Sometimes it may be helpful to bring a third party to mediate a dispute. Third party mediators should be chosen on the basis of their impartiality, their conflict management skills, and their ability to handle confidential information with sensitivity and discretion. Mediators may be useful in a number of situations. A mediator may be brought in to handle a deadlocked conflict, when direct interactions between the parties are no longer productive. When the parties will not listen to one another, mediators may be used to restore communication between the parties.
Third parties can be useful in conflicts involving sensitive information.
They can serve as fact finders. They can also handle information that the parties are not willing to reveal directly to each other. Mediators may be helpful in resolving disagreements within a party, and so in keeping constituencies unified and supportive. When negotiation progress is stalled, mediators can draw on their conflict management skills to suggest alternative procedures which will get the negotiations moving again. Mediators employ seven basic skills.