Manager as Mediator : Developing a Conflict-Positive Organization

Organizations have developed formal structures, such as grievance committees and ombudsman's offices, to mediate conflicts between employees and have hired mediators to cope with escalated labor-management conflict and sharp divisions between units. Mediation research and practice as developed in the other chapters of this book are highly relevant and useful for guiding these efforts. Mediation, though, is much more prevalent in organizations than only in terms of these formal approaches. Employees continually disagree over issues, interpersonal treatment, and attitudes. Rather than hire third party specialists, managers are expected to handle conflicts as they make decisions and resolve differences among employees. However, most managers have little formal training in conflict and are unprepared to meet the demands of mediation.