Negotiation skills for project managers
Featured in the The Project Management Activity Pack training manual
By Eddie Davies
Category: Management
Credit price: 4 download credits (Single user)
‘Persuasion’ and ‘Compromise’ are the two central features of negotiating. In a typical encounter where we are trying to influence the other person, we will first try to persuade them to adopt our point of view. They will similarly try to persuade us that we cannot maintain our original position. There comes a crucial point in any discussion when you realise that in order to break the impasse, one of you needs to compromise and change position. What distinguishes negotiation from other types of persuasion is that both parties are prepared to move from the status quo. If you are truly negotiating, both parties must be prepared to move from their original position, conceding issues to the other person. For a negotiation to be successful, the negotiators must freely reach a viable agreement or compromise.
You begin the training activity by getting the participants to consider the underlying principle of negotiation; to reach an agreement. Various outcomes of negotiating are considered and the advantages of a ‘win-win’ approach are identified. Participants are asked to identify the range of people with whom they negotiate and to identify the usual outcomes of these meetings. You then move on to look at what is involved in planning a negotiation. The participants are introduced to a technique – the expectation test – and discuss the type of information they need to complete it. You then give them an opportunity to develop the approach in a group exercise during which they prepare for a negotiating exercise. The participants then consider how they will manage their overall strategy, before making their final preparations for the negotiating exercise. After the final exercise you lead a plenary review during which you relate the behaviours displayed to those that have been noted as effective and ineffective negotiators. At the end of the training activity participants are given time to review their own learning, to fill in their learning review diary, and make plans for improving their negotiation skills at work.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to give participants the opportunity to try out and develop their negotiation skills, introducing the expectation test and type of information needed to complete it.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 20 |
| Typical Duration: | 03:00:00 |
| No of Pages: | 28 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to explore the skill of negotiating. Even people who have complete autonomy over their project will have to influence others. This module is a core ingredient of all courses and developmental activities which set out to improve the skills of the project manager. It can also be used on other events that focus on developing the participants’ influencing skills, for example, assertiveness training, general management development, sales and purchasing development, team building, and interviewing skills courses.
Download the training activity, Negotiation skills for project managers as featured in the Fenman training manual; The Project Management Activity Pack