Things Learned in Mediation Training
Friday was a full day of class doing role plays and learning about the different methods of conducting mediation with REALTORS®. I have been an ombudsman for 6 years with my board and wanted to learn how to do that job better and be available if there was a situation where mediation may help resolve an conflict.
The instructor was very good and has been a national mediation trainer for 20 years. Mediation is a tool used to get the parties to come together with their resolution to the problem. The mediator purely facilitates the process and moves the discussion toward compromise.
He told a story and it struck home with me that it not only applies to negotiation/mediation but in our daily lives and real estate dealings.
There were two children in the kitchen fighting over the last orange. The mom comes in to see what all the racket is all about. They both are crying out "I want the orange". The mom quickly reaches in a drawer, retrieves a knife and cuts the orange in half and hands a half to each child.
The children are clearly not happy and start crying out even louder. The mom asks why they are not happy as they each got half of the orange. One child says he wanted the whole orange to squeeze and make juice. The other child said she wanted to bake a cake and it called for 2 tablespoons of orange rind.
The mom realized if she had not made assumptions and had asked more questions, she could have resolved the situation giving each child exactly what they wanted.
How many times do we make assumptions, fail to ask thorough questions and proceed to think for our clients? Next time, stop and ask questions and get to the heart of the matter. Then take action.
Comments(26)