Mediation with Empathy and Assertiveness. Member Spotlight: Siham Boda
Siham Boda is an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa, having initially practised international humanitarian and constitutional law. She then turned her attention to commercial forensic investigation covering a wide range of industries such as retail, banking, education, law enforcement, manufacturing, and mining both locally and internationally. Her expertise and background have helped her tackle conflict in the commercial and workplace arenas and opened up new career opportunities.
The Legal System in South Africa
Siham’s combined experience has permitted her to provide a range of legal, investigative, strongly analytical, and communication skills to commercial and workplace conflict matters. Working as a clerk to a judge at the Land Claim’s Court, who held pretrial meetings to narrow issues down exposed her to a learning environment that helped her explore effective problem-solving. She stated, “Commercial mediation is an attractive mechanism to resolve conflict as it is cost-effective, swift, and a confidential process. It is a particularly useful way to facilitate strategic and constructive conversations at the executive and board level.” As she continues forward with her career, she hopes to continue growing as a mediator. She stated, “The fallout of the pandemic has provided a lot of unique situations which necessitates having challenging conversations and the mediation process is ideal to navigate these uncharted areas.
After practicing as a litigator Siham noticed that clients had a frustrating experience of the legal landscape. She stated, “The legal process in South Africa is lengthy, cumbersome, and expensive. When I did an MBA, one of my professors, also a lawyer, suggested I look at mediation as an alternative option.” Though she had heard of mediation, she had not formally pursued it. Once she did, she realized the benefits that came with mediation. Mediation, in her eyes, resulted in sustainable outcomes as the parties put forward the solutions that speak to their interests rather than having an outcome imposed by a judicial officer who has no personal involvement in your matter. She further stated, “Even in non-successful cases, there is at least a conversation gets started and communication is re-established.”
Consistency, Confidentiality, and Trust
At the heart of mediation is trust. Maintaining consistency, confidentiality, and a good working relationship with the client and parties is essential and non-negotiable. Siham acknowledged she was grateful for having a legal background as this familiarity assisted her with being effective during the mediation process. What Siham enjoys about mediation is there is constant room to learn, be it learning more effective questioning styles or how better to manage the parties’ emotions in a session.
Her mediation philosophy highlights the importance of addressing parties’ concerns with empathy and assertiveness. When parties have been referred to mediation, she stated, “the parties are well aware of the conflict which has been simmering for a while and they have been living in a limbo state. This is stressful and causes anxiety for the parties and have seen the conflict having a significant impact on client’s mental well being.”
As a mediator developing a life-work balance is incredibly important and it was challenging during the strict lockdowns when outdoor activities were restricted. For her, adjusting to shifting her entire practice was demanding, and despite conducting a fair amount of meetings online before the pandemic. The pandemic has also provided some unique opportunities such as being able to present at international conferences, facilitate training, and conduct mediations for clients she would not necessarily have been able to because of the travel involved.
Workplace Mediation
One of the focus areas of Siham’s practice is workplace mediation. She stated, “it has been very busy during the pandemic because the adjustment to the world of work has either emphasized existing conflict or caused new conflict to emerge.” As a mediator, it is really important to adhere to some wellness practices such as mindfulness and exercise to effectively manage her work. Clients in mediation often underestimate the emotional demands of a mediation process. Siham often has a premeditation session with the parties in order to ease them into the process and discuss any concerns or expectations they may have. In this way, parties feel less anxious coming to the process. Also, Siham says as silly as this sounds she advises that parties have a good night’s sleep, eat before the mediation starts. It is only often at the end of the session that parties realize that it is an exhausting process. In order to manage her own preparation, Siham has on some occasions asked to check the venue before the actual session to ensure that it is an appropriate, confidential setting. In some instances, she has developed a risk scenario map, which has enabled her to think ahead of potential ways the parties may engage and what that would mean for the process.
ARCoM and MBBI
For Siham, working with MBBI has been an enriching experience. It has been through her vocational work, as a Rotarian that she was introduced to MMBI. “My Rotary District together with two other Southern African Districts have established the Africa Rotary Community Mediation (ARCoM) Project which has worked with MBBI to provide training to members of community leaders who will be able to implement these skills.” Her role has in this process has been peripheral, and it has been immensely inspiring for her to work with Prabha and Martin, along with the MBBI team. As she reflected on her path and interests within the context of the MBBI mediation community, her suggestion for mediators who have recently entered the field is to volunteer their time in their local communities to get experience.
She stated, “Establish a name for yourself. You can even go to experienced mediators and ask if you could observe them or even co-mediate. It is essential to ask and not be passive, otherwise, it will be difficult to gain access to the profession.” Though she acknowledged that this would depend on the client and their willingness to let you into a confidential process. She also suggested that experienced meditators, who have been in the field for years, should provide a mentorship forum or opportunities where co-learning can occur for younger mediators.
Article by Elizabeth Gamarra, MBBI Writer