is on advancing the links between

Bringing Mediators to the Bargaining Table

Posted by & filed under Conflict Resolution, Daily.

Adapted from “Mediation in Transactional Negotiation,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter, July 2004.

We generally think of mediation as a dispute-resolution device. Federal mediators intervene when collective bargaining bogs down. Diplomats are sometimes called in to mediate conflicts between nations. So-called multidoor courthouses encourage litigants to mediate before incurring the costs—and risks—of going to trial.

Scott

2011 Winner of the Roger Fisher/Frank E. A. Sander Student Paper Prize Announced

Posted by & filed under Daily, News, Students.

Congratulations to Jessica Beess und Chrostin (HLS ’13), the 2011 Fisher/Sander Prize Winner, for her paper “Cross-Border Class Actions and Aggregate Dispute Resolution: Where We Are and How to Move Forward.”

This prize was established in 2007 by the Program on Negotiation in honor of Professors Roger Fisher, the Williston Professor of Law, Emeritus, and Frank

Why Classic Cases?

Posted by & filed under Daily, Negotiation Skills, Pedagogy at the Program on Negotiation (Pedagogy @ PON).

Why are some negotiation exercises still used in a great many university classes even twenty years after they were written? In an effort to understand more about the enduring quality of some classic teaching materials, we asked faculty affiliated with PON to explain why they think some role play simulations remain bestsellers in the Clearinghouse

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Camera: Video in Negotiation Pedagogy

Posted by & filed under Daily, Events, Negotiation Skills, Pedagogy at the Program on Negotiation (Pedagogy @ PON).

How can video be used to enhance the teaching of negotiation? This question was addressed by Michael Moffitt from the University of Oregon Law School in his presentation called “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Camera: Video in Negotiation Pedagogy” at the NP @ PON faculty dinner seminar on April 21, 2011.

Shapiro named 2011 Burke Global Health Fellow

Posted by & filed under Conflict Resolution, Daily, News.

Professor Daniel Shapiro, Associate Director of the Harvard Mediation Project, has been selected as one of four 2011 Burke Global Health Fellows by the Harvard Global Health Institute. During his fellowship, Professor Shapiro will develop materials for a new Harvard course designed to train leaders on how to mediate conflicts with a strong emotional or

Put Apologies in Your Toolbox

Posted by & filed under Daily, Negotiation Skills.

Adapted from “Regain Your Counterpart’s Trust with an Apology,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

The problem: Whether you meant to or not, you’ve hurt or offended your negotiating counterpart through your words or actions. Perhaps you’ve shown up late for an appointment one time too many, neglected to follow through on a key contract term,