I applied to the Oxford Programme on Negotiation because if there is one thing that can be useful in almost any business challenge, it's the ability to negotiate better.
And because I believe no matter how experienced you are, you should never stop learning. I had a negotiation skills course more than 15 years ago and I felt I needed to update my knowledge. In my line of work, I have one or two very challenging negotiations almost monthly, and most of the time it is a David vs Goliath type of situation.
Already by day two I was reflecting on how much improving our negotiation skills impacts our performance, because we are able to effectively communicate our needs, to understand the perspectives of others, and to reach mutually beneficial agreements. That is, only if we really prepare for the negotiation ahead of us. I have to admit that preparation was not my forte. So armed with a couple of great preparation worksheets, now I have no excuse.
By Wednesday, I was reflecting on the value of empathy and creating trust to thrive in a difficult negotiation; and how gratifying it is to be able to negotiate and create value as opposed to just distribute it. I loved the orange example, how instead of having half an orange, by really probing and understanding the needs of the other party, each of us can have what we want, all the peel for me, and all the juice for the other party.
The work in groups was another great learning experience. In one of the group sessions, I had to leave my comfort zone, and pretend I was the very nice and apologetic CEO of a company facing a terribly angry client, and I had to stay calm when the person role playing the angry client almost went beyond his line of duty. In another, we had to form alliances in matter of minutes to face a common threat.
Towards the end of the week, I was able to recognise how my personality shapes my negotiation style, and I learnt how to leverage self-awareness to close a deal successfully. And yes, of course, I mastered my BATNA and the ZOPA; and I understood what and how much to share to anchor effectively; I got valuable insights to challenges in cross cultural business negotiations.
I also got great reminders about what works and what doesn’t work in negotiation. I questioned long held beliefs, and I was surprised by how much more I can do now and how much better.
No matter what you do in life, you will always benefit from improving your negotiation skills. And if in doing so, you meet intellectually challenging peers, inspiring trailblazers like Sue Williams, Scotland Yard’s first and only woman in Charge of the Hostage Crisis Negotiation Units, Baroness Ashton, Jonathan Powell, and top-notch Oxford professors, then, you can call it a great investment.
Find out more about the Oxford Programme on Negotiation.
