This Feedback Digest is based on 21 feedbacks from 13 mediations, initially submitted in March 2017, as well as my personal experience in mediating with Mike as a consultant mediator on many occasions over a period of ten years. The feedback received by Mike, both in written feedback form, and from my own personal experience of working with Mike, is consistently high. All parties who have undertaken mediation with Mike say that they would use him again. Mike has a high rate of repeat business from all the organisations where he has mediated, and clients who first used Mike’s services twenty years ago are still referring cases to him today. Mike’s feedback relates to team disputes and to one-to-one disputes, in workplace settings, in the mediation of complaints, and in commercial and financial cases. His feedback is consistent across all settings and in a variety of organisations: military, emergency services, corporate and banking, communities, international work, universities, and manufacturing. As examples of the feedback that Mike has received, parties comment that were felt they were treated fairly, that Mike got to the heart of the matters that were in dispute, that he was able to get them to have a constructive conversation when they believed this would be impossible, and that he was very sensitive to their needs throughout the process. Mike is also praised for his insight into people’s personal experiences of being in conflict, and of what they would need in order to move forward; he is described as ‘perceptive’, ‘confident’ and ‘professional’ by mediation participants, many of whom also comment that Mike’s approach is pragmatic, ensuring that parties gain tangible results from their mediation process. A consistent theme in the feedback is that Mike is able to cut to the chase, paring away the details that may actually cloud the real bone of contention within a dispute, and being able to encourage parties to address the most difficult issues, yet making it feel safe for them to do so. Mike’s in-depth training and experience as a psychotherapist are clearly brought to bear in his work, as he is able to quickly make sense of a difficult interpersonal situation, and to use his insights to bring about constructive dialogue even when parties have initially been very resistant to this. Another repeated point of feedback, and something that I have witnessed for myself, is how Mike can stay impartial even when parties wish to hook him or want to try and get him to become biased. He is able to politely and assertively deal with any challenge from disputing parties, and this skill has often led to a positive outcome to a dispute. He remains sensitive and empathic even when faced with quite full-on challenges, and has a knack of being able to turn hostility into collaboration. No reportable negative comments have been given in any of the feedback forms or in any of the numerous cases I have carried out with Mike. Ms. Rupinder Mahil March 2017.

This feedback digest was last updated 29 March 2017.