Members of condominium communities and other community associations often live or work closely together, which makes resolving disputes in a constructive way especially important. Mediation offers a practical and relationship-focused approach. Instead of taking sides or declaring a winner and a loser, mediation encourages open communication and mutual understanding. This can reduce tension and help preserve and possibly even improve long-term relationships within the communit

Mediation and arbitration are two common ways to resolve disputes without going to court, but they work quite differently. In the simplest terms, mediation emphasizes cooperation and choice, while arbitration emphasizes decision-making and finality. Mediation is a collaborative process. A neutral mediator helps the parties communicate, understand each other’s perspectives, and explore possible solutions. The mediator does not make decisions or impose outcomes. Instead, the pa

In the field of war, the word “engagement” refers to specific, limited tactical combat between opponents. It is sword against sword, rifle against rifle, army against army, and so forth. It can involve full-scale, well-planned battles, or unexpected direct combat on the ground. “Engagement” means something else in the field of home and community conflict resolution. To be clear, engagement in war is not  conflict resolution, even if, as a result, the war might end. That’s not

Forgiveness is an often misunderstood virtue but is also often cited as an important and effective component of conflict resolution. While we feel angry, hurt, or offended, we often push the quality of forgiveness away. We view forgiveness as something we might bestow as a consequence of conflict resolution rather than as a means of accomplishing it. It is something we think that we could offer as a reward to our adversary in return for their willingness to compromise and, es

People do not typically go into mediation, arbitration, or any other dispute handling system, with gratitude on their minds. But they should. It would make things go much better. An old hymn penned by John Oatman Jr. reminds us to “Count [our] many blessings,” promising the gifts of comfort, help, and surprise will accompany the activity. Today, I contemplated gratitude as I was using our small, electric snow blower to clear our driveway of one of winter’s last hurrahs. I rem