The Conflict Resolution Training Program: Participant's Workbook / Edition 1

by Prudence B. Kestner, Larry Ray

Overview

The Conflict Resolution Training Program Participant's Workbook offers both new and seasoned negotiators, mediators, and arbitrators a step-by-step approach for learning dispute resolution techniques. This hands-on workbook is filled with a variety of exercises, activities, worksheets, role plays, and other interactive techniques that are readily accessible for learning the skills needed to resolve conflicts. Trainers and participants can select the sections of the flexible program that best meet their specific objectives and goals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780787955816
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	01/09/2002
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Prudence Bowman Kestner is president of the Institute for Organizational and Personal Transformation, Inc. (I-OPT). Formerly she was the associate director of the American Bar Association's Section on Dispute Resolution (ABA/ADR).

Larry Ray is an attorney in private practice. He served as executive director for the National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) and for the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Dispute Resolution. He provides training for the American Management Association (AMA), the Maryland State Highway Administration, and the Graduate School, USDA. He arbitrates for the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and United States Arbitration and Mediation (USAM). He mediates for the World Banks Group, the United States Postal Service, the National Archives, and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. He serves as a senior instructor for the George Washington University School of Law and Keller Graduate School.

Kestner and Ray have conducted trainings in communication, conflict management, mediation, and negotiation.

Read an Excerpt

The Conflict Resolution Training Program

Leader's Manual

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By Prudence B. Kestner Larry Ray

John Wiley & Sons

ISBN: 0-7879-6077-2

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Chapter One

Part 1 Background for Leaders

Creating a Training Plan

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT to create a detailed plan for any training session, no matter what its length. Such a plan generally includes the following factors:

The purpose. To give trainees a clearer understanding of conflict-resolving communication, negotiation, and/or mediation processes, the stages of each, and the skills appropriate to each stage. (Most of the skills presented in this program are useful in all of these applications.)

The group size. The optimum size of a training group depends on several factors, including the physical site, the furnishings and other materials needed, the complexity of the material to be presented, the number of trainers available, the experience levels of the trainers, and the degrees of emotion likely to be generated by the session. For the training presented in this program, with one trainer, a group of twenty-five or fewer participants is best. This allows for careful monitoring of practice sessions in mediation, negotiation, and communication. The skills of listening, questioning, and observing body language often are practiced in such sessions.

If there is a co-trainer or an assistant who has been trained in past sessions to help monitor the new trainees, the group can be larger. With twotrainers, we suggest no more than forty participants. We have trained up to seventy participants with the help of eight assistants whose job was to observe the trainees and help them to practice appropriate skills.

The goals. Learning goals should be stated in achievable, observable, behavioral terms. This allows you to monitor progress as the training proceeds and to assess the effectiveness of the training afterward. Typical goals for this training are

To provide an intellectual and experiential understanding of conflict-resolving communication, negotiation, mediation, and/or arbitration processes and the stages of each To provide appropriate skills training and feedback to the participants

To help participants to understand the similarities and differences in the processes

The norms. Principles of adult education involve encouraging learning by doing and building on the knowledge and skills that participants bring to the group as well as teaching new attitudes, knowledge, and skills. (More detail about this is provided in Part II.) To enable participants to "open up" and be receptive to the training, an environment must be created that encourages risk taking and openness without fear of ridicule. It is important to establish basic training norms at the beginning of the session; to summarize, these include

Participants' taking responsibility for their own learning

An atmosphere of experimentation and risk taking

Mutual support and encouragement without ridicule

Useful, behaviorally specific feedback

Participant involvement in discussions of what happened, generalizations to what tends to happen, implications of insights, and applications to the "real world"

Other practical norms may include: arriving on time for all sessions and after breaks and meals, not smoking or using alcohol or other drugs during the event, not disclosing what other participants say or do to persons outside the training event, turning off cell phones and pagers while in the training room, and so on.

The methodology. To provide the latest theoretical and practical training methodologies in communication, negotiation, and mediation. To combine lectures with worksheets, instruments, and activities (including exercises and role plays), so that participants learn through participation. The focus is on process, not on procedures. The training is a method of teaching process utilizing the four Ds:

Activities are Described and Demonstrated

Skills are Developed

Experiences are Discussed

The training sequence. When planning a training event, one must select activities, discussion topics, and other interventions that, in a sequence designed to aid learning, will meet the training objectives of the event. Typical introductory activities include

Welcoming the participants and introducing oneself and any co-trainers

Introducing the training event (why the participants are there, the learning goals, possible benefits of completing the training ) and giving an overview of the event

Taking attendance, correcting the roster, describing the facilities available, and describing facility regulations

Establishing training norms

Having the participants introduce themselves

Clarifying participant expectations

Presenting a brief discussion of adult education and the emphasis on practice

Presenting the terminology, background, and benefits of conflict-resolution communication, negotiation, mediation, and/or arbitration

Discussing conflict and conflict management, especially in regard to communication skills

Presenting an outline of the basic steps of the process being taught and a description of the skills involved

The participants are then asked to engage in a variety of activities designed to help them understand the skills involved and the likely consequences of various behaviors. Modeling of the desired behavioral skills allows them to see, hear, and better remember what they are being asked to learn. Discussion helps them to link what they are hearing, seeing, and doing to general principles and to apply these to real-life situations. Practice sessions enable them to hone their skills in a relatively safe environment and to receive helpful feedback.

