The venue and room setup needs careful consideration and planning. Wherever possible, arrange for the mediation to take place in a private and confidential environment where the parties will not be seen or overheard by other colleagues. An off-site venue is always preferable unless you have the facilities to do this in-house safely and ideally in a different location. This is an additional cost but it is one that is well worth it. The parties will be nervous enough and meeting off-site will help to ensure that they are more comfortable and also more focused on the meeting. If you are in the work environment, there is a danger that minds will wander to "to-do lists", particularly if they can't resist checking e-mails during breaks.
You will also need to have two rooms set aside or at the very least, areas where you can break out and speak to the parties separately should this need arise. Bear in mind that some partition walls between rooms or offices can be very thin, so make sure you cannot be overheard when speaking confidentially to one of the parties. (This is another good reason to go off-site!)
With regard to room setup, this will depend on the environment and what facilities or office furniture you have, but bear in mind the following:
- Make the set up as informal as possible. For example, set the chairs so that the parties are at an angle and not face to face across a desk, as this could be a little intimidating. My usual preference is face the chairs towards one end of the table with me in the middle. That way, communication and eye contact can be directed through the mediator initially if this is necessary. In practice, as the session progresses, I find that the parties usually become more comfortable to communicate directly with each other and maintain direct eye contact.
- Desks or tables are not a necessity and in some cases can be a bit of a barrier. This will depend on what you have in the room, but be prepared to do a bit of re-arranging if necessary.
- As explained later, a flip chart is a really useful tool so arrange for a flip chart or bring a portable one.
- Make sure that some refreshments are available. It is a tiring and intense day, so you and the parties will need plenty of drinks and food at different points. In my case, a constant supply of coffee really helps!
- In practice, you often have to make the best of what you have got and the room setup or facilities may not be ideal. The main thing is to think about how you can arrange things in such a way that it puts the parties at ease as much as possible.