$0.00 – $6.50
Connie Ozawa
Multi-party, multi-issue facilitated negotiation for five or six players representing civic and business leaders and owner of a senior center regarding the expansion of other groups' use of the center
SCENARIO:
Redwood Hills is a growing, rural community which is suffering from a shortage of public meeting facilities. The Town Council would like the Martha Gold Senior Center to allow access to their facility. The Senior Center Board has called a meeting with current and potential user groups to see whether an agreement is possible on issues including access, fees, financial issues, responsibility for maintenance and repairs, and the Center’s name. If agreement is reached, the Board will adopt the agreement as policy and the County will renew the 10-year property tax abatement arrangement.
This exercise provides an opportunity to examine closely the role of the facilitator and various facilitation techniques as well as the dynamics of multi-party negotiations.
MAJOR LESSONS:
- The value of ground rules in helping to establish the facilitator's role in the process and in managing disruptive communication patterns.
- The critical role of the facilitator in structuring the negotiation process to encourage interest-based negotiations.
- Techniques in which the facilitator can address issues regarding the legitimacy of negotiating parties. Some parties will presume more "authority" in a negotiation than others. In actuality, all parties present at the table have equal legitimacy in the sense that their consent is valued. By reminding parties to consider their BATNAs, the facilitator can create legitimacy for all parties around the table as well as creating motivation for reaching agreement.
- The value of visual aids and graphic displays of information. Graphics representation can be a pivotal tool for clarifying the resources under discussion. Included in this discussion can be an acknowledgment of the varied learning styles of individual negotiators and the facilitator's role in ensuring a common base knowledge.
- The impact of varying assumptions about technical information on options considered and the ultimate agreement.
- The potential difficulty of negotiating symbolic issues. A party may or may not be willing to trade economic compensation for an issue of symbolic value.
TEACHING MATERIALS:
For all parties:
- General Information
Role Specific:
- Confidential information for:
- Senior Center Director W.B. Cutt
- COHA Oregon Representative M. Furia
- Coalition of Civic Organizations Representative D. Kline
- Town Council Member S. Sherman
- AAA Director N. Vie
- Facilitator
Teacher's package (26 pages total):
- All of the above
- Teaching notes
Changing Times for the Senior Center in Redwood Hills Attributes
| Time required: | 3-5 hours |
|---|---|
| Number of participants: | 6 |
| Teams involved: | No |
| Agent present: | Non-lawyer |
| Neutral third party present: | Facilitator |
| Scoreable: | No |
| Teaching notes available: | Yes |
