Storytelling and Issue Identification

The name of this phase, storytelling and issue identification, is descriptive of the two functions that occur simultaneously once the disputants begin to speak. The media­ tor encourages disputants to tell their perspectives. As disputants relate what brought them to the point of needing third-party assistance, the mediator inserts a series of skills (discussed in Chapters 3 and 7) to reduce any emotional barriers to settlement. At the same time, the mediator listens to the stories for the relevant facts concerning the disputants’ past relationship and the problems at hand, deducing from the facts a list of the issues to be negotiated. The mediator then can create a plan based on the type of issues that stand between the disputants and settlement and strategize how to proceed during the agenda and negotiation phases.

In the Case 2.1, Noah began by saying, “I couldn’t believe it when on his first day as a supervisor, Reymundo became a management tyrant.” This statement is infor­ mative to the mediator in several ways. First, the tone of the phrasing might suggest Reymundo is emotional about the situation, leading the mediator to think of ways to bring the feeling part of the story to the table. Second, Noah is pointing to the issue of respect or friendship as being very important to him. The mediator would note this relational issue to explore later. If, however, both parties were disinterested in a future relationship, the mediator would skip over relationship-building elements and focus more on the substantive issues. For example, in a landlord-tenant case, the parties may have no continuing relationship and will never see each other after an issue about the cleaning deposit is settled. In general practice, mediators often face a dual need to explore substantive and relationship issues, taking their cues from the parties on what is important to them.