Why Negotiation and Conflict Management

Anyone who wants to develop more effective and applied negotiation and conflict resolution skills would benefit from this program.

• Ambitious Professionals
• Sales and Marketing professionals
• Executives
• Managers and supervisors
• Team leaders and team members
• HR professionals
• Project managers
• Trade unionists
• Contractors
• Those who work with customers or clients
• Anyone who wishes to enhance their negotiation skills and make negotiation a more rewarding and effective part of their job

Course Overview

In the ever-changing environment of modern business, firms start and grow by virtue of successful negotiations and by developing long-term relationships among the different individual involved. By the same token, such relationships can break down due to ineffective negotiating behavior and conflict management approaches.

“The key to resolving conflict is suspension of one’s own point of view as the only point of view.”

Negotiation and conflict resolution are crucial skills both inside and outside of work. They are vital for everything from negotiating agreements, negotiating commitment to carry out agreements and changing agreements that are no longer optimal. In addition, leaders, managers, and supervisors spend significant amounts of their time resolving conflicts, mediating disputes and negotiating with others the ability to negotiate effectively and manage conflict is one of the most valuable skill sets within organisations.

This course will start with the conceptual framework of negotiations as it applies to all areas of negotiation in both the public and private sectors. As the course progresses, you will focus on business negotiation skills and strategies designed to help you maintain healthy business relationships. Specifically, you will learn about the concepts, processes, strategies, and ethical issues related to negotiation as well as appropriate conduct in multicultural business contexts. You will examine strategies that are effective as well as those that are not. If a strategy works, you will determine how well it works and discuss alternatives to the less effective approaches. You will also identify various patterns of negotiation and conflict resolution in different national and cultural contexts, and you will gain an understanding of the influence of national and cultural variations in the decision-making process.

What you will learn

You’ll learn how to identify negotiation opportunities, address conflicts and gain an understanding of the unique challenges that exist when individuals, groups and organisations face potential or existing conflict. Through participation in role-playing negotiation exercises with your peers in class, you’ll explore a broad spectrum of negotiation strategies, new tactics to solve ongoing differences and models for securing cooperation and agreement in competitive environments.

You will also learn to better understand the theory, processes, and practices of negotiation, conflict resolution, and relationship management so that you can be a more effective negotiator in a wide variety of situations. If you take advantage of the opportunities this course offers, you will be more comfortable and more productive managing negotiations as well as professional and personal relationships.

This course provides both a comprehensive strategic analysis of the negotiation process as well as the essential tools for planning and managing every negotiation. You will learn to negotiate excellent outcomes externally with suppliers, contractors and customers but also internally within your organisation between colleagues, departments and managers.

The aim of this course is to provide you with a practical skill base that will allow them to:

• Gain self-awareness of your personal negotiation and conflict management style
• Identify your preferred negotiating style and have more confidence in when to use it and when not to use it.
• Develop greater flexibility in choosing the best negotiating style for each particular negotiation.
• Improved ability to negotiate and manage difficult situations effectively both internally within the organisation and externally with third parties
• Know how to change a lose situation into a win-win relationship.
• Know how to get genuine commitment by setting mutually beneficial goals.
• Have the skill to think analytically and strategically about the negotiation process
• Understand the key analysis of the negotiation and conflict process
• Have enhanced vital leadership, management and personal skills that will impact on their performance across all aspects of their professional lives
• Know how to gain a better understanding of the other person’s needs.
• Develop the ability to mediate their own disputes and negotiations and to become a more skilled and effective negotiator
• Explore different explanations for the origins of human conflict
• Understand a general framework for analyzing and resolving conflict

Course Content

This course is designed to be highly interactive, using a mix of case studies, role play exercises, self-assessment questionnaires, presentations and group discussion to develop the themes around participants’ own experiences and needs. It presents an opportunity for participants to practice the skills taught using a variety of hands-on negotiation exercises that stress participation and that reinforce and build on the comprehensive course materials. This approach allows participants to significantly improve their negotiation and conflict management skills and to have all their questions answered by the highly experienced lecturers. Experiential simulations along with constructive and focused peer feedback are used to facilitate the learning of effective negotiating skills. Interactive case studies and simulations allow participants to try out their negotiating skills, examine the assumptions underlying their negotiating strategies, and practice more effective strategies.

Module 1 – Negotiation and Conflict Management: 

• Negotiation and Conflict Management
• Negotiation theory and practice – negotiation defined
• Power and society – the rise of negotiation and conflict management
• The sources of conflict in the organisation
• Conflict escalation and steps to prevent it
• Conflict management strategies
• The two distinct approaches to negotiation
• Understanding your own negotiation style
• Negotiation as a mixed motive process
• Balancing Assertiveness and Empathy

Module 2 – Practical Negotiation Strategies:

• Practical Negotiation Strategies
• Strategic and tactical negotiation approaches to negotiation
• Value claiming distributive negotiation strategies
• Cost and Benefits of Conflict
• Conflict Styles
• Balancing Assertiveness and Empathy
• Confrontations
• Delivering Negative Feedback
• Managing Unacceptable Behavior
• Opening offers, Anchors, Concessions
• Value creating Integrative negotiation strategies
• Sharing information, diagnostic questions & unbundling issues
• Package deals, multiple offers and post-settlement settlements

Module 3 – Negotiation Planning, Preparing and Power:

• Negotiation Planning, Preparing and Power
• Wants and needs – distinguishing between interests and positions
• A three step model for negotiation preparation
• Your position, their position and the situation assessment
• Understanding the sources of negotiating power
• Altering the balance of power
• The power of body language
• Conflict Management Model
• Understanding thoughts from body language
• Dealing with confrontational negotiators

Module 4 – Mediation Skills:

• Mediation skills
• Mediation in practice
• Communication and questioning
• Getting to the Roots of Emotions
• Conversation Management
• Managing Hostility and Aggression
• Downward and Upward Relationship Spirals
• Dealing with Difficult People
• Active listening in negotiation
• Negotiation, Mediation, Arbitration and Litigation
• Mediation as a facilitated negotiation
• Techniques of the mediator – practical mediation skills to help resolve disputes
• Working in negotiation teams
• International and cross cultural negotiations
• Cultural Values and Negotiation Norms
• Advice for cross cultural negotiators
• Communication styles for international negotiations
• Culture clash and how to avoid failed negotiations
• Applying learning to a range of organisational situations
• Political and Legal Issues in International Negotiations

Career Opportunities

This Diploma in Negotiation and Conflict Management is aimed at participants who are looking for a knowledge and understanding of the whole area of negotiation and conflict Management in practice.

The course is relevant to a wide spectrum of professionals who seek to maximize their outcomes and build partnerships in a variety of business situations. The program is open to anyone interested in gaining and improving their negotiation tools and skills.