Workshop Topics

The At the Table Negotiating Skills workshop is an intense, two-day, high investment for Superintendents, senior administrators, and school personnel administrators.  The emphasis is on development of the negotiating skills needed in district collective bargaining.

 DAY ONE:  The morning will be spent in the review of negotiations strategy, rules of engagement, absolute rules of interest, legitimacy, gains, objective criteria, and strategies and techniques (knowledge, signals, concessions, details, options, order, self interest, fantasies, controls, etc.).  Bargaining intangibles will be discussed - communication, personality, style, physical space, past interactions, time pressure, utility, and value.  Jim Mills will teach his “16 Tactics” (anchoring, staging, surprise, feinting, authenticity, etc). 

 In the afternoon participants will be assigned teams and roles, and be introduced to the collective bargaining model.  NOTE: the collective bargaining model used in this workshop is a well-developed foundation for professional negotiator skill training; built over the past twelve years in real life negotiations and modified for training school administrators. 

 Teams will review the model collective agreement and review school/community demographics, and then work on developing ground rules, writing proposals, and developing a team protocol strategy (with attention to tone, temperament, and tenor). 

 DAY TWO:  The full day will involve face-to-face negotiating, caucus work, and briefing and debriefing.  Every participant will be actively involved in negotiating activities.  Both the use and recognition of the 16 Tactics will be emphasized.