Online Masterclass – Advanced Negotiation Strategy by Richard Birke

The first and most fundamental question in any negotiation is whether you are cooperating with or competing against the other negotiator.  We explore that question through the study of the prisoners’ dilemma, the negotiators’ dilemma and other tools of analysis.

This module will help you solve such basic negotiation questions as

• how to get other negotiators to play fair,
• how to respond to threats
• how to achieve outcomes that leave no value “on the negotiating table”

And more!

Perhaps the most highly regarded method for negotiation is the Principled Negotiation method that emerged from the book Getting to Yes.  The authors were founders of Harvard’s Program on Negotiation and the ideas behind Getting to Yes still form the backbone of the so-called “Harvard Method” of negotiating.

This module is designed to help you become a better negotiator immediately, and we offer steps to start using the method for a negotiation on your desk right now.

There are three different relationships between the interests of your own side and those of the other negotiators.  Interests can be shared – where more value for you represents more value for the other side.  They can differ – where your payoff and that of the other side are independent of each other.

They can conflict – as in a classic tug-of-war where every inch you gain is one the other side loses.  The management of these shared, differing and conflicting interests forms the core of the learning in this module.

You will learn:

• why negotiators overemphasize conflicting interests despite great cost
• how to recognize and use differences to create more value for your side
• a deeper, practical understanding of principled, interest-oriented negotiation
• how to prepare more effectively in negotiation

This module extends and refines the learning from the basic Harvard model, while reinforcing the method through simulations and work on real problems.

When preparing, a negotiator must ask simple but fundamental questions – and the answers will determine the size or existence of a bargaining range.  The consideration of these questions is full of possibility for psychological distortion.  If the distortions changes the perceptions about the bargaining range, the effects can be that a negotiator will miss a good deal or settle/sell for too little.  In this module, we will explore the psychology of preparation to help you avoid or overcome the obstacles to good evaluation.

This module will provide examples and explanations from many of the leading cognitive and behavioral psychologists of the past 50 years, including insights from Nobel Prize winning decision theorists.

Every negotiator does research, but the manner in which the research is conducted typically biases both the search and the outcome of that search.– AND they tend to make emotional choices when deciding whether to spend more money on research. Moreover, negotiators are poor at estimating what they want – and therefore what an appropriate or acceptable settlement or offer will be.  In this module, we will explore the psychology associated with investigation, research and forecasting.

The goal of this module is to help you overcome biases that may cost you too much money, cause you to misread data, and therefore perpetuate conflicts that should be settled or put at risk deals that should be consummated.

With the exception of negotiations that occur within the mind of one negotiator (sometimes called “decision making”), all negotiation is interpersonal.  Great negotiators achieve better outcomes, in part, by ensuring that the person-to-person communication helps lubricate the gears in deal-making and dispute resolution.  At the very least, they ensure that the interpersonal aspects of negotiation do not create barriers to agreement.   These negotiators possess high degrees of self-awareness and an awareness of the behavior of others.

In this module, we will explore many of the most important aspects of the interpersonal side of negotiation:

• how to “separate the people from the problem”
• the tensions between empathy and assertiveness
• how negotiators with varying approaches to conflict can productively collaborate
• how to improve skills in listening and presentation
• how to recognize and negotiate effectively with others with ADD/ADHD, PTSD and Asperger’s Spectrum Disorder

A fundamental task for all negotiators is to persuade at least one other person to agree with them.  Sometimes that person is an adversary, and other times the person is a colleague, a client or a judge.  The study of persuasion is largely a study of psychology.  In this module, we will cover some of the most important aspect of the psychology of persuasion, including:

• Reactive Devaluation: why offers from an opponent are not valued highly;
• Loss Aversion: why losses loom larger than gains
• Framing: how changes in description produces changes in acceptability
• Reciprocity: how even unwanted gifts produce valuable concessions

And more!

There are too many excellent principles associated with the psychology of persuasion for us to contain them all in one module.  We’ve created a second module on the topic so that we can cover some additional material that is critical for any negotiator who wants to improve their outcomes.  We’ve divided the principles into three blocks.

When you have successfully completed the online masterclass Advanced Negotiation Strategy, you can enroll in the practice day Advanced Negotiation Strategy.

Under the guidance of Felix Merks, you will put the theory, knowledge, and skills you have acquired during the online masterclass into practice.

Interested? More information.