The Art of Negotiation Exercise Design: Five Basic Principles to Produce Powerful Learning Experiences

Abstract

Negotiation exercise design is a skill that, such as negotiation itself, is rooted in certain core principles and can be refined with practice. How writers approach the design process is the key to producing effective exercises and powerful learning experiences. This article addresses five core principles that can be used to curate both simple and moderately complex negotiation exercises, including games, role plays, and simulations. These core principles are (1) define the purpose, (2) determine the format, (3) maintain focus, (4) test the function, and (5) plan for a debrief. These principles can be used as a general framework to help writers overcome the challenges inherent in exercise design and empower them to create and deliver their own tailored negotiation exercises. The principles are a tried‐and‐true method developed from the authors' own experience designing the material for university curricula, executive education, and workshops for government, military, and private clients.

Confirming the Impact of Training on Negotiators and Organizations

“…However, large‐scale simulations, such as mock UN meetings, have shown promise in making long‐lasting impressions on students (Weiss 2008). Although simulations have been criticized as simplifications that can only emulate real pressures, timescales, stakes, and relationships (Zartman 2010), they are widely used and can deliver powerful experiences when designed to meet defined pedagogical objectives (Bell and Valley 2020). Accordingly, simulations form the backbone of the training investigated in the current study.…”

Incubating innovation in university settings: building entrepreneurial mindsets in the future generation of innovative emerging market leaders

“…To help their graduates find employment in the current highly competitive labor market, higher education institutions constantly strive to enrich their instructional curricula with seminars and workshops that would improve students' interpersonal, communication and entrepreneurial skills (Pereira et al , 2019). Other scholars in the field draw the academic decision makers' attention to the need of designing practical exercises and hands-on applications that would build on the key principles of active learning to generate powerful student experiences during their study years at the university (Bell and Valley, 2020). More and more instructors are being requested to update the content of their courses with novel material, make their teaching approach more applied and industry relevant (Abou Soueid et al , 2017) and infuse their classes with dynamic elements of delivery pertaining to co-development and cocreation.…”

Learning the Wisdom to Seize the Moment: How Negotiators Encourage the Learning of Practical Wisdom for Themselves and Others

“…The players then negotiate. Learning here is continually reshaped by experience and the “role plays and simulations … can help participants learn negotiation skills more naturally (or experientially) in a particular context.” (Bell and Valley 2020: 62) The design of this pedagogy encourages students to learn not only analytical and thinking skills but also some of the practical wisdom a good negotiator needs to read a particular context and exercise judgment—including moral skills and character traits that are particularly important in creating and seizing critical moments.…”

“…Lawrence Susskind, who has developed these negotiation courses, advises his coaches that “[e]ach exercise should be debriefed.” (Susskind 2014: 18) Instructors not only encourage individual self‐reflection (getting students to ask themselves “What were my biggest obstacles?” “Did I meet all my objectives?”) but small group reflection among members of a team or between negotiation counterparts. There also may be instructor‐led debriefs of the whole class “aimed at tying the negotiation lessons … together with the exercise experience.” (Bell and Valley 2020: 68–69) This practice of group debriefing encourages students to learn the social skills and habits need to reflect and deliberate together.…”