Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

A four-day Training of Trainers on negotiation skills took place in Tbilisi, Georgia, from March 19-20 and 22-23, 2007. Four trainers from each of the six main Georgian parties attended this event. The training is part of the joint programme 2006-2008 'Political Institutions in Georgia' of the Netherlands Institute of Multiparty Democracy (NIMD), the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development (CIPDD) and the OSCE office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

The training on negotiation skills was the second in a series of Training of Trainers carried out by Ms. Jaqueline Verhagen of the Steenkamp Institute of the Dutch Christian Democratic Party (CDA). The participating Georgian political parties (Conservative Party of Georgia, Industry will Save Georgia, Labour Party of Georgia, New Rights, Republican Party and United National Movement) had previously expressed their willingness to improve the knowledge base of their party members and had allocated four trainers per party. The trainings, designed and conducted by both international and local party trainers, intend to prepare beneficiaries to train fellow party members.

Negotiating is a complex process in which various parties with diverging interests try to achieve the best possible results. Hidden agendas, the fear of openly losing face, the importance and complexity of the issues at stake and the interference of the press and the general public make negotiating in a political context quite difficult. Negotiation skills are therefore crucial for political parties. Since these skills are less developed within the Georgian party system, the parties wanted to adress the topic in a series of designated Training of Trainers sessions.

The Training of Trainers sessions on negotiation skills familiarized participants with various theories of negotiations and negotiation techniques and provided them with relevant toolkits and handouts. Through exercises and role games participants learned to distinguish different styles of negotiating and apply more effective techniques to achieve their goals. The development of their negotiations skills was also linked to strategy and scenario planning, which both demand an ability to think about alternatives, the consequences of these alternatives and possible solutions.

With their improved skills and knowledge on negotiation techniques the Georgian party trainers will set out to train fellow party members in the coming months with a view to get a maximum gain out of political negotiations at national and sub-national level. In June a follow-up training is planned, which aims to tackle more general training skills.