Q & A Table of Contents
We've Got No Leeway, But Want To Keep Good Relations
From: David, Cedarville, Michigan
Question: I am a member of the school board and this year we will be negotiating a new labor contract for our teachers and support staff.
We are a small, rural community and sometimes negotiations can appear personal. I want to avoid that as well as show support for our fine staff.
However, because our school funding is tied to a per pupil rate, we have very little room to negotiate raises, "new and improved" or even improved health insurance benefits, etc. If our pupil count drops down, so does our funding. We cannot raise taxes for operations.
I need skills to understand, to find key areas of agreement, to listen clearly and unemotionally, to find areas of bargaining (how to recognize what I can give up, what I can't, where I can find a middle ground), how to phrase our expectations and limitations in a way that is heard fairly and clearly, how to hear between the lines to what is not said, how or when to hold fast, how to keep communication open.
Response: Your last paragraph shows that you have already reached a clear understanding of some fundamental tools of negotiation. In many ways negotiation is a communication process in which the exchange of information is the key that enables the parties to find complementary interests that lead to agreement.
You will find some of the issues you raise addressed in Negotiating Skills for Managers, published by McGraw-Hill and available at bookstores or through our website.
In your dealings with the teachers and support staff, it is critical to find interests of theirs that can be met without the district having to spend money it doesn't have: vacation time, incentive rewards such as a weekend at a nice cabin owned by a community leader, dinner at a nearby restaurant, exemption from parking tickets during school hours, special/private shopping hours at local stores for holiday gift shopping, etc. can all be ways that teachers and staff get the message that you value them tremendously.
Given that your budget depends on keeping up the school population, you and the teachers and staff may want to put your heads together to develop ways to achieve that objective. Adding value to the students' educational experience through special community programs or rewards that don't add to teachers' burdens could provide a win/win/win result.
Ask lots of questions to find things that trigger out-of-the-box creativity in terms of the working situation of the teachers and staff, the rewards to students (and their parents and community at large) of the local district, and other elements over which the board and educators do have control. Then the factors that are out of your hands may become less daunting.
Good luck,
Steve
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