**Negotiation Skills Training**

Negotiation Skills Training Course Outline

Location: Adelaide

By Dana Harris, Business Specialist

Course Overview

Passing her recently at a budget meeting in Brisbane, Michelle, a talented project manager, looked done. She'd just agreed to pull off a major project with 30% fewer resources than she'd need, all because she wasn't sure how to push back professionally. Sound familiar?

The reality is that we're all negotiating all the time, from finding a meeting time that works for our teams to making the case for the tools we need to do our work effectively. Yet few of us enter these critical conversations with anything more than hope and crossed fingers.

This deep dive training changes the way you approach on-the-job negotiations, for everything from salaries to vendor contracts to project scope changes to resource allocation to anything else that happened at work today. What you'll learn: That effective bargaining isn't about being demanding or manipulative, it's about working out answers that everybody can live with and remaining firm when you're already satisfied.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this program, individuals will be able to:

Systematically prepare for any negotiation with battle tested strategies that feel natural to you

Look for the below the surface interests behind declared positions to find win win solutions

Juggle difficult personalities and tough conversations in a professional manner using effective behavioural management techniques

Employ active listening skills to identify key information and develop rapport

Give up strategically to gain strength When you want something and it's turning into a struggle, give up something similar instead of the original goal Make the right kind of concession that can enhance your negotiating posture rather than dismantle it

Respond calmly and professionally to pressure and emotional tactics

Close the gap, ensuring commitments are clear and agreements are visible

What You Will Learn

Foundation Principles

The psychology of agreement and why people say yes or no. We will also examine the distinction between positions and interests and how to move from adversarial to cooperative conversations. You'll discover your negotiation style and how to tailor it to various scenarios and personalities.

Preparation Strategies

Become an expert at pre negotiation research and planning. Learn how to establish achievable goals, what your BATNA (Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement) is and how to prepare for multiple scenarios. We'll take a look at stakeholder mapping and how to understand the other side's constraints and motivations.

Communication Techniques

Create strong lines of questioning that reveal needs and opportunities beneath the surface. Acquire active listening skills that allow you to pick up on subtle signals about flexibility and priorities. Role play requesting your needs in language that appeals to the other side.

Managing Difficult Situations

Deal with a petty backlash, the silent treatment, the deadline crush and a last minute switcheroo with aplomb. Know when to hold your ground, when to bend, and how to preserve your professional reputation in difficult conversations.

Creating Value

Replace zero sum thinking with creative solutions that make the pie bigger for all. Learn how to package proposals, and use timing to your advantage. Learn to make concessions, ones that can actually give you an advantage.

Implementation and Follow through

Make agreements stick by setting concrete steps and accountability measures. Learn how to document the results properly and to manage relationships when negotiating again in the future.

Course Structure

Day 1: Foundations and Preparation

Understanding negotiation psychology

Preparation frameworks and tools

Role playing real workplace scenarios

Day 2: Techniques and Advanced Practice

Managing difficult personalities and situations

Value creation strategies

Complex negotiation simulations

Key Benefits

It is a practical workshop and people walk away with tools they can use in the workplace straight away. No more shirking difficult conversations or passively accepting suboptimal results just because you don't know any other way to proceed. You will learn how to keep healthy work relationships and still stand up and push against what is good for you and for your team using influential communication strategies.

Concluding Remarks

This isn't made up to be something you're not, it's so that you can be more effective at something that already happens in your life every day. Whether you are negotiating project deadlines, asking for more support or going through vendor contracts, you can walk into these conversations professionally and confidently.

Best of all, you'll find that successful negotiation doesn't ruin relationships, it builds them. If people believe you will cut fair deals and hold up your end of them, they are more likely to work with you in the future.

Stop fearing these important conversations, and instead embrace them as an opportunity to showcase your leadership and problem solving abilities.