The Sounding Board

The Sounding Board

Resolving Neighborhood Conflicts Since 1978

Why Mediate?

It's simple: mediation works. Mediated disputes have a proven success rate of over 94%.

Why does it work? Because people are more alike than they are different: most of us want a safe place to raise our families, good neighbors, bosses; we want to do business with people who share our values, who won't take advantage of us...people who'll give us a good deal. We want to feel respected and trusted by those around us.

In conflict situations, we often aren't able to see the "big picture" and our perspectives sometimes become skewed. Mediation helps those in conflict share their perspective through communication, allowing them to find common ground.

What is mediation?

There are different ways to resolve conflict. Some conflicts just resolve themselves; others are resolved by someone else, like a police officer, or a judge. Other times - often times - people in conflict just need a little help to communicate their needs to the other party, in a safe and neutral environment. When parties choose mediation to resolve their dispute, they're inviting a neutral and impartial third-party into the conflict, to help them communicate and resolve their issue.

Mediation IS:

A collaboration between participants. It allows the participants to meet together on neutral ground to talk about their situation with an impartial third-party. It provides a safe environment for the parteis to actually listen to each other.
Confidential. As a professional courtesy, and by law in some areas, everything disclosed during mediation is held in confidence. There are some exceptions to this: The Sounding Board is required to report any alledged abuse to children or the elderly to the police.
Often a last attempt to resolve a situation before it escalates into a civil or criminal lawsuit.
A learning experience. Disputants often leave a mediation session with new and valuable communication skills, such as listening.

Mediation ISN'T:

Always the best method to resolve conflict. Sometimes another venue - like small claims court or arbitration - is best suited to help the participants.
A way for one party to take advantage of the other. The mediator's purpose is to provide neutral and impartial assistance, not to choose sides. If a mediator is unable to provide impartial assistance (which happens occasionally), the session should be rescheduled with another mediator.
A way for one party to gain a "witness" should the dispute escalate into a lawsuit. The Sounding Board's mediators, and their notes, cannot be subpoenaed, and our mediators will not testify in court proceedings.
A guarantee that the situation will be resolved...even if mediation results in a written agreement. While this is true, it is our experience that, when parties are able to finish mediation with a written agreement, the terms of the agreement are kept. Our experience has also demonstrated that if a party isn't able to fulfill an agreement, they're more willing to discuss their new situation with the other party, and work something else out.

What types of disputes does The Sounding Board handle?

Mediation is most successful when the parties will have an on-going relationship of some kind.

The Sounding Board focuses on community mediations, like neighbor relations, neighborhood disturbances, and customer--business disputes. Most of the ongoing relationships we see are those of neighbors and local business...people we see everyday.

We work with local home owner associations, animal shelters, law enforcement agencies, churches, and businesses, and would love to give a brief overview of our services during your group's next meeting. Just submit a request form found under the contact tab, or call 334-4448.

How much will it cost?

The Sounding Board runs a completely non-profit operation; however, there are alwasy expenses involved. We generally ask for a $15.00 tax-deductible donation to The Sounding Board per party, per session. Of course, larger donations are gladly accepted, and services won't be denied because of inability to pay.

Donations help cover the costs of running The Sounding Board, including printing costs (for business cards, flyers) and telephone service. Mediators volunteer their time and expertise, and cover their own costs, such as fuel. Because we partner with Boise State University's Dispute Resolution program, we usually conduct our sessions at no cost using one of the rooms at the SUB on BSU's Boise campus.

If you are a local business owner and would like to donate a service to The Sounding Board (like printing, or fuel for the mediators), please contact Randy Reese, The Sounding Board President, at 334-4448.

What mediation model does The Sounding Board use?

There are several different mediation models in use today. The Sounding Board uses a four-part "pure" mediation model:

Introduction During the introduction, the mediator is introduced to the parties, and gives their background information to establish credibility. The mediator will also go over the logistics of the facility the mediation is being conducted in, and go over the waiver and consent forms. Next they will give a brief overview of the mediation process, and cover any ground rules. After gaining a commitment from the parties to "bargain in good faith" they'll proceed to the next step.

Storytelling This is where the parties - in turn - relate the issues that brought them to mediation, from their perspectives, allowing the mediator to get necessary information, as well as a good feel of the parties' relationship. Storytelling also serves as another - or sometimes the first - opportunity for the disputants to fully hear the other side of the story.

Agenda Building and Negotiation Now that the parties have relayed their stories, they're ready to frame the main issues into negotiable items. With the items set, they can actively collaborate on solutions that meet their needs. Before moving on, the mediator will "reality test" their solutions, to ensure the solutions are viable and meet the needs of both parties.

Agreement, or Agreeing to Disagree With reality tested and workable solutions, the parties formalize their solutions into a written agreement. A written agreement acts as a final "reality test" and clears up any ambiguous or unclear intentions.

Sometimes, though, for many different reasons, a mediation session doesn't end with a written agreement. This happens when the parties can't seem to find a reachable solution, or their time runs out before an agreement is met. Other times, the mediator may end the session if they feel the issue is best resolved in another venue (such as arbitration, or through a formal court), or for other reasons.