Sweetening sour relationships may need more than just a spoon full of sugar. The following excerpt from the book, Friend & Foe: When to Cooperate, When to Compete, and How to Succeed at Both (by Maurice Schweitzer, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Adam Galinsky, a professor at Columbia Business School. friendandfoebook.com) talks about the importance of using a mediator to facilitate face-to-face meetings with people we consider foes. “We often think that meeting face-to-face is the best way to build a relationship. This is certainly true for fledgling relationships and for existing relationships that need to be nurtured. When we face foes, however, face-to-face meetings can actually escalate conflict. Sometimes we need to take a break from seeing each other and have someone help mediate: A mediator can help two foes bridge their differences and repair their relationship.” The authors go on to say that based on the analysis of hundreds of labor disputes, when a mediator came in and held private meetings with each disputant before a joint mediation session, conflict was reduced and better agreements were created.
