Project Negotiation and Influence Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Project Managers, Programme Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-PM-124

Before you join: Participants should have experience working on projects, programmes, operational change, procurement, or cross-functional initiatives.

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

Project managers regularly need agreement from people they do not directly manage: functional heads assigning scarce specialists, sponsors approving funding, suppliers accepting delivery terms, and users accepting operational change. Formal plans and governance routes matter, but projects can still stall when interests remain unspoken, decision rights are unclear, or stakeholders resist the proposed direction. Effective influence and negotiation protect delivery commitments while maintaining the working relationships needed after the meeting ends.

This course develops practical methods for preparing and leading project negotiations, gaining support for recommendations, resolving conflict, and securing decisions across matrix structures. Participants use stakeholder salience analysis, interest mapping, BATNA, reservation points, ZOPA, principled negotiation, concession planning, and structured influence messages. The course addresses internal project decisions, supplier discussions, change requests, resource conflicts, executive approvals, and difficult conversations with project team members or business stakeholders.

Instruction combines short briefings with realistic project cases, group analysis, negotiation simulations, role-based conversations, and guided reflection. Participants work with situations such as competing resource requests, disputed scope changes, delayed supplier milestones, and sponsor resistance to a risk response. They leave with a reusable project negotiation planning pack, stakeholder influence plan, concession strategy, and personal application plan. Delivery is instructor-led over five days, available in classrooms across 50+ cities or live online, with a certificate of completion.

The course suits project professionals who already contribute to planning, delivery, governance, commercial discussions, or stakeholder engagement and need greater confidence when agreement depends on persuasion rather than formal authority.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose stakeholder interests, power, decision rights and sources of project resistance
  • Prepare negotiation plans using BATNA, reservation points, ZOPA and objective criteria
  • Apply principled negotiation techniques to scope, resource, schedule and supplier discussions
  • Construct influence messages tailored to executive, operational and technical stakeholders
  • Conduct difficult project conversations using calibrated questions, listening and reframing techniques
  • Resolve project conflict through interest-based problem solving and appropriate escalation routes
  • Negotiate change requests, commercial trade-offs and delivery commitments with suppliers
  • Develop stakeholder engagement and application plans for live project decisions

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence leading conversations with senior stakeholders and functional managers
  • A repeatable preparation method for high-stakes project decisions
  • Stronger ability to secure resources, approvals and delivery commitments
  • More control when responding to scope pressure and supplier demands
  • Clearer personal responses to conflict, pressure and difficult stakeholder behaviour

For your organisation

  • Faster resolution of project decisions delayed by competing stakeholder interests
  • Better protection of scope, budget and schedule during change negotiations
  • More consistent supplier commitments and documented commercial trade-offs
  • Earlier identification of resistance, conflict and decision-making bottlenecks
  • Reduced escalation caused by unclear expectations and poorly handled project conversations

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can diagnose the stakeholder and governance conditions that shape project influence.

  • Project authority gaps created by matrix structures, vendors and functional managers
  • Stakeholder salience model using power, legitimacy and urgency assessments
  • Interest mapping distinguishes stated positions, needs, constraints and decision criteria
  • Influence objectives linked to scope, schedule, cost, risk and benefits
  • RACI analysis exposes decision rights, consultation duties and approval bottlenecks
  • Political mapping identifies sponsors, blockers, coalitions and informal communication routes

Participants can prepare a defensible negotiation strategy for a project issue.

  • Principled Negotiation separates people, interests, options and objective criteria
  • BATNA and reservation point calculations establish defensible walk-away limits
  • ZOPA testing identifies feasible settlement ranges before bargaining begins
  • Target, aspiration and concession limits recorded in a negotiation planning sheet
  • Package proposals trade variables rather than splitting each issue independently
  • Objective criteria selected from contracts, benchmarks, policy and market evidence

Participants can build influence messages that address stakeholder priorities and concerns.

  • Stakeholder segmentation combines power-interest grids with commitment assessments
  • Message maps connect project outcomes to each stakeholder's priorities
  • Ethos, logos and pathos used ethically in project recommendations
  • Framing gains, losses and risk exposure shapes executive choices
  • Reciprocity, consistency and social proof applied without manipulation
  • Communication channel selection matches sensitivity, urgency, authority and record requirements

Participants can structure and guide a project negotiation from opening through agreement.

  • Preparation canvases define issues, interests, mandates, dependencies and alternatives
  • Opening statements set purpose, agenda, authority and working norms
  • Calibrated questions uncover priorities, constraints and hidden trade-offs
  • Active listening uses paraphrasing, labelling and summarising to test meaning
  • Anchoring choices account for information asymmetry and credible market data
  • Agenda control manages sequencing, breaks, sidebars and decision deadlines

Participants can create workable trade-offs and document clear project agreements.

  • Concession strategies exchange value, condition movement and protect critical requirements
  • Logrolling identifies low-cost trades across scope, timing, quality and payment
  • Conditional proposals use if-then language to secure reciprocal commitments
  • Bundling issues prevents premature agreement on interdependent project decisions
  • Silence, pauses and summarising manage pressure without damaging working relationships
  • Closing techniques confirm terms, owners, dates, assumptions and escalation routes

Participants can address project conflict constructively before escalation becomes necessary.

