The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict, 4th Edition

15Reaching Understandings and Agreements and Achieving Closure

in the previous stage of the mediation process, parties, with whatever assistance was needed from the mediator, evaluated and refined potential options or positions for understandings and agreements. In the context of completing these tasks some agreements may have been reached and affirmed; however, this is not always the case. We now turn to how parties reach final agreements and closure on their dispute.

We will first examine several strategies that can be used by parties or mediators to reach final agreements. Next, we will explore mediator assistance to help recognize and confirm understandings and agreements. We will then look at how to write an agreement and other ways to memorialize ...