ADR, called in full Alternative Dispute Resolution is a voluntary collection of so many processes geared towards resolving conflicts and disputes with so much confidentiality and also informally.
It is alternative to many traditional processes used to resolve conflicts and disputes but it does not replace these traditional processes at all.
Its main aim is to help the people who are involved in disputes and or conflicts to seek solutions on their own which are mutually acceptable and agreeable to all of them so that they can meet their needs in the end.
What happens in the process is that a third part is involved in the process, not to make to decisions or to guide the involved parties but to facilitate their communication in order for them to make decisions which will help them resolve the conflicts they are having.
The third party is usually a professional who is well trained and has enough experience on such matters.
He does not take any sides at all since he is a professional.
His main work is to monitor the flow of the communication and to note down what has been agreed and what the parties have decided to do.
ADR works very well in times of conflicts between two people or among a number of people.
Conflicts are inevitable as far as people are concerned and some conflicts may be too intense thereby needing the help of a professional in order for the people to decide together on the way forward.
The main advantage of using ADR in such cases is because it is fast in fixing conflicts, it is easier since the parties will decide unanimously on the way forward and it is less costly compared to if the parties went ahead and filed a case in a court.
ADR is also a powerful tool when it comes to planning.
This is because of the many things involved in planning which could be very controversial to the point of causing conflicts between and among people.
ADR is all about communicating and agreeing on the way forward and this is what is needed if people have to proceed with a certain plan.
If the parties are not willing to negotiate then ADR will not work to resolve such a conflict, but if all of them are willing to negotiate, it can work really fast to resolve a conflict.
The main focus of the ADR process is to resolve the problems at hand.
People who are in conflict with each other may be expecting to have a winner at the end of the day but this is not how ADR works.
It does not declare a winner or a looser in the end.
At the end of the process, what we get are solutions to apply in order to resolve a conflict and not a winner.
This is what makes it the best way to resolve a conflict.
It is the only process which will encourage conflicting parties to creatively decide on ways to resolve their conflict.