Settle It Now Negotiation Blog

Take a look at Geoff Sharp's Mediator Blah Blah post today about mediation coaching.  Here are five different ways in which a mediator can coach a party to achieve more from the negotiation than he might otherwise be able to achieve without assistance:

1. Talk[] to [the] parties about who is the best person in the group to make the offer to the other side and . . . . [which of their negotiating partners] they might want to look at when they do...

2. [P]resent[] a worst-case settlement offer first then contrast[] that with their present, and more favourable, offer.

3. [Make] their suggestion as if] they were planning . . . . 

4. Point[] out the hot buttons for the other side and assist[] a party to make symbolic offers that will have a favourable psychological impact . . . . 

5. Suggest[] and then assist[] one party to restate all the interests that have been identified in the mediation so far (with the other party's first) - then present a proposal and identify how it meets those interests [in a manner that is] mutually beneficial for all.

Thanks for the tips Geoff!