"An ounce of mediation is worth a pound of arbitration and a ton of litigation." -- Joseph Grynbaum, American mediator. In any group greater than two people, you'll inevitably have conflict. (Even two people may prove one too many on some issues.) So it should come as no surprise that your team members will occasionally rub each other the wrong way, resulting in conflicts that come to you for resolution. In most cases, you can all sit down and reach a reasonable agreement after a little give-and-take discussion—assuming everyone wants to work it out. Or, if the disagreement seems petty, you can just make a quick decision and tell everyone to get back to work. But some conflicts are too deep-rooted or antagonistic to dismiss so easily. In those situations, you'll need a set of … [Read more...]