By: Dr. Justin Wood, Th.d., CJME
I see many businesses and people get into heated legal battles over disputes that could be resolved. One of the worst is procrastination. Waiting till the small issue has risen into a major problem. Ignoring things and hoping they will go away does not always work, in fact, it normally makes matters worse.
Better Dispute Management
When an argument, issue or dispute has arisen, the best thing you can do is quickly move to a system that allows controls to manage the situation. We see this every day in law enforcement, universities, theme parks, etc. They quickly start down a pathway of “what level of response” is necessary. Not every issue rises to the point of calling a meeting or stopping production but a dispute management system that is easily remembered, fast to implement, scalable and one that can be deployed in every situation is the best option. No one wants to stop and deal with something unsettling but allowing problems to build can be costly.
Why Handle Disputes Quickly
In the historical perspective, disputes were considered a matter of life and death when not handled properly. Someone could challenge you to a duel, turn everyone buying your product against you, have you excommunicated or even executed by the authority. OUCH.!! But, is it any different today.??
Customers and employees are the killer of most businesses today. With social media so widely acknowledged, it doesn’t matter if “you’re not on Facebook”, they are.! One quick post can be seen by hundreds or thousands of people following or in a group. Picket lines can start in front of your business OVERNIGHT from an unresolved sexual harassment claim. What customer or vendor will cross through that angry mob to enter your business.? Again, with social media the norm, they don’t want their face, business vehicle or signage associated with your problem on the 6 o’clock news or all-over social media.
Businesses that have heated disputes have shown a 20% employee loss within days. Why? They don’t want to deal with the stress or be associated with whatever is going on either. Think about a real good employee that just had a child. They are not sleeping due to home stress, being up all night, they may have stress at their college studies, they may be dealing with an insurance claim from an accident but when they get to work, EVEN more stress. Now they don’t know if the business will survive and worry about their next badly needed paycheck. So, which one of your competitors is hiring.?
Biblical Dispute Resolution
In the Bible, there is a clear and precise outline of how to resolve disputes in Matthew 18:15-20. This starts out very simple and scales to allow for more complex, stubborn or critical matters. The top tier is all private and confidential and everyone is under a formal agreement not to disclose matters.
- Start off with a private negotiation, one-on-one. Pull people aside and see what is going on, what’s happened, where the issue arose. The earlier you do this, the more accurate the information and the less distorted the facts. Now, negotiate to fix the issues. Agree to talk with the person making the offense, move people around, change schedules, have a relaxed Friday, etc. Your creativity allows you to make the greatest impact. If this does not work, advance.
- Bring in a neutral, unbiased person to mediate the issues. A quality trained and credentialed mediator can be invaluable to your business. This can be done after hours, in-person, virtually (online) and does NOT have to rise to the level of a legal complaint. Nip-it-in-the-bud.! Let the involved parties come to an agreement where the mediator can write up a formal memorandum ending the dispute. The parties involved are in control of the process and the agreement, so, the mediator is facilitating and controlling the process in a fair manner. If this does not work, escalate.
- Select a neutral unbiased arbitrator to end the dispute. Arbitration is just like Judge Judy (commonly known as a private judge) that listens to the information, hears witnesses, etc. and makes a final award to how the dispute will be ended. Again, this does NOT have to come to the point of a legal dispute before you can implement an arbitration. Many businesses use this “mediation to arbitration” escalation to end matters before they reach a legal climax. Lastly, if they will not abide by the award or not agree to participate (this method needs to be written in your agreements, handbooks and contracts) then your left with the last option.
- You must higher legal counsel and proceed to court litigation. This is the costliest, most time consuming and stress inducing process to resolve a dispute. Not to mention, you lose all control in the process and privacy / confidentiality just went out the window, opening you up to bad word of mouth, scathing social media posts and group boycotts.
Final Thoughts
When you implement the Biblical Dispute Resolution model, you save time wasted on legal motions and waiting for court hearings plus the time wasted on stress and fighting, you save money spent on legal counsel, court filings and loss of production and customers, you save stress by not having troubles at work and at home, where you can avoid all the nail biting, social media posts and negative publicity.
Remember, set a plan in place that is easy to remember, fast to implement, scalable and can be deployed in every situation. Having a plan like Biblical Dispute Resolution that has been around for millennia, seriously, can save you time, money and stress.
If I can be of assistance to you or your company, please feel free to reach out. I am glad to discuss matters free of charge for up to 45 minutes and help you implement any dispute resolution necessary.
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