Promoting effective workplace mediation
Initial research on workplace mediation focused on styles and tactics a mediator should use to conduct a successful mediation. Attention has shifted to the question which strategies and tactics are most appropriate and effective given certain mediation situations, organizational circumstances, and dispute as well as disputant characteristics. In response to this, we developed a model that helps mediators to get insight in the characteristics of the environment that affects the mediation process, and to choose the most appropriate mediation interventions: The 3 R model of workplace mediation. This model refers to three dimensions that are important to consider in case of mediation: Regulations, Roles and Relations. Different combinations of these three dimensions determine together the mediation features and the mediation outcomes. In this introductory chapter, the 3 R model of workplace mediation is explained and used to structure the chapters of the handbook. We focus on four main themes: (I) the mediation process, (II) the context of workplace mediation, (III) mediation and other third party roles and (IV) new developments.