Negotiation Skills for Public Service Bargaining Structures in Botswana

The skills, knowledge and capacity of employers and workers’ organizations representatives are critical in preventing labour disputes and achieving outcomes and agreements that meet the interests of all parties. The course aimed to create a learning environment where parties had an opportunity to build rapport and further develop their capacity to address bargaining challenges that the Public Sector representatives experience in Botswana. The learning experiences were used as a bridge for bringing the parties together and developing stronger sound labour relations in the country. The gender dimension of bargaining was also covered. Effective negotiation skills are were acquired through a combination of theoretical and practical learning activities. OBJECTIVES This course aimed to provide the participants with the capacity to: • actively use negotiation theory • choose when to apply interest-based negotiation as opposed to positional-based bargaining • apply newly-acquired negotiation techniques • demonstrate improved negotiation skills that allow mutual gains. CONTENT The training sessions covered the following topics: • The negotiation theory • Approaches to Conflict Management • Outcomes of negotiation/ What is positional bargaining • Needs based bargaining/Allowing mutual gains • Best alternatives to a negotiated agreement/Reality testing • The Techniques and Skills for the Bargaining Process • The Gender Dimension of bargaining • Putting into practice the negotiation skills for bargaining ACHIEVEMENT At the end of the course, participants were able to: • Actively use the negotiation theory • Choose when to apply interest-based negotiation as opposed to positional-based bargaining • Apply newly-acquired negotiation techniques • Approached the gender dimension of bargaining. • Demonstrate improved negotiation skills that allow mutual gains.