The Triangle of Satisfaction, developed by Christopher Moore, is a tool for ensuring that mediation settlement agreements are not only reached, but are also sustainable over time. The tool is based on the premise that people have three interdependent needs that must be carefully considered in order to achieve lasting agreements and decisions. Namely, these include procedural needs (i.e. the need to both listen and be heard), emotional needs (i.e. the personal and emotional aspects that parties bring to the mediation table), and substantive needs (i.e. the material things and issues that people negotiate about).

This tool, developed by Daniel Kahneman in his book “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, deals with the two different ways of thinking that influence our decision-making: fast, intuitive thinking and slow, deliberative thinking. The mediator applies the tool by identifying which type of thinking a party is using in the situation at hand and tries to encourage deliberation and rational analysis to help them make more thoughtful decisions as part of the Enable Resolution phase.

The concepts of Probability and Decision Trees, as developed by Howard Raiffa and Richard Bellman, can be applied during the Enable Resolution stage of mediation to help parties make informed decisions in complex or uncertain situations. These keys help mediators and parties structure their thinking and evaluate the potential outcomes of different choices. This includes the use of probability theory, where parties assess the risks and benefits associated with the different outcomes based on the available information and calculate the expected value of different options. At the same time, the use of decision trees as a visual representation of alternatives and their sequencing promotes an informed decision-making process aimed at achieving a comprehensive solution to the issues at hand.

The Reflecting Team process is specific and only applicable when two or more mediators are facilitating the process. It consists of the co-mediators talking to each other about the progress made so far, while allowing the present parties (whether physical or virtual) to listen to their discussion. By using this technique, the mediators aim to overcome any stalemate and motivate the parties to reach an agreement.