No single method of consensus building is going to work in the face of the enormous complexity and diversity of interests, ability levels and styles typical of public dispute mediation. Transformed Outcomes . Informally negotiated outcomes need to be transformed into formal mechanisms that will bind the parties in credible ways. Thus, even when a group reaches a negotiated agreement, its work is not completed. When there is a great deal of uncertainty about what is likely to happen, agreements may take the form of a schedule of commitments only some of which will be triggered by specific findings or events in the future.
Someone has to monitor implementation to be sure that all the appropriate promises are kept.
New information may necessitate reassembling the parties for further discussion. It is sometimes possible to move ahead with the mediation of a complex public dispute even if all the key parties are not on board. It may be desirable to convene the parties that want to meet and leave open whether the process will conclude. The most important insight to date is that there is no predictable pattern that successful mediation must follow. The first has to do with the impatience of many convening authorities.