Many public agencies hope that by postponing crucial decisions they may be able to avoid conflict, only to have difficult problems turn into seemingly impossible ones. It often involves many parties, crossing the border between government and private spheres. The issues at hand may be complex and technical. It is important to evaluate what kind of a case you have, and what type of person you think could help resolve it most effectively. There is no universal answer to this question.
Competence depends partly on the context of the dispute and the parties' expectations.
Important skills and abilities include neutrality, ability to communicate, ability to listen and understand, and ability to define and clarify issues. These steps are described on the next pages. Think about your goals for the session. Think about past attempts at negotiation and problems with those attempts. They may be useful in gathering and analyzing information about the problem to help sort out the issues, evaluate the effectiveness of current procedures where needed, and identify possible alternatives for resolving the problem.