Negotiation and Conflict Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Managers and team leaders, Procurement and contract managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CS-107

Before you join: Participants should have experience of workplace meetings, stakeholder discussions, supplier or client conversations, project decisions, people management or similar professional interactions.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Negotiation and conflict management determine whether commercial terms, project decisions, employee concerns and stakeholder disagreements produce workable agreements or costly delay. Managers and specialists often face competing priorities, incomplete information, unequal authority and strained relationships at the same time. Without a structured approach, discussions can become positional, concessions can be made too early, and unresolved issues can return as formal grievances, missed commitments or damaged supplier and client relationships.

This course develops practical methods for preparing, conducting and closing negotiations while addressing conflict constructively. Participants learn to assess interests, alternatives, bargaining power and authority; use BATNA, reservation values and ZOPA; ask calibrated questions; make conditional concessions; and create options beyond a single price or demand. They also learn to recognise escalation patterns, choose an appropriate conflict response, manage difficult conversations, counter hard bargaining tactics and decide when mediation, formal investigation or management escalation is appropriate.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with realistic case work, group analysis, negotiation simulations and structured feedback. Cases reflect common workplace situations such as supplier terms, cross-functional resource disputes, project scope disagreements, employee performance concerns and stakeholder conflicts. Participants build a reusable negotiation preparation pack, concession log, conflict diagnosis and 90-day application plan based on situations they expect to handle. Successful participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits professionals who already take part in workplace discussions and need more disciplined methods for reaching agreements, protecting relationships and addressing disputes before they become formal or costly.

What you will be able to do

  • Prepare negotiations using BATNA, reservation value, target point and ZOPA analysis
  • Diagnose workplace conflict using escalation stages, conflict modes and power assessment
  • Conduct interest-based conversations using calibrated questions, active listening and reframing
  • Construct conditional offers, MESOs and contingent agreements to create mutual value
  • Respond to hard bargaining tactics using objective criteria, process control and planned options
  • Manage difficult conversations using DESC, SBI and de-escalation techniques
  • Select appropriate coaching, mediation, investigation or formal grievance routes
  • Produce a negotiation preparation pack and 90-day workplace application plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Prepare confidently for high-stakes conversations rather than relying on improvisation
  • Recognise when a disagreement needs dialogue, mediation or formal escalation
  • Make concessions deliberately without weakening essential interests or authority
  • Handle emotional, defensive or positional behaviour with clearer boundaries
  • Build a record of agreements that reduces later misunderstanding and rework

For your organisation

  • Reduce delays caused by unresolved project, supplier and cross-functional disputes
  • Improve quality of negotiated agreements through clearer terms and ownership
  • Limit unnecessary concessions by requiring disciplined preparation and authority checks
  • Address employee concerns earlier before they develop into formal grievances
  • Protect working relationships while maintaining accountability for agreed actions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can diagnose the source, stage and likely response route for a workplace conflict.

  • Sources of workplace conflict: task, relationship, process and status disputes
  • Conflict escalation mapped through Glasl's nine-stage model and warning signs
  • Thomas-Kilmann modes matched to stakes, relationships and time pressure
  • Separate observable behaviour from assumptions using the ladder of inference
  • Distinguish positions, interests, needs, values and identity concerns
  • Power sources assessed: authority, expertise, information, networks and alternatives
  • Conflict costs quantified through delay, rework, attrition and service failure

Participants can prepare a negotiation strategy with clear objectives, limits, authority and alternatives.

  • Define negotiation purpose, scope, mandate and decision authority
  • BATNA, reservation value and target point calculated before engagement
  • ZOPA tested against counterpart incentives, constraints and likely alternatives
  • Map stakeholders by interests, influence, alliances and approval rights
  • Build issue packages that trade low-cost concessions for priority gains
  • Prepare objective criteria from contracts, benchmarks, policy and market data
  • Record assumptions, risks, walk-away conditions and escalation routes

Participants can lead a structured negotiation conversation that uncovers interests and maintains control.

  • Open negotiations by setting agenda, roles, confidentiality and decision rules
  • Use calibrated questions to uncover interests without premature concessions
  • Active listening: paraphrase, label emotions, summarise and test understanding
  • Frame proposals around shared criteria, consequences and legitimate standards
  • Manage anchoring, reactive devaluation and confirmation bias during bargaining
  • Control information disclosure through sequencing, signalling and conditional offers
  • Close each meeting with documented agreements, owners and next actions

Participants can develop options and trade concessions without losing sight of priority outcomes.

  • Generate options before commitment using brainstorming rules and issue mapping
  • Package variables across price, timing, risk, service and governance
  • Apply MESOs to present equivalent offers with different value mixes
  • Use contingent agreements when forecasts, volumes or performance remain uncertain
  • Trade conditionally: if you provide X, we can provide Y
  • Test concessions against authority limits, precedent and implementation cost
  • Document value exchanges in a concession log and term sheet

Participants can respond to pressure tactics while maintaining ethical standards and working relationships.

  • Assess relative power through alternatives, dependency, legitimacy and time
  • Respond to positional pressure without damaging necessary working relationships
  • Counter hard bargaining tactics with questions, criteria and process control
  • Recognise good-faith bargaining, bad-faith conduct and deceptive representation
  • Handle threats, ultimatums and brinkmanship using planned response options
  • Apply cultural intelligence to hierarchy, face, silence and directness
  • Escalate ethical or legal concerns through appropriate internal channels

Participants can address emotionally charged issues with clarity, respect and firm boundaries.

