Shaping the agenda 1: exploring the competencies, skills and behaviours of effective workplace mediators

Abstract

The Kennedy Institute Workplace Mediation Research Group (KIWMRG) is a group of academics and mediation practitioners attached to the Kennedy Institute of Conflict Resolution, Maynooth University, Ireland. The Group is committed to exploring the role of mediation as an effective response to many forms of workplace conflict. The Mediators Institute of Ireland (MII) is the governing body in Ireland for mediators. It is committed to raising standards through the continual development of best practice and through producing, maintaining and regulating mediators in Ireland. In April 2015, the MII commissioned the KIWMRG to produce a systematic review of published material on mediator skills, behaviours, and competencies. The MII intends to use this review as a foundation for establishing mediator quality standards for workplace mediation in Ireland. This report outlines what is currently known about workplace mediation: its benefits, styles and strategies, its expected outcomes and training challenges. It also identifies an urgent requirement for Irish research in light of the increased promotion of mediation at state level in Ireland. It outlines some international experiences of the difficulties faced in balancing high quality accreditation and regulation with innovation and growth. Finally the report commits to a partner document consisting of a systematic analysis of the implications of the material presented here for the field of workplace mediation in Ireland.