Mediation skills coaching and training | Red Earth Consultancy Ltd

SKILLS development in MEDIATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION

One of the greatest challenges for businesses today is ensuring that their line managers and HR teams are equipped with the skills and awareness to anticipate - and then constructively 'manage away' - disharmony and conflict within their teams, as and when they arise.

Another is knowing who to call upon for help when it is clear that a valued member of staff - at any level with the organisation, from the boardroom, to the shop floor - might greatly benefit from some respectful, individually tailored guidance and coaching, to help them to understand the impact of their interactions with others; and how by making a few key changes they could quickly become more effective, more respected, and as a result, perhaps more fulfilled in their work.

With our extensive expertise in all aspects of workplace disharmony, conflict resolution and behavioural change, Red Earth Consultancy can provide you with all of the 1:1 coaching and group/team skills training in this area that you need - delivered in such a way as to align at all times with your organisational culture, so that the new learnings that your leaders and staff members gain will be immediately effective when first put to the test at their place of work.

And for those of your line managers, and HR team members, who are already providing 'constructive conversations' and/or mediation support to their colleagues - whether informally as experienced 'people practitioners', or more formally as trained/accredited mediators - Red Earth Consultancy is on hand to provide invaluable, confidential supervision, drawing on extensive experience, to guide them safely through the specific challenges and nuances of each situation under their care.

MEDIATION SKILLS WORKSHOPS

All of our mediation skills training is highly outcomes-focused, and experiential, and by being offered in-house is always tailored to address the specific issues and priorities of the employer organisation at hand.

One of our most popular offerings for in-house skills development is our 'Introductory Mediation Skills Workshop'. This intensive 2-day program is designed for delegate groups of up to six line managers and/or HR staff, who wish to understand the benefits of mediation as an alternative to more formal dispute management procedures, and to learn the practical skills to be in a position to constructively 'manage away' these situations when they arise.

2-day Introductory Mediation Skills Workshop (maximum 6 delegates)

Delegates on this highly practical, experiential and intensive 2-day workshop will gain:

a clear understanding of the difference between mediation, facilitation and negotiation - and of how mediation fits within a company-wide 'conflict resolution' approach to resolving workplace disputes
an appreciation for the business case for using mediation skills at work, when to use them and how, via experienced mediator/trainer presentation & group discussion (25%)
intensive small group learning (max 6 delegates) via focused skills practice, active role play with ‘real’ workplace case studies and all delegates in rotating roles, supported by individual 1:1 trainer observation and feedback (75%)
focused discussion on the ethics of mediative working, including the support systems needed to be put in place to ensure ‘best practice’ working
the confidence to start using mediative approaches immediately upon returning to their place of work
opportunities to ‘ask the expert’ about any people challenges that they are currently facing at work, and to share experiences with a new network of peers who are experiencing the same challenges
2 FREE hours of post-training tutor support as they put their learning into practice

In-house workshop fee: £2,400 + VAT (fee includes all course training and materials; any travel/accommodation/room and equipment hire would be additional)

Public/open workshop fee: £495 + VAT per delegate / Early Bird Booking fee: £420 + VAT per delegate (fee includes all course training and materials; room and equipment hire; refreshments and 2-course lunch each day)

“I attended one of Red Earth's workshops on Mediation Skills and found it most valuable and also ‘value for money'. It was an intensive two days, working with a small interactive group, where everyone was given a chance to learn at their own pace. Everyone was encouraged, whatever their level, and no-one was made to feel at all inadequate. The skills which I learned are extremely useful in a wide range of ‘people' situations as well as in mediation situations. I would highly recommend it."

Team leader, January 2023

To talk through your training needs, and our other offerings, in more detail, and to explore how we could tailor a workshop specifically for you, please do contact us and we would be delighted to help.

INDIVIDUAL SKILLS COACHING

Any individual, within any place or line of work - however experienced they might be, and respected for the work that they do - may find themselves questioning from time to time whether, with some new understanding, or skill, or perspective on a situation, they might be able to do things a little better in terms of their interactions with others; and from there, perhaps go on to achieve more collaborative relationships with their colleagues, and more fruitful outcomes in their work.

Red Earth Consultancy's extensive experience in people relations, interpersonal dynamics and effective workplace communication enables us to offer ideas and guidance to our coaching clients in these areas, together with some valued time for reflection on how best to integrate any wished-for changes into their own personal style and approach. With our client's business context uppermost in our mind, we can then help them to consider how to apply their learning to real situations at work - and then support them as they test out their learning between coaching sessions, to ensure that they achieve the outcomes they desire.

Coaching program

As with our mediation work, before any coaching work begins we always invite the individual considering this option to meet with their prospective coach for a confidential 1:1 ‘introductory meeting’, to fully explore the work needing to be done, and to clarify the steps that would be involved were the coaching to then proceed. These meetings last for 1½-2 hours, and enable:

the individual to ask questions of the coach, and learn everything that they need to know about the process, before deciding whether they would like to proceed
the individual to evaluate whether the coach is someone they believe they could trust, to work with in this personal manner
the coach to learn in more detail about the person's aims, and from there to make a professional assessment as to whether they could help the person make the changes that they seek.

Following these meetings, if all concerned are comfortable to move forward, the coaching process will then get underway.

All coaching programs are tailored to the individual, and to the needs at hand. However - once the aims and hoped-for outcomes for the coaching have been agreed, perhaps in discussion with the person's line manager - the coaching might typically comprise 3 sessions, before a break for review; followed by 3 further sessions if wished, with a final review to follow.

Our fee for the coaching program will differ according to the needs of the individual, and the outcomes to be achieved. Once we have fully assessed its scope and nature, we will always provide a clear, comprehensive proposal for the program for the client's review, which once agreed will form the basis and guide for our work together.

If you would like to learn more about our coaching programs and fees, please do get in touch - we would be delighted to hear from you, and to help in any way that we can.

mediation supervision

Working supportively with individuals who are experiencing difficulty and distress in their relationship with a colleague, or colleagues - or perhaps with their wider team, or with their senior manager, or 'line reportee' - and then seeking to bring these people together to work through their differences, and guiding the process as it unfolds, is as demanding as it can be enormously rewarding, whether or not the situation finally resolves.

It is incumbent upon the mediator undertaking this work always to be as prepared, and as personally sufficiently resourced, as they can possibly be, to enable them to be able to offer to the people involved in the mediation the depth of support and understanding that they will likely need, at any time.

At Red Earth Consultancy we understand, and respect, the role that the mediator plays throughout the fullness of their time working with the clients whom they are fortunate to support. We are ever mindful of the unique nature of the work, and of the need to be a consistently safe pair of hands, readily on offer whenever the need might arise.

Of the many resources available to the mediation practitioner as a means of support, in our view the use of professional, expert supervision is a necessary and critical element.

As highly experienced accredited mediators, Red Earth Consultancy is able to offer both 1:1 and small group (maximum 4 people) online mediation supervision support, in a 'safe and trusted environment', where no facts or views expressed will ever be shared 'outside the room'.

If the mediator's needs and wishes are such that they would prefer face-to-face supervision, subject to location this we would be pleased to arrange.

Please do contact us if you would like to learn more, and we would be delighted to arrange a complimentary 20-minute online meeting for us to determine whether our supervision approach would suit your needs. Thank you, and we will look forward perhaps to hearing more.