Mediation - What Is It?
Mediation is a process by which a neutral third-party helps participants to resolve their dispute in a collaborative, mutually cooperative manner. The mediator sponsors a conversation between the participants by creating an environment in which they feel comfortable discussing their views of the dispute, and helps them identify the underlying issues in the dispute and possible options as to how those issues might be resolved. The hallmark of mediation is cooperation, not conflict, and the agreement reached by the participants themselves is mutually beneficial and voluntary.
"Facilitation" is a process in which a trained and experienced facilitator, who is not himself or herself a stakeholder, plans, develops, and runs a structured and effective meeting that produces a clear result that is commonly understood and supported by all participants.The meeting may be a part of a large project, may involve strategic planning, may look to improve basic performance, or may be focused on resolving specific issues or on planning a specific event.