The VA-EMP can be used anytime both parties mutually agree to use it. Mediation allows the persons affected to create their own unique solutions, instead of taking the problem to an outside decision-maker and having that person s solution imposed on them. Mediation is a voluntary process and unless all parties want to participate in the process, time, and resources should not be expended. All parties must be willing to try to work the problem out between themselves.
Mediation helps the persons involved to develop realistic and mutually satisfactory solutions.
Mediation, unlike arbitration or court proceedings, does not focus on who is right or who is wrong. It focuses on forward thinking and solving the problem at hand. Mediation helps the parties become the decision-makers by understanding and listening to each other and by working together to create options and solutions which meet their concerns. The goal of mediation under the VA-EMP, and of mediation generally, is for the parties to work together to reach a voluntary agreement that will satisfy each of them. Sometimes mediation can result in solving part, but not all of a dispute.