DOHERTY & GUYLER’S EXCELLENT APPROACH
TO MEDIATION IN OUR DIVERSE SOCIETY

Doherty & Guyler have produced an excellent guide to modern mediation techniques here. Their analytical review of dispute resolution has direct significance to our need for strong policies on diversity in the modern workplace today. The book is a practical approach on how to deal with the confrontational aspects of challenging behaviour in modern business without resorting to the courts at first instance.

It is a commonsense book for both the business professional and the lawyer/adviser prior to the litigation process, and it is great for reflective practice on how to respond to conflict in most working environments. The work is also ideal for continuous personal professional development giving sensible solutions to workplace disputes for all levels of the workforce.

The guide gives advice concerning why conflicts arise, the methods of dispute resolution, how mediation can be developed in the workplace, and team mediation and group dynamics. Be prepared for some of the jargon and language we see in educational research and human resources ‘speak’, although, to be fair, Doherty & Guyler use it as sparingly as possible with their case studies which I found most helpful throughout the fifteen chapters.

This essential guide is useful for the trainer who needs to anticipate and pre-empt situations and incidents. It attempts to offer advice to diffuse conflict in all its shapes and sizes and it has an appeal across business structures for all workers in modern society. It is also free of “lawyer-speak” (no footnotes and cases) which will be of interest especially to the modern solicitor, citizen adviser and the unhappy client who wants a ‘day in court’. It is, in reality, an essential guide to survival by mediation where behaviour has become the ultimate challenge not just for the boss, but for all colleagues. ( )