Masterclass – Negotiation

This workshop aims to develop participants existing capability in planning and executing negotiation. It explores the context of the relationship and the strategies and behaviours that underpin negotiating better outcomes.

Introduction

This intensive two-day workshop explores the context and processes of the negotiation process at an advanced level. There will be pre and post workshop activities totalling about 40 minutes additional workload, as the workshop is founded upon 70/20/10 principles.

This course is designed for:

The workshop will benefit those involved in commercial negotiations who wish to develop their existing capability in managing negotiation processes. This will be of particular benefit to those involved in high risk or high value arrangements.

Course structure

The pre-workshop activity will stimulate thought about the importance of negotiation in contributing to outcomes from the sourcing process. The workshop will be led by an experienced facilitator, and will include a number of sessions involving exercises, case studies and facilitated discussions. The post-workshop activity will seek to reinforce the learning and to maximise the transfer from the workshop to the workplace.

Benefits of attending

Attendance will help develop existing capability in negotiation, and in the tools that may be used.

As well as this participants will gain three key benefits from attending:

1. Greater appreciation of how to relate negotiation to the context of the party’s relationships
2. More capability in preparing for negotiation and executing those plans
3. Less likelihood of the negotiation process failing to realise the planned objectives

Key learning outcomes

• Design and implement negotiation plans for a variety of different relationship types
• Develop negotiation plans relevant to realising business objectives
• Lead the negotiation process and adopt appropriate behaviours at each phase
• Demonstrate a variety of persuasion methods and deploy them appropriately during negotiations

Course Content

The negotiation process in overview

• Planning the what and the how of negotiation
• Risks and opportunities
• Managing the negotiation process

 Understanding the context of the negotiation

• The balance of power between the parties; who needs who more?
• Objectives appropriate for different contexts
• Behaviours appropriate for different contexts

 Managing the political dimension

• The political dimension to the negotiation; how is each party influenced?
• Managing communication flows within our organisation
• Lobby and influencing the other party

Managing the negotiation process

• What is going on at each phase of a negotiation?
• Governance controls and managing the licence to agree
• Staying in control of the negotiation process

Setting objectives

• The link between objectives and relationships
• Objective setting in practice; developing a range of objectives
• Jointly setting objectives in collaborative relationships

Influencing the other party

• How we influence the other party
• Matching the persuasion method to the relationship
• Managing stakeholder behaviour

Interpersonal behaviours

• The principles of assertive behaviour
• Towards emotional intelligence; tuning in to what is said and what is communicated non-verbally
• Questioning and listening

Role play of negotiation

• Preparing for a negotiation
• Two cycles of negotiation practice
• Application of theory in practice

Review and lessons learned

• Key lessons learned
• Tactics and ploys
• The role of planning in shaping outcomes