In this FREE special report from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School,  Dispute Resolution, Working Together Toward Conflict Resolution on the Job and at Home, the editors of Negotiation Briefings cull valuable negotiation strategies and curate popular content to provide you with a concise guide on how to improve your dispute resolution skills.


resolve a dispute

How can you Resolve a Dispute?

How do you resolve a dispute with negotiation techniques? There are three common approaches, all with different advantages.

It’s often the case that when two people or organizations try to resolve a dispute by determining who is right, they get stuck. That’s why so many disputes end up in court. Another approach is to focus not on rights but on interests—the needs, desires, or concerns that underlie each side’s positions.

There are three basic ways to resolve a dispute, each with its pros and cons. The first two, mediation and arbitration, are considered types of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) because they are an alternative to litigation.

  1. Mediation. In mediation, a neutral third party will help disputants come to a consensus on their own. Mediation can be effective at allowing parties to vent their feelings and fully explore their grievances.
  2. Arbitration. In arbitration, the arbitrator listens as each side argues its case and presents relevant evidence, then renders a binding decision. 
  3. Litigation. Perhaps the most well-known way to resolve a dispute is with litigation, which typically involves a judge and possibly a jury.

Sooner or later you will almost inevitably face the need for conflict resolution, and good conflict management tools are essential.

In this FREE special report from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School,  Dispute Resolution, Working Together Toward Conflict Resolution on the Job and at Home, the editors of Negotiation Briefings cull valuable negotiation strategies and curate popular content to provide you with a concise guide on how to improve your dispute resolution skills.

We will send you a download link to your copy of the report and notify you by email when we post new negotiation advice and information on how to improve your conflict resolution skills on our website.

The following items are tagged resolve a dispute:

What is Conflict Resolution, and How Does It Work?

Posted by & filed under Conflict Resolution.

If you work with others, sooner or later you will almost inevitably face the need for conflict resolution. You may need to mediate a dispute between two members of your department. Or you may find yourself angered by something a colleague reportedly said about you in a meeting. Or you may need to engage in … Read More

How Your Organization Can Benefit from Mediation Techniques

Posted by & filed under Mediation.

If you manage people, disputes will show up at your door. The marketing VP protests that the budget cap you and your new finance VP proposed is hindering a research initiative you supported. Two young sales representatives are embroiled in a turf war. Your administrative assistant is upset because the HR director won’t approve the … Read More

Teams across cultures

Posted by & filed under Daily, International Negotiation.

Adapted from “Team Negotiating: Strength in Numbers?”, first published in the Negotiation newsletter. According to conventional wisdom, when it comes to negotiation, there’s strength in numbers. Indeed, several experimental studies have supported the notion that you should bring at least one other person from your organization to the bargaining table if you can. On average, this … Read Teams across cultures

Mediating disputes on the job

Posted by & filed under Daily, Mediation.

Adapted from “Resolve Employee Conflicts with Mediation Techniques,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

If you manage people, disputes will show up at your door. The marketing VP protests that the budget cap you and your new finance VP proposed is hindering a research initiative you supported. Two young sales representatives are embroiled in a … Read Mediating disputes on the job

Negotiating When Business and Family Collide

Posted by & filed under Daily, Mediation.

Basic negotiation skills may seem easy to apply in business situations but what about when business and family collide? For example, a 69-year-old CEO of a large financial firm that has been in his family for three generations is considering retirement. He has three children who may be interested in taking over the business in addition … Read Negotiating When Business and Family Collide