Part 2: Transfer of Theory into Practice.

Have you ever attended a really interesting training course, seminar or lecture that provided plenty of insights and wisdom…and then got back into your busy routine and changed nothing? In terms of impact, it’s as if you were never there. If your answer to this question is “No”, you’d be unusual.

If you’re a senior manager and members of your team attend a course, with all the expense and inconvenience that entails, you’ll likely ask them on their return “How was the course?”. Hopefully their responses are along the lines of “Great – really interesting. The trainer really knew her stuff. I’ve learned loads.” Then sit back and watch nothing change – or rather, don’t sit back, the next important phase is probably going to involve you!

This blog explores the barriers to translating good theory into practice.

Firstly, let’s consider the things that participants can do during a course to ensure that they and the organisation take maximum value from the experience.

Full, proactive engagement

To make the most of a good learning experience, participants need to bring enthusiasm, a desire to learn and an open mind to the party. We find that most attendees are on board in this respect, at least after the first hour or so when they realise that this is not “just another tedious course”. Very few remain negative for long.

To some extent, it is the responsibility of the trainer to make sure that participants are interested and concentrating by being really good at what they do. However, in my view, participants also have a responsibility to make the most of these opportunities; after all, the organisation is investing in them and they have their part to play in this deal. Participants’ managers can help by engendering the appropriate attitude to learning and by providing the appropriate briefing beforehand.

This willingness to engage is particularly important when it comes to simulations, a key feature of most successful negotiation skills training programs. Simulations can provide a deep learning experience and so it’s important that participants make the most of them. There are a number of potential barriers to full engagement in negotiation exercises, including the following.

  • There can be resistance to hands-on learning. Some delegates prefer to sit back and let trainer do all the work!
  • Some delegates genuinely find it hard to absorb new concepts.
  • Some get so involved in the detail of these exercises that they miss the overarching lessons.
  • Some are so intent on “winning” that they miss the opportunity to experiment with new behaviours in a safe environment.
  • Others lack confidence and are so concerned about their performance that they prefer to take a back seat.

Finally, of course, participants need to apply their newly learned skills back in the real world. To a large extent, it is going to be up to them to ensure this happens. When they do, they will find that practice improves performance and embeds the learning into their behaviours.

WHEN INDIVIDUAL NEGOTIATION SKILLS AREN’T ENOUGH

So, you have been on a great course and are enthusiastic about applying your newly learned skills back at the coalface. What can stop you? Well, firstly there’s the backlog of emails, the constant pressure of deadlines, the old routines etc. etc. On an individual level, I’m afraid there is no substitute for determination and self-discipline for dealing with these challenges. But there are other potential barriers to application that organisations need to address. Management and trainers may focus too much on building individual negotiating skills and not enough on broader problems within the organisation that are hindering strong results. Your organisation may be overlooking two key factors: (i) poor negotiating strategy and (ii) structural constraints that affect negotiated outcomes.

Strategic shortcomings: How do outside forces affect results?

  1. If your fundamental strategy is to rely on a single supplier, you shouldn’t be surprised if that supplier makes full use of their power at your next negotiation. It’s therefore important to cultivate and maintain strategic alternatives. Often, the knowledge that there is a second potential supplier is enough to bring the first one into line. (A similar argument applies to customers that have a high share of your output.)
  1. Determine competitive strengths and weaknesses. If your product is simply a commodity, easily available elsewhere, you face a negotiating challenge! You’ll need to find points of differentiation – either in terms of the product/service or in terms of the wider aspects of the relationship. Offer customers solid evidence that it is not simply a commodity in an oversupplied market.
  1. If maximising value from your negotiations means getting the best deal on the day and not worrying about the future relationship with the customer or supplier, then applying hard-bargaining skills is probably the way to go. Every successful negotiator needs to be skilled in this respect. However, in many situations, it may be appropriate to take a wider and longer view. If the customer or supplier is important to you, consider the effect of the negotiation on the relationship. Is the process, style and substance of your negotiations aligned to your strategic goals?

Structural shortcomings: How do internal forces affect results?

  1. Referring to point 3 above, if you’re taking the wider and longer view, a problem arises if the in-house performance metrics only reward competitive behaviour – “What price did you get?” – rather than collaboration – “What is this worth to us over the next 5 years? Have we agreed to a deeper, collaborative relationship for the future? How do they feel about doing business with us versus our competitors?” Ensure that your reward structure aligns with your strategic goals.
  1. It is a truth universally acknowledged that negotiators rarely prepare well. If you accept that nothing has greater impact on the outcome of a negotiation than preparation, this is clearly a major problem. Preparation takes effort and self-discipline – two potential barriers on an individual level – but it also takes time and, to prepare really well, it often requires input from other people within the organisation. So, for key negotiations, it’s important to establish an organisational preparation process. This process may start with a problem-solving team and is then likely to involve the identification of goals and negotiation “tradables”, to prioritise interests and to gather key information from around the organisation. Once the responsible senior manager is able to review a strategic plan for the negotiation then he/she will feel more comfortable in granting the negotiator sufficient authority to invent options that will lead to an optimised solution.
  1. A narrow view of the training budget can make it difficult to address the strategic and structural challenges. Change is most likely when leaders look beyond budget constraints and acknowledge that negotiation is not just an individual capability but also an organisational one. So, I’d recommend you examine your organisation’s budgeting process. An exclusive focus on individual skills is likely to be a job half-done. A top-flight trainer should be able to advise and assist in this.

Negotiation Skills Training: Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth?

Part 1: Choosing your training provider and influencing program design

Part 2: Transfer of theory into practice

Part 3: Measuring the impact of training