Mediation follow-up: it really matters

Do you follow up with your mediation clients after the agreement ink has dried?

I do and always have. So do other good mediators I know. But I don’t think it’s as common a practice as it ought to be.

In his excellent article, The Importance of Follow Up, mediator and Mediate.com editor John Ford points out,

First and foremost it signals care. The participants know that you share in their desire to succeed. In addition, it signals your realism. We all know how hard it is to change habits. Over time, people develop dysfunctional ways of relating to one another. Agreeing to change behavior is one thing. Actually changing it is another. It also signals an opportunity. Fine tuning an agreement or making adjustments based on lived experience is not a sign of failure but of maturity. By following up you are creating an opportunity for the participants to trouble shoot and consolidate lessons.

When you do the job well—and care enough to check on parties later—people remember you. And sometimes, they even refer others to you.

Your thoughts about follow up? Any special things you do?

By the way…
Are you on my book-release mailing list yet? If not, I hope you’ll sign up. In return, you’ll receive a special book-related offer that will be sent only to folks on my mailing list [Update: The special offer has now gone out to everyone on my private list as of February 11; thanks to those of you who signed up to receive it!]. If you’ve downloaded the complimentary chapter, then you’re on the list.

Copyright © 2008 by Tammy Lenski. All rights reserved.
Photo credit: Antonio Jiménez Alonso