Personal Strengths And Reflection Of An Alternative Dispute Resolution

Introduction
This reflective journal will be divided into three parts. Firstly, I will address my expectation from this Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) course and later assess how largely the course itself has fulfilled mine. Secondly, by evaluating my negotiation and mediation experiences in class simulations together with prior experiences, I would also reflect upon my personal strengths and weaknesses in terms of techniques and strategy used in those simulation exercises. Thirdly, I will critically discuss several issues that have caught my attention throughout the course and map out my future in the field of ADR.

Expectation to the course
My expectation
Prior to this course, I had only little experience in negotiation in a legal

The principled negotiation greatly assisted both parties to view their range of options objectively with the tools of BATNA, WATNA, etc. It could provide a regulated framework for both parties to work out their solution on a step-by-step basis, and it required the soft skills (i.e. flexibility and demeanor) in finding common grounds and accommodating the needs of both sides as the eventual outcome is

In the following rounds of mediation simulations enabled me to interchange my positon from mediators to disputants and put myself in others’ shoes. This exercise demanded another set of skills, such as neutrality and impartiality, and the mediator had to be physically and mentally equipped for the enduring processes of opening, private caucus meetings, conclusion, and follow-ups. One must be extremely cautious as you must strictly abide by the rules of confidentiality and no conflict of interests, as you are also not expected to act as a legal advisor for both sides.

My previous skills and experience did come into play when I was trying to achieve outcomes between parties and to balance their expectations. However, the procedural matters and legal awareness which is specific to mediation and negotiation are extremely new to me and they further exposed my weaknesses of not knowing the ideas of impartiality and confidentiality well. Still, I would rate my status of skills as fair as I managed to muddle through the whole process and achieved tangible and mutually beneficial outcomes for