MWI offers Customized On-site Negotiation Skills Workshops for divisions and groups within corporations, businesses and other organizations.  Customized On-site Negotiation Skills Workshops enable organizations to:

• Provide individuals and groups across the organization with a shared vocabulary and common set of skills and tools to help them negotiate more effectively

• Address organization-specific negotiation challenges by using customized role-plays and cases based on participants’ “real-world” scenarios

• Focus on particular areas of negotiation effectiveness such as:

• dealing with difficult people and tactics
• building long-term, strategic relationships
• communicating effectively
• influencing and persuading others
• managing differences in perceptions
• managing roles in multi-party negotiations
  
  
• Maximize resources by offering local workshops for groups of employees rather than sending them individually to public workshops
  
  
• Decide on a convenient time and location for the workshops which complements the schedule of the employees/organization
  

In addition, MWI’s Negotiation Skills Workshops build each participant’s capacity to transform adversarial approaches to negotiation into problem-solving collaborations, producing better outcomes for all parties while enhancing long-term working relationships.  Each training workshop is designed to:

• Stimulate participants’ awareness of the complexities of negotiation
  

• Equip participants with a framework for understanding, diagnosing and leading the negotiation process
  

• Enhance participants’ skills through hands-on experience and feedback
  

• Provide participants with a process for continued improvement and learning

Conceptual Foundation of MWI’s Negotiation Skills Workshops

MWI's Negotiation Skills Workshops build on the ideas and frameworks developed by Professor Roger Fisher and his colleagues at the Harvard Negotiation Project at Harvard Law School. Based on the best-selling book Getting to Yes, the training workshops feature the key elements of Fisher's model, widely known in the field as “integrative bargaining” or “principled negotiation.” Representing a landmark shift in how negotiation is understood and conducted, Fisher's ideas have been implemented throughout the world in all sectors of society, from community-based disputes to intra-organizational conflict to public policy debates. For years, experienced practitioners have reported that training in principled negotiation has increased their confidence and competence.

WORKSHOP METHODOLOGY

Following the teaching model of the Harvard Negotiation Project, MWI uses a hands-on, interactive, skill-centered method of teaching negotiation. Each day of the workshop, core concepts and frameworks are presented in an interactive style to the participants. Building on the interactive presentations, each day centers on case simulations in which participants actually negotiate and apply the theory they are learning. Case simulations are drawn from the teaching materials developed and used by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. After completing each case, instructors lead participants through a systematic analysis of the negotiation. During the analysis portion, emphasis is placed on bringing out the experience and expertise of the group and organizing their ideas into a useful set of guidelines for negotiating in the future.

Portions of the training workshop will be spent: learning a new systematic framework for preparing for, conducting and reviewing negotiations; participating in exercises designed to enhance and highlight particular skills; watching demonstrations of new techniques; and debriefing exercises in small group discussions.

PREPARATION FOR THE WORKSHOP: DIAGNOSTIC PHASE

In order to provide the most relevant training possible for participants in a given organization, MWI conducts “diagnostic” interviews by phone and/or in person prior to the Negotiation Skills Workshop with a cross-section of employees who will be participating in the workshop.  The goal of conducting the diagnostic interviews is for MWI to gain a better understanding of the internal and external negotiation challenges the workshop participants are facing and gain a broader understanding of the structure, business and purpose of the organization in order to:

• Effectively address organization specific negotiation challenges in the workshop; and
  
• Create organization specific case studies and role-plays for the participants in the workshop.

Click here to review MWI's Negotiation Skills Workshop Diagnostic form.  All information provided to MWI will be held in strict confidence.

STRUCTURE OF CUSTOMIZED ON-SITE NEGOTIATION SKILLS WORKSHOPS

Typical on-site programs vary from one to five days in length. The shorter programs (one-day workshops) provide participants with a basic awareness of their current assumptions about negotiation and a conceptual understanding of the “Seven Elements of Negotiation” framework.   The longer programs (three- to five-day workshops) enable participants to improve skills by preparing, conducting and reviewing multiple simulated cases, in addition to learning the theory of negotiation effectiveness.  Shorter programs focus largely on simple frameworks for preparing for and conducting transactional negotiations.  Longer programs expand to include a range of modules depending on client needs, including but not limited to: dealing with difficult people and tactics; communicating effectively; influencing and persuading others; managing differences in perceptions; and managing roles in multi-party negotiations.

PRAISE FOR MWI'S NEGOTIATION SKILLS WORKSHOPS

“The trainers were very involved.  They were very interested in our particular situation here at [our company].”

“I have learned a vast wealth of knowledge on, and a practical appreciation for, the art and theory of negotiation in all of its capacities.”

“The trainers were excellent – they were very well organized and worked well as a team.  I attend a lot of presentations and this is one of the best.”

“The cases were very interesting and realistic and made us want to learn the techniques needed.”

“The teaching staff was superb – very good at demonstrating ideas and leading us in developing them for ourselves.”

 “I found it valuable to get to the underlying interests behind positions, as this can bring up options that are mutually beneficial but not inherently obvious.”

A PARTIAL LISTING OF MWI'S NEGOTIATION TRAINERS

Dina Beach-Lynch
Charles Doran
Erica Fox
Anthony Wanis St. John

Please contact Stephen Frenkel, Director of Negotiation Programs at 800-348-4888 x24 or sfrenkel@mwi.org to discuss how MWI can design a program based on your organization’s needs.  Reduced rates are available for non-profit and governmental organizations.

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