The art of negotiations.  Learning by Doing

Learning

This class is a low-risk and safe negotiating environment. You are encouraged to try a variety of strategies during the negotiation exercises to see what strategies work and do not work for you, allowing you to refine your negotiation style. These exercises are a low-cost way to recognize your risk tolerance, creativity, and reputation as a negotiator, among other things. You may or may not gain the best outcome in the class, but either way you will learn a lot from stepping outside of your comfort zone!  As a result, the majority of the outcomes of the exercises in class will be ungraded, giving you the freedom to experiment. 

Negotiation Exercises

The course is designed around a series of exercises that help you implement the theory discussed in readings and class. We will engage in these exercises every week. While most of the exercises will be conducted during class time, you are expected to prepare for exercises, coordinate with other students, and in some cases negotiate outside of class.

Preparation for Exercises

Learning in this course is facilitated by full participation in the exercises. As in real negotiations, the negotiations in class are interdependent; learning can only occur when both parties are prepared and engaged. Thus, you are expected to be fully prepared for every negotiation exercise. Note that this often includes preparation before class and with other class members.

Negotiation Debrief

Following every exercise, we will debrief the negotiation in several ways.
  • In class: You are expected to participate in every debriefing session. All negotiation results will be posted during the debriefing session so that we, as a class, can compare strategies and outcomes to one another and learn from varying experiences.
  • Peer Feedback:  After each negotiation you will receive private feedback from four of your negotiation partners to help you reflect on your effectiveness as a negotiator. This feedback will help you to establish clear personal goals and assess your progress on those goals during the course.
  • Individual Reflection: After each negotiation you will reflect on your own performance and lessons learned