Skip to main content

5 Tips for Adding Video to your Mediation Practice

Video meetings are starting to
replace in-person and phone meetings.
Guest Post from Julie Tolek*

As more services go digital, it is necessary for legal and mediation professional to follow the trend. Clients expect an equal level of convenience and access in purchasing legal and mediation services that is provided in other online services. This means that the technological requirements on a modern law and mediation firm go well beyond having a good website.

It is important for forward thinking mediators and lawyers to add online scheduling, paperless billing, cloud file access and similar options to their regular services for their clients.  Following the growing digital trend, video meetings will likely replace in-person and phone meetings. To help mediators face the changing needs of their practice we’ve thought about the most important considerations involved in adding these services and making them seamless for your clients:

Five things to keep in mind when adding video mediations to your practice: 

1. Are all participants at different locations or will at least one participant be coming to your location? If a participant will be with you in the office, consider whether they should still bring their own device so they can log onto the video conference individually, or do you have a camera system set-up where the entire conference room is in view? Otherwise you might have to sit very close to each other to appear on screen, which can be uncomfortable and awkward. Sitting close to each other might also give the impression of being on that person's “side”, since both of you are together on the other “side” of the camera, seemingly opposing the person who is out of the office on camera. Doing what you can to minimize this effect will keep your mediation in neutral territory.

2. Use a video conference app where you can share a screen. The new normal, even when in real life, is usually to view documents in some digital manner on your device, or to display them on a big screen so everyone in the room can view the document together. Printing every single document is becoming a rarity, especially when there are multiple people working on multiple drafts of the same document. Using a video conference app (such as Zoom) where you can share your screen (even better if you can share specific windows on your screen or apps you are running) makes it easier to go over documents or view websites collectively in the conference, instead of each person having to do it alone and at a difference pace. Remember that while some video apps allow screen sharing on the iPhone or other small device, it might be a bit trickier than on a computer. You can also email any documents you plan to go over ahead of time for the note-takers-by-hand so they can print what they want to and doodle away.

3. Double check your time-zones. Often, clients use video conferencing because someone lives far from any central meeting point, and the easiest way to get everyone together is via video. Make sure that everyone knows in what time-zone the video call is to occur and double check (maybe even triple check!) your calendar. Some calendars have a section where you can change the time-zone of a meeting, which can be equally as confusing as it is useful, depending on whether you have your time-zone settings active in your calendar. When in doubt, an email to participants to confirm the time-zone can get everyone on the same page.

4. Accessorize according to your environment. If there are other people around you and you are unable to be in a quiet room alone, use headphones and add a microphone when possible. Even the headphones that came with your smartphone likely have a microphone on the cable, making them super convenient when joining the video on your own device. You can also use an external microphone if you are using a computer to avoid unnecessary screaming into your screen. Depending on your surroundings, you may not need headphones or a microphone at all. Also if you are using a smaller device like your phone, a tripod or stand will keep you hands free and easily at “eye” level with other participants. Turn your video feed on to test the lighting and make sure people can see you!

5. Don’t be late to the party. Make sure your software is up to date and ready to use so you are not bogged down with updates or issues launching your video app. Just because you are virtual doesn’t mean you can slack on preparation.  Give yourself about 15 minutes to launch and deal with any update prompts, frozen screens, and hardware positioning, and then log in to your meeting. This routine will get you online a few minutes early, which is much better than being a few minutes late.


*Julie Tolek is an Associate at Skylark Law & Mediation, PC and runs her own practice, Think Pink Law.  Julie's practice includes family law & divorce representation, prenuptial agreements, mediation, firearms licensing & NFA trusts, estate planning & probate, and adoptions.

Comments

  1. Intersting, in today’s world, the internet is the first place that people look when they are in search of… just about anything, really, including a skilled mediator. Adding video mediation would be a huge asset.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the purpose of the Divorce Nisi waiting period?

In Massachusetts the statutory waiting period after a Judgment of Divorce and before the divorce becomes final (or absolute) is called the Nisi period. After a divorce case settles or goes to trial, a Judgment of Divorce Nisi will issue and it will become Absolute after a further ninety (90) days. This waiting period serves the purpose of allowing parties to change their mind before the divorce becomes final. If the Judgment of Divorce Nisi has issued but not become final yet, and you and your spouse decide you don't want to get divorced, then you can file a Motion to Dismiss and the Judgment will be undone. Although many of my clients who are getting divorced think the idea of getting back together with their ex sounds crazy, I have had cases where this happened. In addition to offering a grace period to change your mind, the Nisi period has three other legal effects: 1. The most obvious effect of the waiting period is that you cannot remarry during the Nisi period, be

New Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines (2021): Big Changes, Little Changes, Typos & some Unexpected Results

UPDATE: The court has released a web calculating version of the 2021 MA Child Support Guidelines Worksheet .  It resolves some of the typos referred to below, but the unexpected calculations still apply. Every four years, per federal mandate, the Massachusetts Probate & Family Court revisits the Child Support Guidelines through the work of a Task Force appointed by the Chief Justice.  The 2021 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines were recently posted.  They take effect on October 4, 2021.    If you are interested in a training on all of these changes to the new Child Support Guidelines: DMTA Presents the 2021 MA Child Support Guidelines Update  – Attend this event to learn the key updates you need to know for your mediation clients. Presented by Justin Kelsey of  Divorce Mediation Training Associates  and  Skylark Law & Mediation, PC . For a full comparison of all the  tracked changes between the 2018 and 2021 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines you can download a pdf sho

Online Tool for Creating Parenting Plans

It is our hope that all families find a way to resolve conflict peacefully.  This is especially true when children are involved.  Divorced or separated parenting has many complications and the first is just deciding how to share time with a child from two separate households.  Developing a schedule can result in a lot of tension, especially if parents have trouble picturing how this new schedule will interact with their work schedules and the schedules of their children. To help make this easier, we've created an online tool for creating parenting plans that is simple and easy to use: We encourage parents, regardless of the process they are using to divorce, to use this form to assist in evaluating and settling custody disputes. The form allows you to choose between the Model Parenting Plan proposals or customize your parenting plan over a four week period by clicking directly on the form.  When you click on a section of the calendar it switches between Mom and Dad, an