  • Thomas-Kilmann modes matched to issue importance and relationship requirements
  • Interest-based problem solving reframes blame into jointly defined problems
  • Conflict diagnostics separate task, process, relationship and values disagreements
  • De-escalation language acknowledges concerns while maintaining project boundaries
  • Facilitated dialogue establishes ground rules, speaking turns and shared facts
  • Escalation pathways distinguish sponsor decisions from contractual dispute procedures

Participants can negotiate project commercial issues while protecting contractual and delivery interests.

  • Procurement negotiations align statements of work, pricing, milestones and acceptance criteria
  • Supplier bargaining power assessed through switching costs, capacity and market concentration
  • Change control negotiations test entitlement, impact evidence and funding responsibility
  • Claims prevention uses contemporaneous records, notices and agreed communication protocols
  • Contract interpretation distinguishes obligations, assumptions, exclusions and change mechanisms
  • Commercial trade-offs protect outcomes without granting unpriced scope expansion

Participants can secure executive attention, decisions and visible sponsorship for project priorities.

  • Executive briefings present recommendation, rationale, decision request and consequences
  • Business cases connect investment choices to benefits, risks and opportunity costs
  • Data storytelling combines decision-relevant evidence, visual hierarchy and concise narrative
  • Objection handling tests concerns, supplies evidence and proposes workable safeguards
  • Coalition building sequences one-to-one conversations before formal governance meetings
  • Sponsor agreements clarify visible support, interventions and escalation commitments

Participants can adapt influence and negotiation approaches for remote and culturally diverse project settings.

  • Virtual negotiations set technology protocols, participation rules and decision records
  • Cultural intelligence examines communication context, hierarchy, time orientation and face
  • Direct and indirect communication preferences tested through clarification questions
  • Remote stakeholder engagement balances synchronous meetings with documented asynchronous decisions
  • Psychological safety encourages dissent, uncertainty reporting and early risk disclosure
  • Accessibility requirements shape meeting formats, materials and participation channels

Participants can apply course methods to upcoming project negotiations and stakeholder decisions.

  • Negotiation debriefs compare preparation assumptions, moves, outcomes and relationship effects
  • After-action reviews identify repeatable tactics, errors and process improvements
  • Influence portfolios prioritise stakeholders by impact, stance and engagement effort
  • Personal trigger analysis identifies reactions to pressure, conflict and authority
  • Stakeholder engagement plans assign messages, channels, owners, timing and measures
  • Thirty-day application plans schedule live conversations, feedback and review points

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

What you take back to work

  1. Project negotiation planning template
  2. BATNA, reservation point and ZOPA worksheet
  3. Stakeholder salience and influence map
  4. Concession and trade-off strategy matrix
  5. Difficult conversation preparation checklist
  6. Thirty-day project influence application plan

Who should attend

  • Project Managers — need agreement across teams, sponsors and suppliers without direct authority
  • Programme Managers — coordinate competing priorities and decisions across multiple project streams
  • Project Sponsors — need to shape decisions, resolve barriers and support delivery accountability
  • PMO Managers — establish consistent approaches to stakeholder engagement and project escalation
  • Business Analysts — negotiate requirements, priorities and acceptance criteria with diverse stakeholders
  • Procurement and Contract Managers — manage project-related supplier commitments, changes and disputes

Skills and tools covered

Project negotiation planningStakeholder influenceConflict resolutionCommercial negotiationExecutive communicationConcession management

Tools and standards

Principled Negotiation, BATNA and ZOPA, RACI matrix, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by project-based case work, group exercises, negotiation simulations, and structured discussion. Participants prepare for resource, scope, supplier, and sponsor conversations using realistic project information. Simulations allow participants to test opening positions, questions, concessions, objection handling, and closing statements. Peer and instructor feedback focuses on observable behaviours and decision quality. Each participant converts the methods into an application plan for current project stakeholders and upcoming negotiations.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience working on projects, programmes, operational change, procurement, or cross-functional initiatives. They should understand basic project terms such as scope, schedule, budget, risks, stakeholders, governance, and change control. Experience of attending project meetings, presenting recommendations, managing suppliers, or resolving delivery issues will help participants apply the methods quickly. Formal project management certification is not required. Prior negotiation training is not required, and the course does not assume legal, procurement, sales, or behavioural psychology expertise.

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 contributing to projects, programmes, procurement, operational change, or cross-functional work. You do not need formal project management certification or previous negotiation training.

Bring details of one current or upcoming project conversation involving a decision, stakeholder concern, resource issue, supplier matter, or scope change. Confidential information can be anonymised before discussion.

The course is designed for project managers, programme managers, business analysts, PMO professionals, sponsors, and contract or procurement managers. It is particularly useful for professionals working through matrix reporting lines or shared decision-making structures.

This course uses project situations such as resource allocation, scope control, sponsor approvals, change requests, and supplier commitments. It connects negotiation methods directly to project governance, stakeholder engagement, commercial terms, and delivery constraints.

Participants leave with planning templates for stakeholder analysis, negotiation preparation, concessions, and difficult conversations. These can be used for upcoming steering committee decisions, supplier meetings, project changes, or internal resource discussions.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group work, simulations, feedback, and individual 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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