It depends. Mediation participants or parties may be in the same room or different rooms. Whether you engage in online dispute resolution (ODR) or in-person mediation, you choose whether you see each other.

When participants choose to be in separate rooms, and the mediator goes back and forth between the rooms, it is called a caucus. The participants may stay in caucus for the duration of the mediation or may come together in the same space at some point.

Most mediations currently occur online through a Zoom platform. The Zoom platform allows all participants to meet in a main room akin to a large conference room. It also allows participants to meet in private conference rooms, which Zoom calls breakout rooms.