Course Overview

Managing a crisis negotiation successfully is all about being aware of your emotions and how they influence your actions. A successful negotiator will be able to control their emotions, address concerns while staying calm, keep open communication channels available and make a cool head prevail.  Negotiations between two parties who are not able to communicate well can pose a serious challenge for a negotiator. When both parties feel trapped and under pressure, the negotiation is more likely to lead to tension and aggression.

Why is negotiating during a crisis challenging? When you’re dealing with a crisis – or any situation that’s clear from your perspective, and someone else sees it differently – it can be easy to get stuck in a cycle of blame and anger. The intensity of emotion can distort thinking and make things worse–even though you’re already feeling overwhelmed. The demands of negotiating in a crisis can sometimes seem unbearable. But it’s important to know that you are not alone. The dynamics of negotiation have a natural rhythm, and you will find that by listening and empathizing with your counterpart, you come together with them at the crossroads where mutually agreed-upon goals can be achieved.

How can you improve your Crisis Negotiation Skills? In this Crisis Negotiation Training by Zoe, you’ll gain a detailed understanding of the key qualities to look for in negotiating parties and learn about the specific issues related to managing time pressure during a crisis negotiation. You’ll also learn how to recognize types of negotiation breakdowns, as well as different types of techniques that can help you overcome these obstacles as a negotiator.  In a crisis negotiation, you will have to manage pressure and various parties who may feel differently about what needs to be done to resolve the situation. Time is of the essence, and emotions are running high. This skill-building programme will teach you how to stay focused, manage exhaustion and stress, and negotiate effectively in this type of situation.

Course Objectives

The Crisis Negotiation Training Course has been constructed to achieve the following objectives:

• To highlight various crisis situations that may be encountered at the workplace
• To understand the behaviour that needs to be demonstrated during the crisis
• To understand how cultural dimensions affect the process of crisis negotiation
• To gain an understanding of the best applicable crisis negotiation strategies and tactics
• To become aware of the emotional and psychological state of negotiating parties and understand how it affects the negotiation
• To develop essential skills required to become an efficient crisis negotiator

Training Methodology

This Crisis Negotiation Training will comprise the following training methods:

• Interactive sessions and lectures
• Presentations
• Management games
• Roleplaying/modelling
• Case studies
• Group discussions
• Problem-solving sessions

Like all our acclaimed courses, this Zoe program also follows the ‘Do-Review-Learn-Apply’ model.

Organisational Benefits

Crisis Negotiation training will benefit an organization in the following ways:

• Efficient recognition of the crisis in an organization leads to timely rectification action which prevents the situation from deteriorating further
• Trained Crisis Negotiators in Organization will help the organization in difficult situations
• Dealing with parties with empathy and active listening even during a crisis will enable relationship building with the organization in the long term
• Efficient crisis negotiation will enable the organization to deal better with cultural differences and diversity in the workplace

Personal Benefits

Crisis Negotiation Training will benefit the participants in the following ways:

• Developing necessary negotiation skills will help the participants advance in their careers
• Learning to perform under pressure and delivering value in difficult situations is a fundamental trait that corporates sought after in candidates
• Gaining knowledge of different Crisis Negotiation techniques, tactics and strategies will enable the participants to arrive at the most feasible solution during the crisis
• Relevant Certification from Zoe Training will validate the candidate’s negotiation skills, making them a preferred person for various jobs in the industry

Who Should Attend?

• General managers
• Departmental heads, project heads
• Team leaders, global managers
• Strategic managers
• Senior officers, Executives
• Professional mentors and coaches
• Policymakers
• Start-up founders, entrepreneurs

Course Outline

Module 1: Understanding Crisis Negotiation

• Identifying a high-stakes situation
• Definition of Crisis Negotiation
• Behaviour of parties in Crisis Negotiation
• Drawback of Crisis Negotiation
• Being a negotiator in a difficult situation

Module 2: Examples of Crisis Situations

• Mental disorders encountered during crisis situations
• Terrorism and workplace violence
• Suicide intervention
• Kidnapping, ransom, and extortion

Module 3: Behaviour in Crisis

• Characteristics of a crisis
• Identifying the hostile situation
• Exploring the emotions
• Anticipating future scenario

Module 4: Cultural Dimensions

• Hofstede’s model
• Power distance
• Individualism: personal vs. group
• Masculinity
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Long term orientation
• Indulgence

Module 5: International Negotiation

• Balancing power and relationship
• Game theory approach
• Cultural differences
• Working with integrity and flexibility
• Countries and their negotiation styles

Module 6: Steps to Crisis Negotiation

• Know yourself
• Know the issue and its position
• Know the opposing party: culture, strategy
• Develop internal consensus
• Communicating interests
• Identification of need gaps
• Closing the gap and closing the deal
• Performing due diligence

Module 7: Steps to Successful Crisis Negotiation

• Prior Crisis Management
• Establishing ground rules
• Strategies for confronting emotions
• Hostage negotiators
• Maintaining a slow pace
• Strengthening the relationship
• Necessary communication skills

Module 8: Hostage Negotiation Tactics in an Organization

• Active listening skills
• Self-disclosure
• Paraphrasing and supportive communication
• Emotion labelling
• Use of effective pauses and silences

Module 9: Negotiation Styles

• Competing
• Avoiding
• Accommodating
• Compromising
• Collaborating
• Negotiation outcomes

Module 10: Crisis Intervention Model

• The acute stage of crisis
• The problem-solving stage
• Acceptance stage
• Behavioural Change Stairway Model
• Structured Tactical Engagement Process Model

Module 11: Psychological Side of Crisis Negotiation

• Multiaxial system of assessment of human behaviour
• Recognizing defence mechanisms
• Correctional Crisis negotiator
• Crisis negotiator stress

Module 12: Crisis Management

• Types of Crisis: Natural, technological, confrontation, malevolence, etc.
• Need for Crisis Management
• Crisis Management Plan
• Crisis Communication
• Leadership in Crisis