Mediator as Private Consultant
September 2023
So, you want to be a mediator? It is exciting to consider the work ahead – using your skills to assist people to articulate their concerns and to consider realistic options for resolution. Think of the people that you will meet and the multiplicity of human situations that you will encounter. You will feel more in touch with the human condition in all its forms. In planning your new career, you need to look at where you are going to work. No, wait, actually, how are you going to work?
Firstly, you may work by getting a job as a mediator. There are some jobs for mediators in legal commissions and quite a few for family mediators at various organisations. Secondly, and more commonly, you may work as a private mediator. The work will come from clients that you generate yourself. Yes, you need to be on the ground and get the work, client by client, case by case. It is not a matter of turning up to work and seeing what you have on that day, it is seeing what comes in for you one week, and what comes in the next week, which may well vary. You will be a private consultant.
So, how do you get the work? You need to sit down at the drawing board, and plan how you are going to do this.
Firstly consider:
What area do you want to conduct mediations in?
Is it realistic that you would be suited to that area?
How are you going to get clients?
Who do you know that might give you work?
Who are you yet to know that might give you work? In other words, how do you market yourself to these people?
Who are the types of people that look for mediators? Where do they look? How do you reach them?
Secondly, you need to consider how you are going to keep yourself going while you are at the drawing board:
Don’t give up your day job. This can help with income while you do your planning. And if you later went to part-time, it could be another source of income to help with the irregular nature of mediation work.
Maintain habits that will keep things ticking along to enable you to reach clients. For example, post on LinkedIn regularly. Do those follow up calls to potential clients, from the two cold calls that you make. Have that coffee with colleagues who have done it all before you and have pearls of wisdom to impart.
Thirdly, check the compliance documents that you need. For example:
Have your mediation agreement ready, as well as information document for the parties. (Both are required under the National Mediation Standards.)
Get your insurance.
Create templates for on-boarding new clients and setting out your fees as well as your terms and conditions.
Business coach, Clare Harris of The Solo Startup Coach, says: "Engaging in rewarding work plays a big part in creating fulfillment and purpose in our lives. Being able to do that through your own business is incredibly empowering. I recommend that people be mindful however, that when starting out you must have a business plan and a structured approach."
Planning your approach to building your business as a mediator is exciting, as you imagine the work that you will be doing and how mediation can become a big part of your life. My career as a mediator has taken me in so many directions, from conducting mediations in both the city and in country towns, from working with people of all cultures, including First Nations peoples and meeting mediators all over Australia at conferences and workshops.
Elizabeth Rosa is a Nationally Accredited Mediator, a Trainer and the Principal of Resolve at Work. Elizabeth runs professional development workshops for mediators.