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Good question -
And there is no magic bullet. I have had colleagues suggest, first of all that each session is paid for in advance, that way there is less cancellation and less difficulty in assuring that payments clear. Some do suggest a cancellation fee - and even with that ultimately collecting it is a process unto itself that kind of impinges on spirit, I suppose, of mediation.
Ultimately though, the advice I got from one colleague was really powerful. We are a profession, and like any other, we expect to be paid for our services - we should charge a fair rate and not apologize for it - it comes with value don't you know - and then we need to be able to collect the fee as well and expect people to keep their appointments.
Helping clients to understand that we try to be flexible, and at the same time, recognize that planning ahead and agreeing on a session time is part of the mediation process. In other words expressing and getting an understanding that coming to scheduled sessions is part the process. Sure some clients need more flexibility - so understanding that there are probably clients you can't schedule in the same week because you are likely to get multiple cancellations a knowledge/planning piece.
If your clients tend to cancel at that high a ratio though, maybe you have developed a reputation for that, or that message comes through in your early agreements and opening remarks...
If this is happening in first sessions that is more understandable - however even then, I tend to suggest (depending on the mediation context) that the first 30 minutes or so is an opportunity for us to get to know each other - I don't always charge for it unless we get right into the work - that sometimes gives them a chance to feel out the relationship at little risk and once they are there if it is working they understand they need to pay the bill...I need to make sure I schedule enough time though for the session to go on to or else they back up and thats not good either...
no easy answers....good luck
Mitch Gordon
To: ArbitratorsAndMediators@yahoogroups.com
CC: ArbitratorsAndMediators@yahoogroups.com
From: weyork@...
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:36:02 +0000
Subject: Re: [ArbitratorsAndMediators] Re: scheduling
And there is no magic bullet. I have had colleagues suggest, first of all that each session is paid for in advance, that way there is less cancellation and less difficulty in assuring that payments clear. Some do suggest a cancellation fee - and even with that ultimately collecting it is a process unto itself that kind of impinges on spirit, I suppose, of mediation.
Ultimately though, the advice I got from one colleague was really powerful. We are a profession, and like any other, we expect to be paid for our services - we should charge a fair rate and not apologize for it - it comes with value don't you know - and then we need to be able to collect the fee as well and expect people to keep their appointments.
Helping clients to understand that we try to be flexible, and at the same time, recognize that planning ahead and agreeing on a session time is part of the mediation process. In other words expressing and getting an understanding that coming to scheduled sessions is part the process. Sure some clients need more flexibility - so understanding that there are probably clients you can't schedule in the same week because you are likely to get multiple cancellations a knowledge/planning piece.
If your clients tend to cancel at that high a ratio though, maybe you have developed a reputation for that, or that message comes through in your early agreements and opening remarks...
If this is happening in first sessions that is more understandable - however even then, I tend to suggest (depending on the mediation context) that the first 30 minutes or so is an opportunity for us to get to know each other - I don't always charge for it unless we get right into the work - that sometimes gives them a chance to feel out the relationship at little risk and once they are there if it is working they understand they need to pay the bill...I need to make sure I schedule enough time though for the session to go on to or else they back up and thats not good either...
no easy answers....good luck
Mitch Gordon
To: ArbitratorsAndMediators@yahoogroups.com
CC: ArbitratorsAndMediators@yahoogroups.com
From: weyork@...
Date: Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:36:02 +0000
Subject: Re: [ArbitratorsAndMediators] Re: scheduling
I would like to get your input on scheduling of mediations. I feel very fortunate and a little reluctant to be asking this question. I have been mediating for about 4.5 years full-time and still struggle with how to schedule mediations. I am of counsel with a firm and pay overhead to the firm for conference rooms, secretary, receptionist, etc. Ideally I'd like to do three mediations a week but if I only schedule three, one or two may be postponed or settle. I am not in a jurisdiction where cancellation fees are part of the culture. As a result of this dilemma, my secretary schedules a minimum of four and sometimes five mediations a week. (And, of course, when there a five scheduled, there are no cancellations) Four or five difficult mediations in a week is just too much. Has anyone figured out a way to schedule in a sane way and still pay the bills or is it impracticable to do solely mediations?
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