Mediation Skills Lab: A Community for Veterinary Leaders

Course Overview

Managing conflict is one thing; facilitating a structured conversation between people in dispute requires a more specialised set of skills. Veterinary managers and practice owners may need to help team members work through conflict or draw on mediation techniques when trying to resolve a dispute between a clinic and client. Without a clear process, even well-intentioned conversations can become unproductive or fail to address what matters most to the people involved.

Led by Accredited Mediator (AMDRAS) Cat Walker, this intermediate three-month skills community takes participants inside the mediation process, from preparing and opening a conversation to identifying underlying interests, reframing unproductive communication and developing practical agreements. Participants examine veterinary scenarios, observe mediation techniques and practise applying the mediator’s toolkit, with opportunities to bring de-identified situations for facilitated discussion.

Key learning areas:

• Structure a mediation process, from preparing and opening the conversation through to developing practical agreements.

• Use mediator microskills to uncover interests, reframe unproductive communication and move conversations into a collaborative zone.

• Facilitate more sustainable resolution by applying mediation techniques to veterinary team and client dispute scenarios.