Page 136 - Communication in Organizations Basic Skills and Conversation Models

Conflict management 125

The parties must be prepared to make concessions to their original starting position
and thus attempt to come to a mutually acceptable situation. The mediator will do well to
summarize the agreements and put them into writing so that no misunderstanding can
arise about the promises of the parties.

Closing phase
The aim of the closing phase is to end the conversation in a succinct manner. Both parties
now have a clearer picture of the perspective of the other party. The mediator announces
the end of the conversation and possibly once again repeats the agreements. After that the
mediator arranges that a copy of the agreements is made and makes an appointment for a
subsequent meeting in which the agreements can be evaluated and possibly adjusted.
Then the mediator investigates the satisfaction of both parties about the conflict and gives
his opinion. With the help of this meta-communication, as yet unspoken resentments can
still come to light and be worked out. Moreover, it promotes communication at future
meeting(s). Figure 14.2 presents an overview of conflict management.