Marc, the mediator, steps in. He contacts Alice and Bob and facilitates their remote communication.
Marc asks, one after another,
- To Alice and Bob: a timeline of the key events and their perspectives on the dispute,
- It is up to Alice to clarify and quantify her current request and provide justification for it,
- Bob made his offer and provided his justification in response to Alice's request,
- It is up to both sides to make an effort toward each other,
- Alice and [name] are both making an effort, but not enough to reach an agreement.
When Marc realizes that the parties are no longer moving toward each other quickly enough, he sends them a proposal by email. Alice accepts the proposal, but Bob rejects it, and the mediation ends in failure (in about 40% of cases).