IRS's "Reaching Agreement" class earns kudos from TEI members.

• Position: Recent Activities

For several years, the Internal Revenue Service has invited a limited number of TEI members to participate in a training course the agency developed to teach negotiation techniques to its employees. The IRS's "Reaching Agreements" course combine book learning (complete with homework) and role-playing exercises to turn the theory of "Getting to Yes" (from the nearly iconic book by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton, which serves as the textbook) into practice. By including TEI members as well as IRS employees in the classes, the course developers hope to illustrate--through reverse role-playing, among other things--the importance of striving to make issue and case resolution a "win-win" process.

From the outset of the Reaching Agreements program, the participating TEI members (and staff) have responded positively to the opportunity. In early February, a program was held in Jacksonville, Florida, and the following comments...