Congratulations to ALA Commercial Director Byron Tyson for successfully completing the CEDR Mediator Skills Training Programme as a CEDR Accredited Mediator.
CEDR’s Mediator Skills Training is a five-day programme covering the skills needed to mediate commercial disputes effectively. The course includes an assessment for CEDR Accreditation, internationally recognised as the standard of excellence for mediators.
The Course was undertaken at CEDR’s training centre at St Pauls, London and covered the key skills and process of mediation, followed by a rigorous two day assessment.
Byron says:
I am delighted to have successfully completed the CEDR Mediator Skills Programme
I learnt a great deal on this course and experienced something closer to what might be termed a revelation in terms of how the mediator and the mediation process works.
I have attended many mediations as a party representative without appreciating what the mediator is doing to build relationships, manage the process and generate a creative problem-solving atmosphere.
I had previously believed the role of the mediator was to help ‘solve’ the issue and act as a neutral conduit rather than to create an environment conducive to the parties problem solving.
Witnessing the CEDR faculty ply their craft made me realise mediation had a lot of unseen moving parts.
We were told early in the course that hostage negotiators spend two weeks training in active listening, which piqued my interest, although I was a touch sceptical. However, now I feel it would be difficult to overstate the importance and power of active listening, especially when coupled with effective paraphrasing, summarising and reframing.
In short, my preconceptions about mediation were shattered, Over the course of the five days I felt I began to understand and appreciate good mediation practice, in real world practical terms.
When I reflect on the course I am reminded of the Benjamin Franklin maxim: “tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
The faculty team at CEDR were brilliant, as were all of my colleagues. We were involved from the get go and fully immersed in the experience, so we learnt.
The people on the course could not have been more collegiate or supportive, which created a great atmosphere and as a group we formed a strong bond in a short space of time.
Going forward I will be an advocate for mediation and offering my services as a mediator for construction disputes. To build my experience I initially intend to focus on low value construction disputes.
I am now looking forward to applying the knowledge and skills learnt to benefit ALA and our clients.
Our 5 year plan (ALA25) sets goals to improve each area of the business with a focus on developing talent as we grow. One of the ALA25 goals is to upskill all staff, and this mediation training fits with that wider objective.
ALA is currently actively recruiting. If you are interested in discussing opportunities to join ALA, please email [email protected] or look at our Current Vacancies.
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