Harvard University Division of Continuing Education: Professional Development

Negotiations Skills: Strategies for Increased Effectiveness

June 20-21, 2012

9 am to 5 pm at Harvard University
Early bird tuition: $1,800. Regular tuition: $2,100. See the early bird tuition deadlines.
Class size is limited.

Two-day negotiation training seminar at Harvard

Negotiations are an integral component of work life. In this negotiation training program, professionals of all levels gain negotiation skills for use in any career. You practice tactics with fellow participants in a variety of situations. We explore how real-world challenges can be solved through enhanced negotiation abilities.

What you will learn

• How to evaluate your current negotiation approaches and develop new frameworks
• How to identify what information you need to negotiate effectively
• Key negotiation concepts of evaluating alternatives, interests, and parties, and how to convert opponents into partners
• An appreciation for the difference between value claiming and value creating and how to “enlarge the pie”

Topics covered

• Personal negotiation styles
• Understanding alternatives and when to walk away from a deal
• The importance of relationships in negotiations
• The challenge of transforming competition into cooperation
• Dealing with emotional and irrational situations
• Building coalitions and getting around opposing parties
• Hidden biases and other psychological factors in negotiations

Who should enroll

Anyone who negotiates with other employees or external parties and wants to learn how to work better with others. Professionals at all levels benefit from this program. 

Faculty

Lakshmi Balachandra is a graduate research fellow at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and a PhD candidate in organization studies at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, where she researches and writes on the applications of improvisation and trust in negotiations. She also teaches a course she designed on improvisation and leadership at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Improvisational Leadership: In the Moment Leadership Skills. She has taught negotiation at Babson College and Boston College in the MBA program, UCSD Rady’s School of Management Executive MBA program, and at Harvard Extension School. She is the founder of her own consulting firm offering improvisation and negotiation training for corporate executives. Her clients have included Goldman Sachs, Genyzme, and the CIA.

Balachandra worked in venture capital and mergers and acquisitions investment banking with firms in Boston and San Diego. While working for Axxon Capital, the largest women-owned, women-focused venture capital firm in the country, she founded the Women’s Venture Capital Network, the first network of its kind. There she managed networking events and educational panels for women in the industry. Upon graduating from college, she opened and operated a retail specialty toy store in San Diego.

Questions?

Contact harvardprofdev@dcemail.harvard.edu.