Effective Negotiating Skills Workshop

This two-day program provides participants with a practical understanding of the highly regarded negotiation process developed at Harvard University that is outlined in the book Getting to Yes. Participants will leave this program with a full understanding of the best practices of negotiating, whether they are used to negotiate a major business agreement or to settle a misunderstanding with a colleague. In the workshop setting, teams of participants are asked to negotiate positions in a realistic oil and gas case study to demonstrate and internalize the process.

Additional information

Program Type

Program Content

The key steps you will take to successful negotiations are:

Step One Discover Underlying Interests of the Parties
Underlying motivations, needs and concerns, fears and aspirations, understand your interests, understand the interests of the other side.

Step Two Generate Options to a Negotiated Solution
Inventing options to meet underlying interests; option as a possible agreement but not a commitment; obstacles that inhibit the invention of options.

Step Three Identify and Use Independent Standards
Making negotiation a joint search for independent standards, use standards to persuade and protect, distinguish which standards are appropriate.

Step Four Deal with People Problems
Separate the people from the negotiating problem; use people techniques to solve people problems: acknowledge emotions without blaming, improve communication- listen actively.

Step Five Generating Alternatives to a Negotiated Solution
Explore alternatives to the existing negotiated outcome; improve the terms of the negotiations; have an alternative solution in your back pocket; enhance the confidence of the negotiating process.

Step Six Reaching Closure
Think about closure before you begin negotiations, move toward closure gradually as negotiations proceed; start with a framework for agreement; only agree to everything at the end.