Mediation is a dispute resolution process where a third-party neutral facilitates the negotiations of two or more parties in achieving a mutually acceptable agreement.

The principles of mediation are:

• Participation is voluntary. No resolution should be imposed on any participant. Any resolution is by mutual agreement and is voluntary.
• The process is private. Only the people directly involved in the dispute, those who represent them, and those who are integral to the resolution of the problem should be in attendance at the mediation.
• Mediation is confidential. There is no need for others to know about what happens in the mediation unless the participants and the mediator agree that it would be beneficial, or there are compelling reasons to limit confidentiality.
• The parties control the outcome of the mediation. People are responsible for their own conflict and their own resolutions.
• Choices are made through informed decision making. People must have adequate information with which to make informed decisions about their conflict’s resolution.

Facilitative: This is the basic form of mediation. All other forms of mediation are built on facilitative mediation. The mediator may make suggestions for settlement options but does not give an advisory opinion on any legal or factual issues in the dispute.

Evaluative: In an evaluative mediation, the mediator gives an advisory opinion as to the likely outcome of the dispute, or an issue within the dispute, if litigated or arbitrated. Opinions may take a variety of forms. There may be a specific opinion on the likely outcome of legal issues in court. There may be an opinion that a judge or jury is more likely to find in favor of one party or the other on a particular issue. The opinion might be a range within which the mediator thinks the damages would fall if a verdict is rendered by a court or a jury.

Transformative: For many, it is assumed that the purpose of mediation is to help two or more parties involved in a dispute resolve a particular problem or set of problems in a way that is mutually agreeable. In transformative mediation, the process focuses on empowering individuals with the knowledge that they can shape their own destiny and to teach them to recognize and have compassion for others. In the transformative approach to mediation, the value of the mediation experience is not dependent on what the mediator can do to facilitate resolving the conflict, but merely on the parties coming together in a forum that allows each the opportunity to be heard, and forces each to hear the other.

A process that is similar to arbitration in everything but the decision is only recommended and not binding.

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