Computers, circuit breakers, and some other electronic devices

have a solution in case operational failure—a ‘reset’ button. This

button allows the machine operator to clear the machine’s ‘memory’

and bring it back to an initialized state—a point before the failure

occurred. Thus, it enables the operator to have the machine function

with as little disruption as possible.

 

 

Is pressing a ‘reset button’ really possible in dispute situations? If it

is, under what conditions might this occur? How might this be handled

by facilitators, mediators, and other dispute resolution specialists?

 

 

 

The good news is “yes”, it is often possible to ‘reset’ a conflict

situation. In exploring this possibility, we’ll consider two extremes.

The first occurs when teams or disputants are relatively new to their

relationship. In such cases, they probably haven’t experienced long

periods of distrust of each other. Hence, “resetting” may be possible by

simply by appealing to logic. Unfortunately, there are no mechanical

buttons or means to do this, as in the above electronic examples.

 

 

Consider for example, a high profile multi-party construction

project, in which the various stakeholders had partnered, meaning that

they had established common goals; identified critical project issues;

developed specific plans to deal with those issues; and developed an

issue resolution process targeted at resolving disputes at the lowest

operational level possible. These first steps towards an effective

partnership were taken early in the Initiating and Planning phases of

the project. As work moved into the Execution phase, several key

personnel changes were made based on the technical requirements of

the scope. As these new personnel began to integrate into the project

team, a bottleneck arose that hindered the stakeholders’ ability to

communicate smoothly, stay on schedule and within cost. The project
management team sent a red flag up the chain of command (which