Being a manager and a mediator Tutorial

Dive into the dual role of being a manager and a mediator in our video "Being a Manager and a Mediator." Discover essential skills to prevent conflicts and foster collaboration. Learn how effective organization and active listening can transform team dynamics. Embrace the challenge and enhance your leadership—it's time to develop a more harmonious workplace!

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Is it possible to be a manager and a mediator,

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or at least to be a manager with mediating skills?

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We will see in the first part of this video the essential

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and irreplaceable role of the manager in the prevention of conflicts.

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Then we will see how to be a manager mediator,

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juggling the paradoxes of these two positions.

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When I asked my coached managers about conflicts in their teams,

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most of them have plenty of examples to give me

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about neighboring teams.

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Sometimes as a manager,

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we are more aware of dissatisfaction in neighboring teams than in our own team.

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Why didn't the manager see the conflict coming?

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The responsibilities are shared,

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a little blindness on the part of the manager focused on the result.

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And the teams who tend not to tell their

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boss about the difficulties they are experiencing with them

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or their colleagues.

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The manager therefore has a role that the

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mediator does not have that of preventing conflicts.

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How,

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firstly,

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by eliminating as far as possible the possible sources

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of conflict through efficient organization and value-based management,

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sounds easy to say.

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Proposing a clear,

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respectful,

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fair organization in which being cooperative pays better than conflict.

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Indeed,

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if the power struggle pays more than cooperation,

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employees will have good reason to rush into it.

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To do this,

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be a role model,

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a standard in nonviolent communication.

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Have a clear,

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simple,

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authentic speech.

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No innuendos,

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hidden reproaches,

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arrogance,

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games or tricks and manipulation,

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all of this fuels conflict.

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Share a code of values with your teams.

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Listening,

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clarity,

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respect.

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Minimize injustice,

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competition,

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frustrations,

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low blows,

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the desire for revenge.

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With all of this,

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you will have minimized the risk of conflict emerging.

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Another tip to prevent conflict as a manager.

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Be alert,

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the radar open

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to latent conflicts,

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to growing dissatisfaction,

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to delays and absences,

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to silence and refusal to cooperate,

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and take these signals seriously before a conflict really sets in.

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Third piece of advice,

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question yourself regularly about your management style.

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How does my management generate conflict between me and my employees,

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between the employees themselves?

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If I favor some or simply show more friendship to some,

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I am partly responsible for the conflicts that will break out

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between the employees concerned.

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If I am not clear about everyone's roles and responsibilities,

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I will create tensions and trench warfare between those

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who will suffer from this lack of clarity.

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If I'm too present or too absent,

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I'm going to make frustrations grow.

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If I let people take power behind my back,

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I'm going to create rivalries.

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Yes,

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here is a regular question to ask.

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Does my management generate frustration or conflict?

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And of course

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the answer to this question will come easily to you if

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you regularly ask for feedback with those you work with,

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collaborators,

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hierarchy,

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peers.

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Ask them regularly,

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is our way of working together right for you?

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Are there any changes you aspire to see?

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Chapter 2.

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Being a manager and mediator

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beyond the stage of conflict prevention,

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the manager will have to develop mediation skills.

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I remember a director who was also very talented.

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He showed magnificent values of listening and respect,

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and most of his teams took him as a role model.

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However,

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he found the conflict between two of his employees unbearable.

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Without

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really trying to understand,

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he intervened exasperated,

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and said,

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I've had enough of you and your childish playground squabbles.

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Either you come to an agreement between you or I'll fire you both.

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Might as well tell you that this attitude has added powder to the conflict.

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Maybe he won't hear them fighting any more

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because they'll be afraid of getting fired,

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but in the trench,

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the war will escalate.

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Instead of taking the high ground,

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listening and negotiating,

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the director added an aggressive third person to the conflict equation,

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him.

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Welcome conflict as a manager.

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Be aware that

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even if you have developed a management and

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organization that does not generate much conflict,

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there will be conflict.

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This is normal.

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It is neither a failure on your part.

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Do not feel guilty,

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nor a shame on the part of those who will be the protagonists of the conflict.

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Do not blame them.

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It's just human.

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So my first piece of advice will be to remain a philosophical manager and

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And be OK with the existence of conflict within your

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teams whether you are a protagonist or just an observer.

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As a manager

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you are directly concerned by conflicts on your team.

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Running away from them would put oil on the fire.

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A captain never leaves the ship.

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It is your responsibility to ensure the smooth running of the company

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and the respect of the rules and values within it.

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There are many paradoxes in being both a manager and a mediator.

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You will have to juggle the two roles.

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With the mediator's cap.

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You are outside the conflict with neutrality.

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You're not part of the system.

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You're not responsible for it.

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With the manager's hat on,

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you're part of it.

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It is therefore essential to ask yourself the question of your responsibility.

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Could a change in the organization or in my management

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help to deflate or even make the conflict disappear?

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The manager also wonders what he can do at

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his level while the mediator does not intervene.

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One of the mediator's roles is to understand the conflict,

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what the source of the conflict is,

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and what fuels its escalation.

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Your position as a manager will give you useful information to understand it.

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You know the situation and the people.

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You know what is expected from each one,

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but

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this knowledge is necessarily biased.

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You already have your opinion on situations and people.

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Taking on the role of mediator means erasing all

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of your certainties about people and situations from your

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database as far as possible and listening to people

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as if you knew nothing about the case.

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Be neutral or take sides.

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Here again is a paradox in the role of manager mediator.

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Neutrality is a basic principle of the mediator,

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but the manager cannot be.

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First of all,

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they have their own database as we saw earlier,

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and then they are responsible for the smooth

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running of the service and for the results.

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The mediator does not point in any direction.

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They agree with any form of solution that the parties find in the negotiations.

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The manager,

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for their part,

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must ensure that the solutions will not create injustice for other

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employees and will not harm the interests of the organization.

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The manager therefore cannot completely surrender the decision making

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power to the parties as a mediator does.

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The mediator's mission is to supervise the solution

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found by the parties by formalizing it,

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ensuring that it is balanced,

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contractualizing it,

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and organizing the follow up.

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The manager has the leeway and the hierarchical

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authority to transform the decisions taken into objectives.

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They will later be able to give positive feedback

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for any positive progress and we'll reframe deviations.

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Despite all the paradoxes stated,

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yes,

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the manager can use many lessons of mediation.

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It's up to them

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to find the balance between the two postures according to the situation.

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The current tendency to replace the verb

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manage by facilitate goes in this direction.

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Managers are asked to become facilitators,

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putting aside subordination,

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autocratic decision making,

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and directive management for more shared leadership.

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The facilitator empowers collaborators in the pursuit of objectives

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in line with shared vision and shared values.

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The art of mediation is fully in line with facilitation.

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In order to acquire these talents,

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I invite you to watch the videos on the qualities and roles

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of the mediator and on the 10 points to successful mediation.

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Above all,

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I invite you to train yourself

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in mediation.

Mandarine AI: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW