The coronavirus has demonstrated the shocking fragility of the justice system in a way I expect none of us would have foreseen at the close of 2019. Who would’ve thought that we’d wake up one day to find that months of hearings, conferences and trials, some of which had been scheduled years ago, had been administratively adjourned sine die? Or that there would be applications of critical personal and financial importance to our clients that the courts would refuse to hear because their subject matter was not among those listed in a sweeping procedural order issued sua sponte?
Read moreADR Solutions for a World Reordered By Pandemic - Remote Is Closer Than You Think
The clearest lesson of the pandemic is that we are all connected. Supply chains and the movement of goods and people by air, land and water mean we are all part of a huge interactive web.
Now, businesses around the world are trying to combat the multiple impacts of covid-19, economic peril and, in the USA, racial injustice. Just as the challenges and new issues mount, the courts have had to cope with slowdowns and lockdowns. In an astoundingly quick transition, ADR providers and neutrals have shifted focus to providing dispute resolution services remotely online. They have issued protocols and set up processes, and many online mediations and arbitrations have already been conducted to a positive reception by many prior sceptics. Delay and backlog do not have to hamper an economic recovery that depends in part on cost-effective and efficient dispute resolution taking place now. We knew that businesses with cross-border disputes would require better and less expensive ways to address both routine and bet-the-company disputes, but the need is not yet being fully met. Help is at hand. An arb-med-arb process resulting in a consent award is a solution to an expressed need and it can happen right now (even remotely) before the long process of approval wends its way to completion for the UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements resulting from Mediation (Singapore Convention).
Read moreCount to 10: Patience in the workplace
I WAS walking across the lobby toward the elevator of our office when I heard someone chastising one of the receptionists on duty. She was asking the receptionist why she does not have access to the meeting room on the 6th floor and she gratingly added, “Do you know who I am?” The receptionist scrambled to notify security to assist them, but the tension was not lost on anybody who was at the lobby at the time. She was, in fact, one of the executives of the company but based on her reputation, nobody wants to work with her—and for good reason.
Read more8 Soft Skills That Make You an Even Better Leader
Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer of VaynerMedia, recently shared a quote on her Instagram page that caught my attention: “People skills, EQ, ‘soft’ skills, HUMAN skills – these are our anchors. They ground us, remind us that we are real. Without these we fly away.” Businesses tend to overlook soft skills and focus on hard skills. When LinkedIn released their list of most in-demand hard and soft skills of 2020 earlier this year, unsurprisingly, the hard skills were dominated by computer skills. With the pandemic hitting the world back in March and the forced shift from brick-and-mortar to work-at-home that trend will only accelerate.
Read moreWhat Leaders Need To Know About Bullying In The Remote Workplace
A manager stares impatiently at an empty Zoom screen and thinks: “Late again for our catch up. Typical! And why haven’t they provided the information I requested? Working remotely makes it easier for them to avoid me.” The line report hovers over the ‘join meeting’ icon, with an impending sense of doom. “I can’t face this today. I am going to be undermined and disrespected…again. Such unrealistic expectations. My manager is a bully and wants me out!”
Read moreVirtual Mediations – What to Expect
MEDIATION can be a great option for resolving your ICBC claim. The goal of mediation is to bring the parties together—including an ICBC representative—to discuss the issues and try to reach settlement, with the guidance of a neutral mediator. Traditionally, “bringing the parties together” meant that everyone was physically in the same room. The technology for virtual mediation has existed for some time, but many ICBC claim lawyers were concerned that the mediation process would lose its effectiveness if not done face-to-face. The COVID-19 pandemic forced parties to embrace the use of technology and may have forever changed the way personal injury claims are handled.
Read moreResolving conflict in the workplace
Conflict in life is unavoidable. It could be said that it is part of human nature.
However, conflict in the workplace can put an additional strain on what may already be a stress-filled situation. With upward of one-third of any given day spent in the workplace, it’s always beneficial to have a place of employment that you don’t dread going to each morning because of intraoffice strife – be it between a manager and an employee or between co-workers.
Read moreVirtual Mediations Are Fairly Effective
As numerous people within the legal profession know from firsthand experience, many court conferences, depositions, and mediations have been occurring remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I have attended court conferences and depositions virtually throughout my career, since clients sometimes do not wish to pay travel time for such proceedings, and courts often permitted counsel to appear by remote means before the pandemic. However, I never participated in a virtual mediation prior to the pandemic, and I was extremely skeptical that they could be effective. Nevertheless, recent experiences have shown me that virtual mediations can be fruitful in the right circumstances.
Read morehttp://www.lastbarrier.com/conflict-management/
It has become increasingly apparent that mental health is becoming a bigger player in the story of our working lives. After decades in a purely non-speaking part – one of those characters who move their lips in the background and form part of the ‘rent a crowd’ – workplace mental health is finally being given the chance to be heard and influence the plot.
Read moreConflict Management
Workplace conflict is inevitable when employees of various backgrounds and different work styles are brought together for a shared business purpose. Conflict can—and should—be managed and resolved.
Conflict management is the process for handling disputes and disagreements between two or multiple parties. The goal of this system is to minimize the negative factors that are influencing the conflict and encourage all participants to come to an agreement. Successful conflict management results in a mutually beneficial outcome that’s agreed upon by each party.
Read moreArbitrator rules against CPS in labor dispute with CTU
An arbitrator issued Thursday a final ruling ordering Chicago Public Schools to allow clerks, clerk assistants and technology coordinators to work remotely while cases of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to increase throughout the city.
Read morePreempting Conflict and Ensuring Workplace Civility
Facing remote working and tense political discourse, we continue to endure unparalleled tensions in our personal and professional lives. Business owners and leaders should be attuned to how these stressors could potentially impact their teams’ performances — and ensure strategies are created, fine-tuned and deployed to mitigate issues that may arise.
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