Negotiation is an interactive communication process, with all parties seeking to achieve an optimal result. As a negotiation moves through its phases and more information is revealed, each party has an opportunity to weigh the costs and opportunities of particular courses of action. They look for possible alternatives that the other side can off er or accept. All parties are trying to shape the final agreement that will meet their own needs and the needs of other parties in a way that enables them to maximize benefits and minimize costs. A key toolkit for negotiators is a good set of influence skills.

In this program, participants approach negotiation as an opportunity to build agreements that are low in cost and high in value; agreements that will be implemented and sustained over time. They practice using the behavioral skills of influence to persuade the other party to negotiate with them, to elicit key information, to encourage others to disclose underlying needs, or to reveal the options that they are willing to offer, to gain acceptance of offers and commitment to implementation. Through understanding and managing the structure and tactics of negotiation and developing their influence skills, participants develop confidence and competence as negotiators.

Learning Objectives

Participants will gain practical skills to:

• Develop and practice a variety of influence behaviors
• Establish clear and powerful influence objectives
• Analyze the process of a negotiation, know the milestones toward achieving agreement, and manage the process effectively
• Identify important underlying needs and develop options for meeting them
• Choose appropriate behavioral tactics in any negotiation, formal or informal
• Create strong, lasting, mutually beneficial agreements that meet the needs of all parties and build a negotiating relationship for the future.
   

Who Should Attend

The Influential Negotiation course is appropriate for individuals who are:

• Individuals responsible for working with customers, suppliers, subcontractors, resellers, or service providers
• Individuals involved in negotiation about priorities and resources.
   

Prerequisite

There is no prerequisite for this course. It functions as a stand-alone course.

Materials

You will receive a course workbook containing copies of presentation slides, exercises, and suggested solutions.

What You Will Learn

• Introduction to key definitions and concepts; identification of real negotiation opportunities for later practice

• Multiparty negotiation exercise

• Introduction of influence behavior model, analysis, and review of benchmark exercise

• Negotiation exercises emphasizing use of influence skills

• Review of feedback and development of personal learning goals

• Introduction and application of negotiation process model

• Presentation and exercises for eliciting needs and developing options to meet them

• Presentation on negotiating tactics and exercises for selecting a tactical approach that is appropriate to the situation

• Practice in managing the phases of a negotiation

• Introduction to and implementation of a negotiation planning process and practice in conducting influential negotiations