The activities and discussion topics presented in this manual will help you to plan a training event that is appropriate for your group of participants. It is a good idea to plan for some variation in the sequence, to allow for differences in participant groups, their styles of learning, and their skill levels.

The time. The minimum length of a training event in conflict resolution is three hours. The purpose of a three-hour event generally is to stimulate the participants to pursue the topic more deeply and to suggest reasons for further training. Certainly, we want each participant to walk away with something that clicks as useful, but we also hope that opening the door to this knowledge will encourage more in-depth training at a later date.

In even such a short program, there must be modeling of desired skills and an opportunity for participants to practice a few skills themselves. For example, in a session on mediation, a brief, mock mediation would be conducted and discussed so that lessons about processes and skills could be presented. Participants then could be separated into triads to practice mediation skills.

In some states, a twenty-five-hour session is the minimum required for certification. This allows time for in-depth learning and for practice of processes and skills. This is a typical time schedule. In addition, our contract often specifies three three-hour follow-up sessions. This provides people who have applied their new skills in the real world a setting in which practical questions about particular problems or situations may be addressed.

A forty-hour training program has distinct advantages for the trainees. It provides time for more comprehensive learning, with more practice in processes and skills, and it affords opportunities for deeper analysis of the results of practice. Each session in such a program should be two and a half to three hours long, with built-in breaks of approximately twenty minutes each. There should be at least one morning break and one afternoon break. If lunch or dinner will be part of the day, the times to travel to, accomplish, and return from these must be factored in.

In a college setting, each session is usually one hour and fifty minutes, with one ten-minute break.

A variation that we have used in court settings is that the court administrator conducts a three-hour preliminary session with the participants a week or two before the skills training. Then we conduct two eight-hour sessions on Thursday and Friday and a five-hour session on Saturday. There are two homework assignments: the first is to fill out the conflict instrument in Part IV; the other is for the participants to write about disputes they might like to mediate or negotiate.

The space. The experiential training described in this book requires a larger space than does schoolroom-style instruction. One-fourth to onehalf of a ballroom is the typical size requirement, depending on how many participants are being trained. Chairs are placed in a semicircle (variations are described below). If the chairs are arranged in one of the oval configurations, there are no tables for the participants; they use their workbooks as writing surfaces.

Space to break out into small groups also is required. It is preferable for breakout spaces to be outside the training room so that each subgroup is not distracted by other subgroups. Such spaces may be adjoining rooms or otherwise-unused hallways.

The equipment. A basic room setup requires name tags for the participants, sign-in sheets, pens or pencils and blank paper for the participants, chairs and tables or other writing surfaces for the participants, additional chairs and tables for breakout groups (subgroups), a display table for learning materials, a table for water and other refreshments, a round table with three chairs to be used for demonstrations, and evaluation forms.

Audiovisual equipment and other means of presenting the learning topics also are required. The basics include two to three newsprint charts on easels; and/or an overhead projector, screen, transparencies, and transparency marking pens; and/or a video recorder and large television screen. If you are using computer-generated images, you will need a display monitor.

The refreshments. Most training venues provide the following:

Morning: coffee (including decaf), hot water and tea bags (including decaf), juice, and muffins or breakfast pastries

Throughout the day: iced water, coffee, hot water, and tea bags. Juice and/or sodas are optional, as are cookies at the afternoon break

Participants usually have lunch at nearby restaurants that provide quick service. If no such lunch facilities are available, the trainers may provide box lunches or smorgasbord sandwich fixings.

The physical setup. Whenever possible, create an informal, flexible environment for training, in which movement is encouraged. The chairs may be set in an oval or a half-moon configuration, in either single or double rows, so that there can be flexibility in the ways in which people participate. If that is not possible, arrange the chairs in rows that are like the feathers on the end of a bow. If you are required to have schoolroom-style tables, arrange them at angles from the place where the trainer will be standing while lecturing. If the participant group is small, you may arrange the seating in a circle or open square.

The handouts table and the refreshments table are placed in the back of the room to avoid having them be distractions during the sessions. The round table and three chairs to be used for demonstrations are placed where they can be seen by all participants-often in the "front" of the room.

The viewing screen (for overhead transparencies) or television or display monitor should be placed where all participants can see it easily. This usually is the "front" of the room. We also use several newsprint charts, markers, and easels throughout the training. With these, you can record lecture or discussion points. With masking tape, you can post these, as well as sheets that are prepared in advance, on the walls around the room. These can be changed during the different phases of the training.

