........DEFINITION

........SMALL BUSINESSES

........MULTICULTURAL MEDIATION

SMALL BUSINESSES - Ways to avoid court

Answer the phone – It's better to respond to complaints and unhappy employees/customers  right away. Ignoring someone's attempt at communication won't make them go away.  It may make them even more unhappy.  While in court, many times I have heard one party say to the other, “I tried to call you and I left you messages, sent you letters but you never called back. I had to drag you to court to get your attention.”

Tell the truth – If you can't meet a deadline or provide something in a contract, tell the customer right away. It's always easier to negotiate through difficulties BEFORE you are sued.

Know the laws that govern your business – All it takes is one disgruntled employee who finds something you're doing illegally to jeopardize your whole company.  Don't give them anything to find.

Continue to gather feedback – As your company grows, when you hire managers, continue to solicit direct feedback from customers and all levels of employees.  Remember, no one loves your company as much as you, the owner, do.  Your managers may not be treating your employees or customers in the way you want them to.

Create and use processes - Processes take time to create and follow, are bothersome, and most of the time don’t seem necessary.  However, the lack of a process or the failure to follow a process can lead to lawsuits when things go wrong.

Put a clause requiring mediation, as a required step in the case of a dispute, into all your contracts – No contract can cover every possible contigency. If there's ever a disagreement on the meaning or intent of a contract, you will have a chance to discuss it with the other party, with a mediator facilitating the discussion, before resorting to the courts.

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