Construction, engineering, or IT, are often prone to disputes. In business, complex stakeholder relationships can easily generate disagreements that escalate into disputes. The expense of these disputes can be enormous to every party, and should be avoided at all costs.
Continuous conciliation is the best means of ensuring that communication and trust are withheld between all parties throughout long projects.
WHAT IS CONTINUOUS CONCILIATION?
As a preventative approach, continuous conciliation keeps a commercial relationship healthy over a long period of time. The conciliator’s aim is to avoid any lapse of communication and trust by addressing issues as soon as they arise.
When big corporate projects generate disagreement and key issues are not addressed along the way, the cost of missed decisions or ignored friction increases exponentially with time.
The conciliator sits at the table of regular meetings and steps in whenever he identifies seeds of dispute. They are attentive to the quality of trust and communication and to the collective ability of parties to have difficult conversations.
Their neutrality and independence, and the fact that they have been appointed by all parties, gives them legitimacy and permission to speak if they see or feel that things are not going as they should.
The group directly addresses the issues with the conciliator and finds a way forward that improves communication, and ensures trust is maintained and that relationships between all parties remain healthy.
WHEN IS IT APPROPRIATE?
Continuous Conciliation is best employed early on in large-scale commercial projects and lasts throughout the duration of the project.
THE STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS
Step 1 – All parties commit to employing a conciliator.
Step 2 – The conciliator is invited to attend all of the key meetings to ensure levels of engagement, trust, and communication are healthy.
Step 3 – The conciliator steps in whenever he identifies seeds of disputes, or potentially damaging disagreements.
Step 4 – Parties address the issues and avoid disputes.