DAY 1

Course overview and objectives

• a forthcoming negotiation
• the three processes you need to get right

Who am I negotiating with?

• types of negotiators and how to work with each type
• authority levels and decision-making, background culture

My style, my skills and my energy

• the skills and attitudes of the effective negotiator
• my own areas of strength, and areas I need to work on
• building an effective negotiating team

Developing a strategy

• research and preparation
• aims, goals, plans and tactics

The phases of a negotiation

• before entering the arena
• the handshake – getting the opening right
• using summaries, timeouts and signposts

DAY 2

Predictable tactics used by tough negotiators

• developing counter-measures
• ten tips which will always help

Dealing with difficult people

• what makes some people so difficult to deal with?
• typical difficult behaviours and how to handle yourself
• gaining respect

Managing conflict 

• productive conflict, dealing with aggression

About concessions

• are you in the zone of potential agreement?
• trading not conceding – ‘If you . . . then I . . .’
• what is your BATNA? What is theirs?

Bringing it to a conclusion 

• building common ground
• summarising carefully
• ‘walk away is better than a bad deal’

Action planning