Conflict Resolution

Conflict is a normal and natural part of public planning and community life. Conflict resolution requires good faith efforts on the part of conflicting parties, as well as a neutral third party, such as a facilitator or professional mediator. Public agencies are often party to conflict resolution, as a negotiator or as one of the conflicting parties. As a result, it is important for planners to understand the approaches to resolving disputes.

Negotiation and non-binding mediation are alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes designed to resolve a conflict between parties unable to reach agreement. Mediation and negotiation take a problem-solving approach rather than an adversarial one. They provide a structured, semi-formal, and orderly way for people to find agreement. Agency planners can use some ADR procedures; others require outside experts, often called third-party neutrals.

It is essential to include all potential stakeholders in establishing a dispute resolution process. A person or group whose position has been ignored can challenge the legitimacy of the process. Parties in a dispute resolution process can appoint or elect representatives in order to avoid large, unwieldy meetings. This requires that groups be sufficiently well-organized to identify leaders who can speak for the group credibly. The representative process requires a high degree of cooperation and trust in selecting individuals to serve. All participants are accorded equal status in the process and are encouraged to present their views on each issue.

There are seven steps to successfully resolve a conflict:
1. Understand the conflict

	identify essential participants;
	afford all participants an equal standing;
	structure sessions to encourage participation;
	find a neutral location for meetings, probably not in an agency's headquarters;
	achieve consensus among participants on the agenda;
	find convenient times for meetings; and
	provide sufficient time between sessions to do follow-up work and analysis.

2. Communicate with the opposition
3. Brainstorm possible resolutions
4. Choose the best resolution
5. Use a third party facilitator
6. Explore alternatives
7. Cope with stressful situations and pressure tactics

NEGOTIATION

Negotiation can be brought into a process at any time but is most effective before polarization. It is especially useful in informal situations -- to resolve differences among parties, avoid engaging a broader group with local disputes, or address several aspects of a dispute simultaneously. It can be conducted directly by the concerned parties or can take place during the mediation process.

A successful negotiation might be completed in a very short time -- as little as an hour for a very specific issue with a small number of stakeholders, where generally positive, trusting relationships are already in place. For a complex mediation, many months may be required.

MEDIATION

Mediation has a special and distinctive use: it is generally employed when a process has reached an impasse or major breakdown. While mediation can be binding or non-binding, only non-binding mediation is considered here. Non-binding mediation generally has the following characteristics:

	a neutral third party is appointed to find consensus; this is someone with training in dispute resolution; experience from many possible fields -- including public involvement, law, business management, planning, and training; no stake in the outcome; a relationship of trust with all parties to a dispute; strict impartiality and fairness; and ability to make suggestions and to find areas of agreement.
	all interested parties are included, by agreement;
	the parties are asked to participate voluntarily;
	opportunities are offered for local people, as well as officials or leaders, to be heard;
	community people receive responses to their suggestions or concerns;
	the parties work toward reaching agreement; the third party makes suggestions for possible compromise positions and otherwise helps the parties negotiate;
	if agreement is reached, it is usually considered a commitment on both sides;
	written agreements, memoranda, meeting minutes, or reports are usually included; and
	sessions are typically confidential and often protected by State statute as such.

ARBITRATION

Sometimes consensus-building efforts lead to an impasse. This is especially true forcontroversial or complex projects. In such cases, both agencies and participants need another means to determine which way to go. In some ADR procedures such as arbitration, a third party, professional arbitrator will be asked to hear the case from both sides, make inquiries, and render a decision that may favor one side or the other or some compromise. In non-binding arbitration, the decision is not binding on the parties. In binding arbitration, the parties agree beforehand that they will accept the decision regardless of outcome.

While arbitration is referred to as ADR, it is closer to a legal proceeding than to mediation and negotiation in which participants are asked to work through their differences and come up with an agreeable solution.

References and Links:

Community Toolbox: Bringing Solutions to Light
University of Kansas Work Group on Health Promotion and Community Development in Lawrence, KS, and AHEC/Community Partners in Amherst, Massachusetts

Responding to Counterattacks
Resolving Conflict