Figure: 6.1.
CREDIT: O’SULLIVAN SOLUTIONS
THE PURPOSE OF THE S1: SUBJECT MATTER DIMENSION OF QUESTIONS is to introduce all the information that is pertinent to the mediation agenda regarding:
■ The people involved in the conflict
■ The environment (physical, social and psychological) in which the conflict takes place
■ The problem that is the subject matter of the conflict
■ The PEP interaction — the interaction of the people, the environment and the problem
S1 questions need to identify and explore any information about the parties that is relevant to the mediation process.
✓ What do parties need from the mediation process, the mediator and the other party?
✓ What outcomes do the parties require?
✓ What are the things that one party would like to know from the other party?
✓ What positions do the parties adopt?
✓ How do the parties justify and defend their positions?
✓ What is the unique perspective or paradigm of the parties?
✓ What are the meanings, assumptions and conclusions that parties reached about the conflict, and how that feeds into their beliefs and actions?
✓ Are there any misunderstandings or differences in perspectives between the parties regarding the problem?
✓ Is there any cognitive dissonance within either or both parties?
✓ How do the parties communicate with and relate to each other, before or during the conflict?
✓ How are parties experiencing the conflict; what approach have they taken to it and what challenges are they facing?
✓ What was the conflict trigger for each of the parties? What did this engender within the parties?
✓ How have the domains of the SCARF® Drivers Model (status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness) been impacted?
✓ What are the other impacts from the conflict on the parties, their emotions, concerns and worries?
✓ What are the beliefs and values of the parties and what is important to them?
✓ What are the conscious and unconscious underlying interests of the parties that need to be met?
✓ What is the price people are paying for this conflict?
✓ What is the payoff parties may be getting from the conflict, and which they may be slow to relinquish?
✓ Are there any cognitive dissonance blocks to resolution, or any other blocks?
✓ What are the options for movement toward agreements that meet the underlying interests and needs of the parties?
These questions include the social, psychological and physical environment in which the parties are situated. They apply to all mediation sectors.
✓ Geographical or physical factors?
✓ Structures in the environment/organization?
✓ Roles and responsibilities of parties in the environment/organization?
✓ Communication systems — the accepted formal/nonformal systems in the environment/organization?
✓ How information is disseminated?
✓ The decision-making process used in the environment? Consultation processes?
✓ Ownership and distribution of resources in the environment?
✓ The conflict dynamic, and how conflict is managed in the environment?
✓ Culture — boundaries and norms of the environment?
✓ The values underpinning the culture?
✓ Previous attempts at conflict solution?
These questions need to explore and identify any information about the problem that is relevant to the mediation process.
✓ The problem and the issues presenting?
✓ The nature of the problem: structural, communication, relationship, value-based, interest-based?
✓ The scope of the problem?
✓ The causes of the problem? The causes of the causes of the problem? The causes of the causes of the causes of the problem?
✓ The impact of the conflict on the ongoing problem?
✓ The interior and exterior blocks to possible solutions?
✓ The possible options for solution that might solve the problem?
These questions explore and identify any issues regarding the interaction of the people, the environment and the problem.
✓ How the people, the environment and the problem (PEP) interact, influence and impact on each other, particularly with regard to the cause of the conflict, its continuation or escalation?
✓ The connections between the context of the dispute, the people involved, the emotions of the parties, their past and current history in relation to each other and to their views about each other?
✓ The impact of the behaviors of people on the problem, the culture, the dynamic and the atmosphere in the environment?
✓ The impact of the problem, or the culture, or the dynamic or the atmosphere in the environment on the people involved in the conflict?
✓ The external influences on the people and the problem that contribute to the impact and escalation of the problem?