All about the negotiation skills course.

Welcome to the Negotiation Skills course. Although people often think of boardrooms, suits, and million dollar deals when they hear the word “negotiation,” the truth is that we negotiate all the time. For example, have you ever :

·        Decided where to eat with a group of friends?

·        Decided on chore assignments with your family?

·        Asked your boss for a raise?

These are all situations that involve negotiating! This course will give participants an understanding of the phases of negotiation, tools to use during a negotiation, and ways to build win-win solutions for all those involved.

Before we get started, let’s take a look at two basic types of negotiation. We’ll consider the three phases of negotiation and the skills you need to become an effective negotiator. 

The two basic types of negotiations require different approaches.

·        Integrative negotiations are based on cooperation. Both parties believe they can walk away with something they want without giving up something important. The dominant approach in integrative negotiations is problem solving. Integrative negotiations involve:

Distributive negotiations involve a fixed pie. There is only so much to go around and each party wants as big a slice as possible. An example of a distributive negotiation is haggling over the price of a car with a car salesman. In this type of negotiation, the parties are less interested in forming a relationship or creating a positive impression.

Course Contents

There are 12 modules / lessons in this course. Some of the important modules / lessons are starting the course, understanding negotiations, getting prepared, laying the groundwork, exchanging information, bargaining, about mutual gain, closing the deal, dealing with difficult issues, negotiating outside the boardroom, negotiating on behalf of someone else, wrapping up, etc.

Course objectives / goals 

Research has consistently demonstrated that when clear goals are associated with learning that the learning occurs more easily and rapidly. With that in mind, let’s review our goals for today.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• ·        Understand the basic types of negotiations, the phases of negotiations, and the skills needed for successful negotiating
• ·        Understand and apply basic negotiating concepts: WATNA, BATNA, WAP, and ZOPA
• ·        Lay the groundwork for negotiation