Mediators from These Countries Participated
In the Pilot Project Virtual Mediation Lab
Albania
Barbados
India
Netherlands
Sweden
Andorra
Brazil
Ireland
New
Zealand
Thailand
Austria
Canada
Israel
Russian
Federation
Trinidad
& Tobago
Argentina
England
Italy
Scotland
Ukraine
Armenia
France
Kenya
South
Africa
USA
Australia
Germany
Nepal
Spain
We think using multiple languages is important because in many
countries the concept of mediation is rather new, and often
equated (negatively) with compromise. Thus, we thought that
mediation could be understood more easily if it can be shown in
the language that people speak, so they can see for themselves how
a mediator can help parties communicate more clearly and resolve
their dispute with an agreement they are both satisfied with .
The combination of online mediation
skills and mobile technology can create
entirely new opportunities (and markets)
for mediators
We have also simulated and video-recorded online mediations
with bilingual mediators such as English/German, English/Italian or
Spanish/German. In addition, we have simulated new applications
with two co-mediators. For example, with two co-mediators — Sabine
Walsh in Ireland and Stacey Langenbahn in Texas — we showed how
online mediation can be useful for resolving international parental
child abduction cases, when each parent and their children may live
in different countries or even continents.
Mobile Mediation:
The Next Frontier for Online Mediation
Considering how many people already use laptop computers,
tablet computers, and smart phones, it is reasonable to assume that
the combination of online mediation skills and mobile technology
can create entirely new opportunities (and markets) for mediators.
In order to explore such new Mobile Mediation territory, we have
recently created a team of mediators from around the world. With
our PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device, we want to find
out:
• Which video conferencing software currently available meets
these basic requirements: it is intuitive, secure, simple and
easy to use, and provides excellent video/audio quality
• How parties who participate in an online mediation with a
mobile device behave differently than when they participate
with their PC or Mac.
• What happens if parties can actually "show" to each other
what they are talking or complaining about. For example,
our first simulation of Mobile Mediation shows an online
mediation of a dispute between a homeowner and a
contractor, for an unfinished and unpaid job. In our case,
the homeowner actually walked down to his basement and,
holding a smart phone in his hand, showed to the contractor
(and two of her employees) which parts of their job were
done and which needed to be finished, without having to
describe them by phone or email. (This simulation is posted
on our blog VirtualMediationLab.com)
In the next simulations, we will also show how parties can
share online any kind of information which can be useful for
explaining their perspectives during mediation – for example,
pictures, documents (invoices, estimates, payment receipts), Excel
worksheets for running “what if” scenarios, online whiteboards,
and even videos shot by the parties with their mobile device.
We believe that online mediation, and online training in mediation
skills, will continue to expand in importance, and we intend to
continue our exploration of its possibilities.
About The Author
Giuseppe Leone, professional mediator since
1997, is the founder and project manager of
Virtual Mediation Lab, a pilot project
sponsored by ACR Hawaii Chapter. He is a
past president and current board member of
ACR Hawaii.
Promoting Mediation Around the World
Our experience running and video recording over 100 simulations
with mediators from 28 countries has also made possible to
achieve a second VML goal: showing what mediation means and
how it works in different languages (see box on this page). We
have simulated commercial, family and workplace disputes in nine
languages — English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Polish,
Thai, Romanian, and Greek — and posted those videos on the
“Videos” page of our blog ( http://goo.gl/Jh44h).
