We all know the value of keeping up our professional development – staying abreast of changing best practices, keeping our qualifications up-to-date, and practicing our skills to keep them sharp. Negotiation skills are no different from any other kind of professional skill – practice makes perfect. But, occasionally our work lives seem to take over and we find ourselves wondering how we’ll ever make time for that negotiation course that we’ve had our eye on forever.
That’s where online negotiation courses can be massively beneficial! Under the guidance of expert tutors, you can attend the class from the comfort of your own home or office, complete coursework in your time, and still get the great benefits that come from training.
Negotiation training courses have been around for eons. Like other soft skills training, they seek to improve your communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills in social situations – quite often negotiation depends as much on the relationship between the negotiators as it does the terms on the table.
As well as soft skills, negotiation training courses are an opportunity for you to learn effective management strategies for negotiations, which can quite often be a formula to drive consistent results. The best negotiation training courses will show you how you can spot new opportunities at the bargaining table, as they arise, helping to keep your negotiations dynamic.
Most people looking to improve their negotiation skills will likely have the same ultimate goal in mind – to achieve better deals. You can achieve exactly that by learning the tools of the trade and the skills that expert negotiators have perfected over time.
Soft skills can sometimes be pushed to a sideline in favor of technical skills training. Often people rely on on-the-job experience to learn the art of negotiation. While there’s nothing wrong with on-the-job learning (in fact, it’s an extremely valuable way to quickly learn your role and develop problem-solving skills), training for negotiation sets you up with a strong foundation that you can apply in both your professional and personal life.
Ever been in a negotiation situation where things are getting a little bit heated and tempers are flaring? It’s probably not personal, but we’re willing to bet that it was tricky to be rational and you may not have achieved the best possible outcome.
Training in negotiation skills will help you to strike a balance between not letting your emotions rule the situation, and still being sufficiently emphatic. Negotiation hinges on the relationships between people. It’s built on trust, and people tend not to be as honest or open if they can’t relate to the other party.
Negotiation training starts with the essential step-by-step of the negotiation process – a strong and reliable process is fundamental to boosting our confidence, and helping us not to fall back on an emotional response when things go a little bit awry (and believe us, it’s not always a straight path from A to B during a negotiation!). But the true value of a negotiation training course is in the way you can learn to understand and empathize with the people behind the process.
There is a huge variety of negotiation training courses available, and it can be confusing to know exactly what you need.
Introductory courses will provide you with an overview of the negotiation process and the types of negotiation styles. They’ll also arm you with tactics and strategies to achieve consistent outcomes.
Once you’re familiar with the basics, you may want to look at more advanced courses. Often these can be tailored to your learning needs, your industry, or your role. Advanced courses introduce you to the skills you’ll need for more complex negotiation scenarios, whether the complexity comes from a larger or more strategically important deal, a deal that spans countries and cultures, or simply because you need to work in a team to achieve a collective outcome.
Both introductory courses and advanced courses are well-suited to anyone whose role involves negotiating, be it with clients, suppliers, or internal stakeholders. Departments like procurement, sales, or HR all regularly need to negotiate in some way to achieve the organization’s objectives.
Some courses are run in person, which can be hugely beneficial as you have an opportunity to widen your network and practice your newly-learned skills in a safe environment. Equally, you can get a lot of benefits from the flexibility offered by virtual classes, without losing out on the content or tutor insights.
The great thing about negotiation training courses is that they can be tailored to fit the exact needs of the individual – whether you’re a senior leader in an organization, a female negotiator trying to navigate gender bias barriers, or just curious about negotiation, there’s a course for everyone.
At Scotwork, we offer a variety of standard negotiation training programs, such as the Negotiation Foundation Workshop and the Advancing Negotiation Skills Training, as well as tailored solutions to suit you and your people.
All of our courses, be they online or classroom-based, follow a similar format.
Pre-Workshop: Before any of our workshops, you’ll receive a range of preparatory materials, which include stakeholder interviews, an organization capability survey, and a participant questionnaire. All of the gathered information is used to benchmark your current skill levels and design a course that fulfills your needs.
Workshop: While the workshop length varies between courses, you’ll benefit from two expert tutors and small class sizes – our classes are capped at 12 participants. Unlike many other courses, we emphasize live exercises and case plays, so you’ll get plenty of practical experience and constructive feedback in a safe environment.
Post-Workshop: The learning doesn’t stop when you leave the classroom! Our courses provide you with a post-course review so you can tangibly measure your progress, and access to the Scotwork Toolbox, which provides you with downloadable copies of course materials, an online preparation tool, and plenty of resources to support your lifelong negotiation learning journey.
No matter where you and your organization are in the world, by attending one of our courses, you can be assured that your people will be taught one standard program that you can apply consistently across the whole organization.
For those who prefer to learn in a virtual environment, we offer two options.
Scotwork Negotiation Essentials: This self-directed online learning tool is an ideal primer for less experienced negotiators or a refresher for people who have completed any of our classroom-based courses. Available in an easy-to-use online format, you’ll receive a step-by-step guide to all the basic negotiation concepts.
Virtual Advancing Negotiation Skills: Get all the benefits of Scotwork’s flagship training from the comfort of your home or office, via our high-energy virtual environment. The course material is delivered through live online training that recreates the inspiring environment of the classroom, whilst saving you the time and cost of travel.
The best negotiation courses ensure that you get plenty of practice in and out of the classroom. Many people learn better by “doing” than by being lectured or taught theory.
Our courses include topics such as:
Mastering the Art of Control: Learn the cornerstone of good negotiation – understanding when and how to take control of the negotiation process.
Preparing the Ground: As with anything in life, preparation is key to success. Our trainees will learn how to prepare for a negotiation, including defining your objectives, planning the opening statements, and creating effective proposals.
Online Negotiation: Adapt your negotiation skills for an increasingly digital world to achieve successful outcomes in online meetings.
Through our courses, you’ll spend more than 80% of your learning time gaining insight through role-play exercises and practical examples. Scenarios such as “what would you do if you’re left alone in your counterpart’s office and their papers are strewn all over the desk?” will not only show you how to be a good negotiator, but also an ethical negotiator who builds great relationships and trust with your stakeholders.
At Scotwork, we aim to transform the way the world negotiates. Our in-depth research and analysis of thousands of hours of negotiation have led to our flagship training programs, both online and in person. Get in touch to discuss your organization’s needs and see how Scotwork can help you become a better negotiator, today.
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