Mediation, Consensus Building, and Facilitation Ona Ferguson Chris Kluchman Shiona Sommerville

1. MEDIATION, CONSENSUS
BUILDING AND
FACILITATION
Massachusetts Association of Planning
Directors
2011 Conference
New Bedford, MA
June 9, 2011
Ona Ferguson, Chris Kluchman, AICP, and Shiona Sommerville,
AICP

2. Overview
 Introductions
 Communication
 Orientation/Mediator Styles
 Key Mediation and Negotiation Concepts
 Interests and Positions
 Neutrality
 Identifying Appropriate Process and
Resources (How will I use this in my job?)

3. Exercise
Instructions:
 The person at the front of the room may
speak.
 Others must remain silent until directed to
speak.
 Draw what is described to you.
 Your objective is to draw the same image the
person at the front of the room is describing as
accurately as possible.

4. Communication: Advice
 Provide the big picture (intent, the “why”)
 Go fast by going slow
 Use different images
 Look for disconfirmation
 Create a common language
 Foster group responsibility
 Provoke feedback
 Promote active learning

5. Sources of land use disputes
 Varied needs and interests:
 Economic, cultural, personal
 Different and changing values
 Personal & organizational
 Leads to different strategies
 Changing players & roles
 Misunderstandings & miscommunications
 Interpretations of regs & law (rights, facts)
 Relationship history

6. Orientation: Mediation Style
 What is your style as a mediator? Do you see
your scope of discussion as broad or more
focused?
 What is your measure of success?
 Improves interpersonal dynamics, trust between
parties
 Improves substantive outcomes, more efficient
process, etc.

7. Orientation: Mediation Style
Evaluati
ve
Facilitative
Broad
Narrow Based on Understanding
Mediators’ Orientations,
Strategies, and Techniques
(Riskin, HNLR, v1, 1996)

8. Orientation: Personal Bias
 Substance/Relationship tension
 What is your measure of success?
 Improves interpersonal dynamics, trust between
parties
 Improves substantive outcomes, more efficient
process, etc.

9. Key Concept: Getting at
Interests
 Definitions
 Motivations of parties
 Reasons/core needs underlying positions
 Why talk at level of interests?
 Enlarges scope of outcomes
 Creates value
 Reveals common ground, or what parties value
differently (as source of trading)
 Ownership of outcomes hence greater compliance
 Practice Advice
 Focus on parties’ interests not positions
 Use interests to generate options

10. Key Concept: Getting at
Interests
 (Maybe include as final point) Take into
account multiple interests when
communicating
 Substantive (I want to graze 100 acres)
 Procedural (I want a fair process)
 Personal (I need for me respect, dignity)
 Psychological (I am anxious, angry, excited)
 Cultural (I am a member of . . .)
 Cognitive (I understand/don’t understand)

11. Key Concept: Neutrality
 Neutrality one of three principles of mediation
(HMP)
 Party’s self-determination
 Party’s informed consent
 Mediator neutrality
 Not absolute – effort to uphold one can
threaten another
 What are your personal thresholds as a
mediator?

12. Identifying the Right Process
 There are many types of processes, for
example:
 Scientific panels
 Advisory groups
 Charettes
 Committees
 Public Meetings
 Focus Groups
 Each is appropriate for a different purpose
 Makes sense to select carefully the process
you use to engage stakeholders or the public

13. Common Objections &
Responses
Objection Response
It isn’t part of the required process. The required process is a minimum,
not a ceiling. This would supplement
the process.
We aren’t authorized to require
additional processes.
There are likely several points where
collaboration is possible.
It will add extra time & hassle to the
process.
Weigh costs against cost, time and
satisfaction of not doing it.
It will cost too much & we don’t have
money allocated to that.
Paying early on to ensure good
outcome might decrease defense
costs later.
We can handle this ourselves. Control remains as is, the process
would help deliver a good outcome.
Others won’t participate in good faith. Possibly, but tease out interests to
improve proposal and decrease that
later on.

14. When to Seek Support
Some criteria to consider in determining whether
to seek professional mediation or facilitation
assistance:
 Has this conflict evolved over a long period of
time?
 Are there many stakeholders or involved
parties?
 Are the issues interconnected and complex?
 Is there distrust among parties and of the
convener?

15. Resources
 Books
 Fisher, Ury & Patton, Getting to Yes
 Fisher & Shapiro, Beyond Reason
 Susskind, The Consensus Building Handbook
 Susskind & Cruikshank, Breaking Robert’s Rules
 Faga, Designing Public Consensus
 Websites
 The Association for Conflict Resolution:
www.acrnet.org
 The Consensus Building Institute: cbuilding.org

16. Resources
 Presenters
 Ona Ferguson, Senior Associate, the Consensus
Building Institute, 617-844-1127,
oferguson@cbuilding.org
 Chris Kluchman, ckluchman@westfordma.gov
 Shiona Sommerville,
ssommerville@post.harvard.edu