Negotiation and Advocacy Skills

Abstract

Participants are introduced to practical frameworks for negations and advocacy and apply them in discussions, cases and exercises.

Objective

In this course participants are introduced to the practical dimensions of how organization's represent their interests vis-à-vis external stakeholders. Participants will learn basic frameworks and theories for -stakeholder mapping and management -advocacy campaign design -negotiations preparation and execution and apply them to practical contexts through discussions, group exercises and simulations.

Content

This two-day skills course gives students a basic introduction to how organizations represent their interests vis-à-vis external stakeholders. In particular, it examines negotiations (exchanges between parties designed to reconcile their differences and produce a settlement) and advocacy (imparting or exchanging information through speaking, writing or some other medium with the aim of influencing another party). The course comprises a mixture of lectures, discussions, group work and simulations. It complements the material covered in Introduction to Negotiation, a required pre-requisite to this course. The first day focuses on negotiations skills and covers the following topics: -Planning and preparation for negotiations -Common frameworks for negotiations -Social dimensions (power, influence, persuasion, behavior cues, culture, and gender) of negotiations -Ethics and ethical dilemmas in negotiations and advocacy The main group exercise of the first day is a negotiation simulation. The second day focuses on advocacy and covers the following topics: -Lobbying and political communications foundations -Stakeholder mapping and management -Advocacy campaign design -Message and presentation design The main group exercise of the second day is a case study discussion and presentation. The course is structured to give an introductory overview of the topics. Recommended readings for further studies will be provided on moodle. Students will be required to read the instructions for the negotiation simulation and the case study before arriving in class. Attendance and participation is required on both course days.

Resources