TOT 114: Ascending and Descending

This technique is generally used in advanced courses or in refresher courses where the trainees are mediators who have handled at least fifty live cases. 

Request 3-4 trainees to give a gist or brief narrative of the facts of the case which was handled very recently, in writing. Brief history should not go beyond ten lines. 

Ask them to identify the stages from the last step to the first step of mediation.

Example

(Backward) Stages	IMPASSE SITUATION	What could have been done Or What could have been done in a better manner (Suggestions from other trainees)
Agreement writing	Power of attorney holder had signed the agreement of settlement, he had no authority given to participate and settle the matter in mediation.The Court refused to accept the settlement.	Mediator ought to have checked himself/herself.Should have requested the Lawyers to verifyShould have requested to get another POAShould not have proceeded with mediation at all unless this requisite was met with.

Pick up another case history from another trainer and get the feedback from all on the third column, regarding the problem faced by the mediator during the stage of agreement.

1.Agreement writing

2. The lady who had agreed for divorce by receiving a huge amount as alimony, refused to sign on the ground that her father is not agreeable for divorce.

1) Mediator ought to have listened to the father also. 2) Mediator should have asked the lady to bring any one else whose views are important for her in making decisions, and involved her father also. 3) Mediator has not addressed the issue of emotional impasse. 4) Mediator has to spend quality time to understand the troubled feelings of the wife.5) Mediator has to see whether she can be assisted to shift her focus from past to future.

STEPS

Thus while using this technique:-

1. Three or four trainees must be chosen from the group.
2. A particular stage of mediation is chosen. (Agreement/negotiation/ bargaining/ setting an agenda etc).
3. These 3-4 trainees must be asked to give a narrative of the case in ten lines, and fill in columns 1 and 2 only. Leaving the third column blank.
4. This must be asked to be prepared well before the training, and a sufficient number of copies must be kept ready, depending on the number of trainees.

Out of the four write-ups one is taken and distributed to all

5. Each of the trainees is to be requested to fill in the third column.
6. Trainees should be informed that their suggestions should be in one sentence only. 

Note 

Pre-briefing must be done by the lead trainer – very neatly and efficiently in order to make the trainees understand the concept properly, without there being any room for confusion.

(In order to make them understand the technique properly, the trainer can also choose to give a sample case with the third column being already filled in.) 

This technique can also be used by making use of the whiteboard. As this is a group activity, this will also help them in understanding the importance of Brainstorming. 

Advantages

1. Participants will enjoy their participatory role in learning through group activity.
2. The cases wherein the mediators had felt some difficulty can be discussed in a more professional manner, and suggestions can be received for overcoming such difficulties.
3. As it is virtually a brainstorming process, the spirit of exchanging spontaneous solution(s) to a specific problem is encouraged.

Debriefing

As part of debriefing, the lead trainer has to inform the participants that the Mediators can adopt the same process in their actual mediations also when there is a situation of impasse so that they need not refer back the matter as not settled, but do this exercise, and take help from their colleagues, without disclosing the identity of the parties to the mediation. 

“Creativity is not the domain of one single person. Through free association of thoughts and brain storming , an accidental suggestion can be the best solution.”

Joshua Fernandez
Malaysian Film Director

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(All copyrights reserved by the author S.Susheela)