In this week’s blog, we are talking about mediation skills, how you can become a mediator, and where you can learn mediation skills including observation days for new mediators.
What Is A Mediator
In very simple terms, a mediator is a person that helps both sides in a situation where there is a dispute, come to an agreement. Yes, that is quite broad…because mediation can be used in a wide variety of situations where a disagreement has occurred. Typically, these are:
- Civil disagreements
- Family disagreements
- Workplace disagreements
- Commercial disagreements
- Consumer disagreements
Even those categories are broad because the nature of the disagreements in each can vary. From a falling out between neighbours over a fence to issues of copyright between two huge brands…mediation is an option available in almost any disagreement!
How Can I Become A Mediator?
There is no set path to becoming a mediator, mediators come from all different walks of life, and many will have had careers elsewhere before finding their passion for mediation!
Some people come to mediation after finding they naturally possess the skills required for mediation (more on that later), some people may have had mediation duties as part of their previous jobs and found they quite enjoyed it, and some people may just fancy a career change!
It isn’t uncommon though, to find mediators with backgrounds in Citizens Advice, union work, social work, human resources (HR), the police, and legal services – all very people and problem-solving focused roles!
Do You Need A Legal Background To Become A Mediator?
Some mediators may have a legal background, but this isn’t necessary to become a mediator.
As mentioned in our previous post, having a legal background doesn’t really make a difference in a mediation situation as a mediator is there to help two sides find common ground and facilitate negotiations. A mediator isn’t permitted to give you legal advice.
What Sort Of Skills Does A Mediator Need?
A mediator needs a range of skills to do their job effectively – remember a mediator doesn’t come up with a solution for disagreeing parties or ‘fix’ a disagreement, instead, they guide each side to come up with a resolution. Skills required to be a mediator include:
Emotional intelligence – possessing emotional intelligence skills enables mediators to understand any underlying emotions from either side of a dispute.
Empathy – being empathetic enables a mediator to understand each side of a dispute and understand why both sides may feel they are right/wrong
Active listening skills – active listening enables a mediator to ‘really hear’ what people are saying. This is a good article on what it takes to be a good listener
In addition, mediators must have the ability to remain calm and rational, view things from an impartial point of view, and ask questions or clarify what people mean to really understand a dispute.
Finally, but very important – a mediator must have the ability to put people at ease. Neither side of a dispute is going to express themselves very well if they don’t feel they can speak freely. A mediator needs to put people at ease and gain their trust – you might say that a mediator needs to be a ‘people person’.
Where Do Mediators Gain Their Skills?
Mediators may go on training courses to improve individual skills, take an accredited qualification, or a formal qualification.
Mediators may also have gained their skills over the course of their careers. Lots of the skills needed to be a mediator are transferable.
Mediators may also gain skills and understanding from their own personal and life experiences.
Are There Any Mediation Qualifications?
There are no formal qualifications a mediator needs and there are no statutory regulations for mediators in the UK, however, most mediators will be members of professional bodies that set standards for UK mediators. Some professional bodies will also have training courses and qualifications for people wanting to become mediators.
What courses you attend and accreditations you want to achieve may depend on what area of mediation you want to specialise in. Some mediators only deal with specific areas, whilst others may be more general.
For example, if you want to specifically be a family mediator, the Family Mediation Council would be your go-to place.
If you are interested in workplace mediation, The Mediation School by National Dispute Resolution may be more appropriate.
There are many providers of meditation training so really, you need to find the one that fits you best. Training providers include LSM, NDR, Align, SOM, and Promediate. The Centre For Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) is another recognisable training provider.
In terms of societies, accreditations or memberships that are recognisable you may want to look at the Society of Mediators or the Civil Mediation Council (We are CMC registered and accredited!).
Observation Days For New Mediators
One of the difficult parts of becoming a registered mediator with CMC, for example, is that you must gather enough observation and experience points before you can apply for registration. And points come from real-life mediation.
The difficulty here for new mediators is that they may have completed a course but have no real-world work yet or chances to observe a real mediation process – and gaining new clients can be difficult when you first start out unless you already have connections.
What we offer at Rossendale Mediation for new mediators are observation days – observation days help newly trained mediators gain observation points and ready them for registration. We have been successfully running observation days throughout 2023 and will continue to do so. You can check our news page for our latest observation dates.
The aim of our mediation days is to give new mediators a full 360 degree experience of the mediation process rather than just a view of the mediator/participant discussions. You also get the chance to network with other new mediators in a similar situation to you. Participants so far have enjoyed the days and felt they gave them much more confidence and ready to go out and practice.
If you have any questions as a new mediator, need any advice or want to ask about our observation days, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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