Good afternoon team
Vision
“Working together to support families, to separate together”
This is the first gathering of the Mediation Team of experts and what a great team we are, ready to make a very positive difference in the challenging world of family separation.
It is the first step of a journey of discovery and development.
By discovery, I mean the process of learning from each other about different, and perhaps better, ways of working together to support each other and ultimately our separating family clients.
By development, I mean the process of creating and developing more effective and efficient ways of working together, to support each other and our separating family clients, as support teams around the mediation process.
The Team and Services
A Mediation Team web platform has now been created, pulling together a range of services and a team of experts to deliver them to our separating families, who have chosen the mediation and coaching processes, to support them through separation to enable them to make their own joint decisions and reach their own agreements, in a carefully contained and managed way, minimising the stress and level of professional costs often associated with divorce and separation.
If you have not already done so, before we meet, please check that the broad description of your role, services and contact details are correct.
Support Team Services – Compass Resolution (compass-resolution.com)
Support Team Home – Compass Resolution (compass-resolution.com)
I have spoken to each of you and to some of you, at some length.
Now is the time to meet each other and begin the process of developing a better understanding about who we are, what services we will be offering to our separating families and how we might work together to develop and provide a team package of services.
How it will work- Process and Practice
My hope is that during the very early stages of separation, as our mediators and coaches, or indeed any of us, begin to work with our clients, we will all think about (and help our clients to think about) which ‘support’ services they might need on their separation journey and which expert(s) from our ‘in house’ team of experts might be the best expert (s) to support them.
As part of the initial discovery and assessment processes, using the website list of services and experts (providing accessibility and convenience), the mediator/coach will be able to consider and discuss with their clients which ‘support’ services and experts might be useful at particular stages, for particular tasks, during each stage of the mediation journey (see 6 stages), by reference to the comprehensive and developing menu of support services (Financial, Parent, Children, Communication, Relationships) on the Compass site.
Example of Financial mediation 6 stages.
- Pre-mediation preparation
- Gathering and understanding information and documentation
- Exploring options
- Creating solutions
- Implementing successful outcomes
- Beyond mediation
Financial
During one of the early stages of mediation, it might be that one or both clients need extra support to understand and gather the correct financial information, ready for the first mediation session, in which case a financial coach, working with one (consultative capacity) or both of them (neutral capacity), could be very useful.
For example, see list of services offered by the Compass Financial Coach (as part of the team).
- Prepare your financial paperwork for disclosure in mediation including your Form E (Mediation Financial Disclosure Booklet)
- Gather the correct financial information and evidence
- Understand the financial information and documentation you receive from your former partner
- Ask the right questions about the financial information
- Prepare to explore and reality test (implications) your financial options in mediation
- Manage financial expectations and maintain a mentally agile and flexible approach and confidence
- Instruct and work with other experts like the pension expert or accountant
Children
It could be that one or more of the children, in a separating family, would like a voice in the separation and mediation process, or that the separating parents need extra support with their communication and co-parenting relationship, before and between mediation sessions (and beyond), in which case careful thought will need to be given to what support is need and why, how to deliver this and who is best qualified and experienced to deliver this support, in the most efficient and cost effective way, working within a team, where necessary.
This support will also include consideration about what kind of support programmes we can offer from our menu of services, resources and programmes.
See list of services offered by the children, relationship and communication support experts
I am sure that we have all found, to one degree or another, that one of the driving needs of the separating family is clarity in the form of clear structured pathways, competent professionals they can trust for guidance and support and a team support process that is ‘joined up’, efficient and cost effective.
This kind of ‘integrated practice and process’ is the challenge facing us and one which I believe we will overcome as our team model develops and grows.
Our ultimate aim is to provide our separating clients with a ‘One stop home of services’ for all their professional needs, as they journey through separation together, delivered in the most efficient and cost effective way.
‘Mediation Teaming’ in 2023 and beyond
Once we have all met each other, the next stage will involve, among other things, the following:
Developing the model: Workshops and online 1on1 Q&A discussions.
Organising individual workshops for categories of experts (around specific tasks and challenges) to discuss their services in more detail by reference to the needs of the separating family and the stages of the mediation/coaching process, including the process(es) of selection, instructing and working with them, in the most efficient and effective ways.
The aim will be to develop agreed principles, processes, roles and practices that work for everyone and deliver the services in the most effective and efficient way- ‘Mediation Teaming’.
The development of this team practice model will depend on, among other things, a willingness and commitment to work together (and promote it-see below) in a way that develops this way of practicing together, which will be one key to the project’s success.
As time goes by we will find that some team members leave us and others join us, but the key will be a ‘buy in’ (intent and commitment) from each of us to this way of working and learning from each other.
I have no doubt that we are all extremely busy in our own practices so the time you give will be extremely valuable and will need to feel worthwhile.
After our meeting and over the next few months, into 2023 I will be contacting sub teams of specific categories of experts to arrange workshops to discuss specific topics.
Generating work
For this project to succeed we will all need to generate suitable work for us to work on together which will rely, to some extent, on work coming in through the Compass Resolution channels but also on the cross referral of suitable clients.
We are of course very happy to refer work to you all and work with you but I anticipate that this process will work best if it is based on, among other things, a degree of reciprocity.
Promotion
Like all great resources, this project will also rely on us all doing what we can, when we have a few spare moments, to work together to raise the awareness and understanding through
· Articles and videos
· Use of social media platforms
· Cross linking website
For example, a simple way and ‘easy win’ would be for those of you with Blog sites on your websites to write an article about your services and how this supports separating couples and, specifically those clients going through mediation, making reference to the Compass Resolution website in the article- Cross linking.
I will certainly be doing the same in articles on the Compass website for those happy to work in this way. This will raise our profiles and this way of working on Google
As with so many things, we will all need to think holistically and creatively.
Learning on the job
Continuing to learn from each other’s experiences, as we shape and refine the team mode,l will be another key to the success of this project.
This can be done in various ways.
I may well create a private LinkedIn group for us to feed into what we are learning from our experiences of working together in this way.
We can also share and learn together during our individual workshops, as we refine the practice and processes over time.
During 2023, I will also be inviting many of you to discuss with me your services, in an online Q&A interview, which can be shared online, from all of us and separating clients can learn from.
Final word
This email only provides a snapshot and introduction into what our project holds in store for us all.
However, don’t be alarmed.
It should not take up too much of your ‘free time’. The focus will be on ‘learning whilst we are earning’ and working together to support our clients, feeding back to each other what we are learning through workshops and our LinkedIn group (and other ways) and capturing these ‘learnings’ in order to develop our team model and practices.
I very much look forward to working with each and every one of you, at some stage, sharing what we learn from our experiences and developing practices and processes that work better for us all and especially our separating clients
Best wishes
John E Hind LLB (Hons).FMCA 0692A.CMC Registered
Mediator. Divorce Coach. Solicitor (Retr’d). Trainer
Director – Compass Resolution Ltd -” Your mediation team”
Author- The Divorce Manual – “All the divorce resources you need, at your fingertips