Methods of Conflict Resolution

The primary processes for dispute resolution may utilize formal or informal methods for conflict resolution. Formal and informal methods include:

Negotiation: involves direct contact between the parties or their representatives; requires a willingness to communicate, and usually a willingness to compromise.

Mediation: a negotiation facilitated by a neutral third-party who assists the parties in moving to resolution. The neutral has no control over the outcome but controls/directs the process.

Arbitration: involves a third-party’s intervention, most often with the power to make a binding decision.

Adjudication: our state financed and administered court system of formalized rules and appealable decisions made by a judge or jury.

Avoidance: a legitimate approach to settlement – consciously chosen strategy of deliberately walking away from conflict as a strategy for its management.

Coercion: force; self-help; a unilateral action by one of the parties designed to effect resolution.

For more detailed explanations regarding the full spectrum of binding and non-binding processes, please explore the links on the left.