Professional background and experience:

Barney Jordaan holds a Doctorate in Law from Stellenbosch University, South Africa and is currently a Professor of Negotiation, Conflict Management and Dispute Resolution at Vlerick Business School (Belgium) where he teaches on a range of MBA and executive education programmes. Prior to taking up this position in 2014, he held several academic appointments in South Africa. These included 14 years as Professor of Law at Stellenbosch University and teaching positions at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town as well as the University of Stellenbosch Business School (where he remains a faculty member). While he was Professor of Law he also practised as an employment law and human rights lawyer before co-founding Maserumule Consulting, a consulting firm that advises organisations on conflict management strategies, negotiation, mediation, employment law and related matters. He regularly travels between South Africa and Belgium for work and teaching assignments.

Mediation experience and style:

Barney has been involved in the mediation field since 1987 as a practising mediator, trainer, academic and author. He is a certified mediator with the International Mediation Institute; Conflict Dynamics; the ADR Group (UK) and CEDR (UK). Between 2011 and 2014 he also acted as an external consultant to the World Bank Group’s Office of Mediation Services. He was a part-time Senior Commissioner of the CCMA and various bargaining councils for more than 10 years and was involved in the training of the first group of Cape Town CCMA panellists. Barney’s mediation style is flexible and depends on the context – it is about fitting the process to the problem and not the other way around. 

Facilitation experience and style:

Barney facilitates large and small group interventions ranging from team building, conflict resolution and relationship building, to transactional negotiations (deal mediation). His style is adaptable to the needs of the client or parties involved and can range from ‘soft facilitation’ to more directive. In both South Africa and in the EU, he has worked with companies across different industries ranging from logistics, shipping, media, food, technology, pharma, technology and banking.

Coaching experience and style:

Barney provides coaching to individuals and teams on a range of topics, including negotiation preparation and execution; preparing for mediation; and conflict management, using his many years of training and practice experience. With one foot still in academia he is also able to stay abreast of the latest science-based approaches and techniques.

Comments from clients:

"Barney has a flexible approach - he helped us improve our communication with the other party while also guiding us with ideas and suggestions about how we could resolve our dispute." (Participant in a dispute in a family-owned business).

"This was my first mediation process and I did not know what to expect. I experienced the process as efficient, fair and productive. The mediator guided us in a friendly but firm and professional manner towards a better outcome than I expected."

"As a lawyer who is used to litigating, I was surprised at what the mediation process managed to deliver. Prof. Jordaan managed the process in a very professional manner and involved the parties' representatives in finding a win-win solution. I will certainly recommend mediation in the future where appropriate."