facilitator

A professional trained to help parties negotiate productively. The role of a facilitator may vary, but in most cases they are responsible for keeping the conversation on track and communication open. (Lawrence E. Susskind and Jeffrey L. Cruikshank, Breaking RobertÕs Rules [Oxford University Press, USA, 2006], 27)

The following items are tagged facilitator.

PON Film Series Event: Mediating Public Disputes on Fracking

Posted by & filed under Events, MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program, PON Film Series.

The PON Film Series is pleased to present:
Mediating Public Disputes on Fracking

Thursday, April 25, 2013
7:00 PM – 9:30 PM
Austin Hall 111, Harvard Law School
Free admission; public welcome.  Pizza and drinks will be served.
About the event:

The Program on Negotiation invites the public to a special PON film series event on the topic of hydraulic fracturing, or

Managing Group Interactions in Multiparty Negotiations

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations.

When multiple parties gather to discuss issues, someone has to oversee the group’s efforts, or the process will descend into chaos or stalemate.

A negotiation manager should prepare the group’s agenda, establish ground rules, assign research tasks, summarize conclusions, and represent the process to the outside world.

Role-Play Simulations and Managing Climate Change Risks

Posted by & filed under Pedagogy at the Program on Negotiation (Pedagogy @ PON).

Climate change risks are an increasingly important consideration in many decisions with long-term implications, such as choices around economic development and infrastructure investment. It does not make sense to invest in projects that will be destroyed by sea-level rise or undermined by sustained drought. The enormous uncertainty associated with climate change makes it difficult, however, for decision-makers to plan ahead. This is particularly true in developing countries, where pressing needs like poverty reduction often trump long-term considerations about sustainability.

Water Diplomacy: The Role of Science in Water Diplomacy

Posted by & filed under Conflict Management.

Scientific and technical knowledge is important in water negotiations, but not in the ways it has often been used. It is counterproductive to use scientific information to justify arbitrary (political) decisions. For example, scientific information about water has increased dramatically over the last several decades, but our ability to manage water resources has not improved proportionately.

A Common Ground Approach to Societal Conflict Resolution

Posted by & filed under Events, International Negotiation, Student Events.

The Program on Negotiation is pleased to present:
A Common Ground Approach
to Societal Conflict Resolution
with

John Marks
President and Founder of Search for Common Ground
and

Susan Collin Marks
Senior Vice President of Search for Common Ground
Monday, October 15th, 2012
12 p.m. – 1 p.m.
Wasserstein 2004
Harvard Law School Campus
Please bring your own lunch; soft drinks and cookies will be

Leading Horses to Water

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

The hardest step in negotiation is often the first. Costly lawsuits can drag on it everyone is afraid to be the first to blink. Prospective buyers and sellers can waste endless hours dancing around a possible deal. And in collective bargaining, labor and management teams sometimes paint themselves into corners by refusing to negotiate “matters of principle.”

Video: PON-sponsored negotiation workshop engages Jewish and Arab students in Tel Aviv

Posted by & filed under Daily, International Negotiation, Middle East Negotiation Initiative, Videos.

In March 2011, Professor James Sebenius, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, led a negotiation workshop for Jewish and Arab high school students in Tel Aviv, as part of a pilot program co-sponsored by the Program on Negotiation, with support from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv. This innovative program offered three