Post the training plan or agenda on a wall in the training room. We do not recommend putting times by each segment; we believe that leaving the times open encourages adaptability and creates the opportunity to change the timing, based on observations during introductory activities and feedback from the participants. Some trainers need to set times for all activities in their plans. Some only list times for breaks and lunch. If the plan calls for homework, that should be listed.

You also may want to create some posters to hang in the training room before the participants enter and as the sessions proceed. On a newsprint chart or overhead transparency, we greet the participants as they enter the training room with these or similar words:

Welcome to the World of Negotiation/Mediation/Arbitration/Communication

We use the following phrases for the first phase of the training, and you may want to make posters of them.

If Your Only Tool Is a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail Flexibility 50-50 Creativity Mutually Agreeable Outcome

The Cost of Conflict Is Greater Than the Price of Peace Describe Demonstrate Develop Discuss

Of course, anything posted on a wall can also be presented by means of an overhead transparency or computerized PowerPoint slide.

Sample Training Plan

This sample training plan is designed to help you plan and implement the lessons described in this book. The complete program contains more material than can fit into a twenty-five-hour or even a forty-hour program, so you will need to choose what you want to include based on your goals and objectives. You may want to tailor your agenda as needed for training in specific areas, such as communication, mediation, negotiation, or arbitration.

The sample plan is designed for twenty hours, broken into thirteen one-and-a-half-hour sessions and a half-hour wrap-up session. The training is scheduled over three days and includes two homework assignments. The timing is approximate, with times for giving lectures, leading activities, and filling out worksheets included in parentheses to help you decide what to use. Recommended breaks can be fifteen minutes or full lunch hours, depending on how the lessons are scheduled. Extra breaks should be scheduled before and after role-play practice.

Continues...

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Excerpted from The Conflict Resolution Training Program by Prudence B. Kestner Larry Ray Excerpted by permission.
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Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Introductory Phase 4

Principles of Adult Learning 4

Methodology 5

Four Elements of the Conflict-Resolution Process 5

Feedback Versus Criticism 6

What's Your Headline? Worksheet 9

Extended Interview Worksheet 10

Lesson: The Dispute-Resolution Continuum 11

Definitions of Dispute-Resolution Processes 11

The Multi-Option Dispute-Resolution Approach 16

Dispute-Resolution Worksheet 19

Dispute-Resolution Options Worksheet 20

Lesson: Conflict and Conflict Management 21

Crisis Worksheet 21

Crisis 22

Conflict and Conflict Management 23

Personal Conflict-Management Styles Worksheet 27

Identifying Response Styles Worksheet 28

Adjusting One's Conflict-Management Style 29

Adjusting One's Conflict-Management Style Worksheet 31

Impasse 32

Impasse Worksheet 34

Lesson: Conflict-Resolution Communication 35

Styles of Communication 35

Personal Communication Styles Worksheet 38

Adjusting One's Communication Style 39

An Overview of Communication 39

Empathic Responses Worksheet 45

Active-Listening Problem Sheet 46

Questioning 47

Questioning Skills Worksheet 52

Types of Questions Worksheet 53

Questioning Skills Worksheet II 54

Filling 55

Filling Worksheet 56

Word Association and Target Words 57

Word Association Worksheet 60

Target Words Worksheet 61

Nonverbal Body Language Worksheet 62

Nonverbal Communication 72

Using "I" Statements Worksheet 75

Listening When Under Stress Worksheet 76

Communication Can Cause Conflict 77

Communication Can Cause Conflict Worksheet 78

Lesson: Values, Perspectives, and Power 79

Values Ratings Worksheet 80

Values and Beliefs Worksheet 81

Stereotyping 82

Stereotyping Discussion Sheet 83

Stereotyping Worksheet 84

Perspectives 85

Perspectives Worksheet 86

Squares Worksheet 91

Power 92

Power Worksheet 93

Lesson: Creativity 94

Sign Walkers Worksheet 96

Art in Public Places Worksheet 97

The Water Tower Worksheet 98

The City Sign Worksheet 99

Lesson: Consensus 100

An Overview of Consensus 100

Consensus Worksheet 101

Lesson: Negotiation 103

Positions and Issues 103

Questioning Skills Relevant to the Stages of Negotiation 104

Negotiation Observation Form 106

Lesson: Mediation 107

Mediation Versus Other Dispute-Resolution Processes 107

Disputes That Are Best Suited for Mediation 108

Attributes of Successful Mediators 108

Types of Mediation 113

Lesson: Arbitration 115

Arbitration Versus Negotiation and Mediation 115

Lesson: Role Plays 118

Appendix I The Dispute-Resolution Contractual Clause 154

Appendix II Sample Evaluation Form 156

Appendix III Sample Arbitration Decision Form 157

About the Authors 159