  • Diagnose emotions, identity threats and unmet needs beneath stated demands
  • Use the Interest-Based Relational approach to separate people from problems
  • De-escalate anger through acknowledgement, pauses, boundaries and choice
  • Deliver assertive messages using DESC: describe, express, specify and consequences
  • Give feedback using SBI: situation, behaviour and impact
  • Address microaggressions, disrespect and exclusion while preserving procedural fairness
  • Request mediation when direct dialogue cannot safely progress

Participants can select and support an appropriate third-party process for unresolved conflict.

  • Select coaching, facilitation, mediation, investigation or formal grievance routes
  • Set mediation ground rules, confidentiality limits and participant responsibilities
  • Structure caucuses to test options without carrying messages inaccurately
  • Distinguish mediator neutrality from managerial accountability for decisions
  • Use reframing to convert accusations into discussable interests and requests
  • Build settlement terms covering actions, deadlines, review and confidentiality
  • Refer harassment, discrimination and safety allegations under organisational policy

Participants can adapt negotiation and conflict methods to recurring workplace situations.

  • Procurement negotiations: balance price, continuity, quality and supplier relationships
  • Manage scope disputes between project sponsors, delivery teams and vendors
  • Resolve performance conversations involving conduct, capability and workload concerns
  • Negotiate cross-functional priorities when resources and deadlines conflict
  • Handle union or employee representative discussions within agreed consultation boundaries
  • Address public-sector stakeholder conflicts involving transparency and competing mandates
  • Adapt negotiation records for regulated, contractual and audit-sensitive decisions

Participants can document agreements, establish follow-through and repair relationships after conflict.

  • Convert verbal alignment into precise, measurable and owned commitments
  • Draft terms using SMART actions, dependencies, milestones and acceptance criteria
  • Confirm authority, approvals and ratification requirements before final commitment
  • Plan implementation governance, reporting cadence and dispute-resolution triggers
  • Conduct after-action reviews using outcomes, process, relationships and lessons
  • Repair trust after conflict through acknowledgement, restitution and changed conduct
  • Monitor agreement compliance before minor issues become renewed disputes

Participants can apply course methods through a targeted plan for forthcoming workplace conversations.

  • Diagnose personal negotiation patterns using feedback and reflective evidence
  • Set behavioural goals for preparation, questioning, influence and conflict response
  • Create a 90-day application plan for live workplace conversations
  • Identify mentors, peer observers and feedback checkpoints for skill transfer
  • Schedule preparation routines for recurring supplier, client and internal meetings
  • Choose measures for agreement quality, cycle time and relationship health
  • Review ethical boundaries and escalation decisions before high-stakes discussions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Negotiation preparation template
  2. BATNA and ZOPA analysis worksheet
  3. Concession log and term sheet
  4. Conflict diagnosis checklist
  5. Difficult conversation planning model
  6. 90-day application plan

Who should attend

  • Managers and team leaders — resolve staff, priority and performance disagreements fairly
  • Procurement and contract managers — negotiate terms while protecting continuity and supplier relationships
  • Project and programme managers — manage scope, resource and stakeholder disputes
  • HR and employee relations professionals — address workplace conflict before formal escalation
  • Sales and account managers — structure client agreements and handle difficult commercial conversations
  • Policy, operations and public-sector professionals — reconcile competing mandates and stakeholder interests

Skills and tools covered

Negotiation preparationConflict diagnosisInterest-based bargainingDifficult conversationsMediation decisionsAgreement implementation

Tools and standards

BATNA, Zone of Possible Agreement (ZOPA), Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, Fisher and Ury's principled negotiation

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by case analysis, small-group exercises, structured simulations and facilitated feedback. Participants prepare for and conduct realistic negotiations, diagnose conflict patterns and practise difficult conversations under changing constraints. Scenarios can be adapted to the cohort’s commercial, public-sector, NGO or corporate context. Application planning connects course methods to upcoming meetings, disputes and stakeholder conversations, with peer review of preparation choices and agreement terms.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience of workplace meetings, stakeholder discussions, supplier or client conversations, project decisions, people management or similar professional interactions. They should be comfortable discussing real business issues and reflecting on their own communication habits. No previous formal training in negotiation, mediation, psychology or employment law is required. This is not an entry-level communication course: participants are expected to understand their organisation’s reporting lines, basic decision processes and the types of agreements or disputes they encounter.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have experience of routine workplace discussions, meetings, projects, suppliers, clients or people-management issues. Formal negotiation training is not required, but the course assumes you can relate methods to real professional situations.

Bring details of one or two upcoming conversations that involve competing interests, disagreement or a need for agreement. Do not bring confidential documents or personal information; anonymised facts, roles and constraints are sufficient.

It is designed for managers, project professionals, procurement staff, HR practitioners, account managers and specialists who must reach agreement with colleagues or external parties. It is particularly useful for people handling difficult discussions without formal authority.

This course concentrates on negotiation preparation, bargaining choices, conflict diagnosis, difficult conversations and agreement design. General communication courses may cover presentation, writing or everyday interpersonal communication in less depth.

Participants leave with templates for preparing negotiations, assessing alternatives, planning difficult conversations and recording agreements. The final module creates a 90-day plan linked to live meetings and discussions expected in the participant's role.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. The five days cover ten modules through instructor input, cases, group work, simulations, feedback and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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