Certificate in Mediation Skills for OH Professionals
29 November – 1 December 2010,
The Canonbury Academy, London

Programme

Monday 29 November 2010

The first day provides a general introduction to the principles, processes and practise of mediation and an opportunity to see mediation in action. Topics covered include:

• Understanding conflict the causes of conflict, how we react to conflict and how conflict escalates
• The wider context for mediation
• Understanding mediation - the process and the core principles and the relevance of these to your daily OH work
• A demonstration of mediation in action

At the end of Day One, you will be able to:

• Recognise the early warning signs of conflict and understand how and why people react as they do
• Understand how the use of the mediation process and principles might apply in your role at work
• Identify the core skills that mediators use
• Describe the difference between a 'traditional' and a 'mediated' approach to a client/patient interview

Tuesday 30 November 2010

The second day looks in detail at the communication skills and strategies that mediators use and provides the opportunity for you to practise these skills using OH specific case scenarios.

Topics covered include:

Communication skills: active listening; rapport building; non verbal communication; empathy

• Advanced communication skills: reframing; dealing with emotion ? Getting to the root of the problem
• Impartiality and overcoming prejudice
• Facilitation, negotiation and influencing skills

By the end of Day two, you will have practised a range of communication skills, in order to:

• Understand how to help clients move from entrenched positions
• Remain impartial and understand the benefits of doing so
• Help others to identify and clarify for themselves the ?real? problem and how best they can go about resolving it

Wednesday 01 December 2010

The final day of the course looks at strategies and techniques for problem solving and examines how mediation techniques can be used when managing group meetings (eg. case management meetings).

Topics covered include:

• Techniques for joint problem solving
• Mediation skills, principles and process in joint meetings
• Mediation do's and don'ts
• When referral to formal mediation might be appropriate

By the end of Day three, you will be able to:

• Understand principled negotiation and know how to encourage a collaborative approach to problem solving
• Apply mediation techniques to an OH case management conference
• Understand how to assess whether external mediation intervention may be appropriate

About the Conference

This new three-day course is specifically designed to train occupational health professionals in using mediation skills in the workplace. A lively blend of theoretical and practical learning, the course will focus on developing mediation skills and strategies and learning how to integrate these into your daily occupational health practice.

The focus of the course will be on:

• identifying the skills and strategies used by mediators
• understanding the benefits of a mediated approach
• practising the skills and strategies used by mediators
• understanding how these skills and strategies can be incorporated into the daily working practice of the OH professional

The mediation skills learnt will be of great value to OH professionals and to their organisations. Improved communication and listening skills will result in more effective management of both one-to-one consultations and interviews with clients/patients, and of group meetings and case conferences. These skills should also prove of particular benefit in absence management cases, where relationship or communication problems are leading to absence or hampering a return to work. The knowledge and skills learnt will be useful in helping to restore working relationships, resulting in long-term benefits to the organisation.

How will attending this course benefit you?

Attending this course will be enable you to:

• Understand the principles and practise of mediation and apply these to your own area of occupational health work
• Explore and practise a range of mediation skills and strategies and be able to apply these appropriately and effectively in the workplace
• Analyse the concept of conflict, why it happens and how it escalates, and its affect on short- and long-term absence and delayed return to work
• Explore individual responses to conflict and know how to make interventions appropriate to the situation
• Recognise the circumstances under which referral to a professional mediator may be appropriate

The course will focus on developing your practical skills, enabling you to:

• Enhance your listening and communication skills to help you to conduct more effective interviews and discussions with clients/patients in your day-to-day OH practice

• Enable employees to identify the real problems that may be causing or prolonging their absence and to help them to think through solutions to overcome these

• Handle conflict situations and difficult conversations with greater confidence

• Build and maintain successful relationships at work, both within the OH department, and across departments, to assist you in your everyday work, and in times of organisational change

Who is the course designed for?

The course is designed for occupational health professionals, and other professionals working in an OH setting, or with responsibility for OH issues. There are no pre-entry requirements.

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