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Negotiating is a delicate mix of art and science, style and substance. It prizes intuition as highly as intellect, common sense as much as the hard numbers. It requires emotional detachment and a high aspiration level. It is a game of power, real as well as manufactured. While some play the game masterfully, many only dimly understand it.
This comprehensive program on the art, process and attributes of successful negotiating is the creation of Dr. Jim Murray who has been researching, teaching and practicing this time-honored craft over the course of four decades. His accomplishments at the bargaining table run the gamut from commercial transactions and collective bargaining to corporate acquisitions, from counselling hostage negotiators to mentoring CEOs, from training military officers to advising parents on the art of dealing with troublesome teens. He has authored three best-selling books on negotiating, conflict resolution and influencing difficult people. 

Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life and professional callings have benefitted from his unique, street-savvy insights, acknowledged expertise and hands-on experiences. His various courses have been offered through the ICABC since 1982 with attendee testimonials ranging from “a man of brilliance” to “the best P.D. program I have ever taken.”  Commenting on Jim’s negotiating insights, an Edmonton lawyer has this to say: “Outstanding! In one day, Jim Murray taught me more about helping parties to reach agreements and solve problems than I learned in three years at law school.”

Upcoming Dates

September 21-24, 2008
Dunsmuir Lodge, Sidney, BC

Should You Attend

If you are serious about wanting to develop your skills beyond mere competence, The Optimal Negotiator will show you the path towards mastery. As Dr. Jim advises “Negotiating is the one skill that can immeasurably enhance the quality and meaning of your personal and professional life, as well as the lives of those significant people on whom you depend for your happiness.” Many understand the process intellectually but precious few are entirely comfortable in its execution or in their ability to consistently “optimize” deals.

In business today, the ability to get others to agree with your point of view, while seeing themselves as winners, is crucial to your success as well as the prosperity of your organization. One cannot expect to ascend the corporate ladder without a sound grasp of critical negotiating principles and without the ability to emulate those who always do it well. If you aspire to a higher level of achievement, this program is for you.

The Benefits of Attending

Upon completion of this highly practical, intensive learning experience, you will be better prepared to:

• enter into any negotiation with greater comfort, confidence and competence;
• remain focussed on achieving your objectives, regardless of the pressures or challenges;
• project a powerful, credible and controlled presence at the bargaining table;
• engage others in co-operative problem solving aimed at mutual profit improvement;
• not become the unwitting victim of the tactics and ploys used by others;
• utilize savvy advice and insights to enhance your cross-cultural communications;
• change attitudes, improve relationships and influence decisions that will determine your future.

The Program

• How to Consistently Achieve a Win-Win Outcome
  • The importance of your negotiating philosophy
  • Dissecting the negotiating jigsaw puzzle
  • Why we think we negotiate and why we actually do
  • The limitations of technically proficient and highly rational negotiators
  • Distinguishing content from process
  • Turning 80/20 outcomes into 80/80 deals: how to make losers feel like winners, identifying hidden deeds that drive the numbers: what negotiators really want
  • How to disguise and flow to discover critical information
  • Levels and types of negotiating: principles and dynamics
    
    
• Tactic Recognition and Response
  • The negotiating spectrum; engineering a climate conducive achieving to your objectives. Gradient stress: getting people to see it your way
  • Classic stress (V/IL) tactics
  • Reasonable vs. realistic opening, Conveying a strong bargaining posture
  • Tactic identification and appropriate counters
  • Emotional ploys
  • The power of aspiration level and objectivity
  • When the Win/Lose approach works
  • Rudiments of Win/Win negotiating
  • How (and why) to use Win/Lose tactics in a Win/Win way
  • Understanding the consequences and creating opponents of choice
  • Walking the talk when it comes to being a Win/Win negotiator
    
    
• Cross-Cultural Differences in Negotiating Styles
  • Gender differences, strengths and weaknesses
  • Cultural chauvinism and empathy: diagnosing ethnic differences
  • Common pitfalls: language, proxemics, gestures and stereotypes
  • Negotiating globally: lessons and tips (do’s & don’ts)
  • Negotiating with Americans, Arabs and Asians
  • The cultural weaknesses and sins of Canadian negotiators
  • Building strategic negotiator profiles and typologies for insight and competitive advantage
    
    
• The Negotiating Process Simplified and Explained
  • Stages, key ingredients and rituals
  • Preparation: how to organize for optimal results
  • Setting objectives and distinguishing essentials from expendables
  • How to open social amenities and agenda setting
  • How to respond to an opening
  • Achieving instant alignment, “connection” and rapport by design. presenting (selling) for impact
  • Recognizing intentional and unintended signals
  • Overcoming resistance and dealing with objections
  • How to propose and package
  • Bargaining nuances and maneuvers
  • Closing and reaching agreement: how and when
  • Evaluating and learning from your performance
    
    
• Critical Principles of Time and Timing
  • Time and timing: distinguishing the event from the process, dealing with (and using) deadlines, the importance of acceptance time and the 11th hour
    
    
• Accumulating and Sustaining Negotiating Leverage
  • The meaning of” no” in a negotiation
  • When (and exactly how) to say “no”
  • Myths and fallacies about power
  • Developing personal leverage: rational presence and psychological influence
  • Managing the power equation
  • Diagnosing the power of others
  • How to increase your power and when you need to decrease it
  • Enhancing your power at the bargaining table
    
    
• The People Puzzle: Using Human Behaviour to Advantage
  • Seeing “price” as a point of’ view
  • Perception reaction dynamic influencing desired behaviours
  • Negative and positive interaction cycles
  • Perceptual barriers
  • Masking, ego defense and role-playing
  • Mechanisms for self-control
  • Functions and dysfunctions of conflict
  • Recognizing the signals of escalating conflict
  • Creating defensive and supportive negotiating climates when needed
    
    
• Essential (and Powerful) Communication Skills
  • The importance of questioning
  • Acquiring sensitive information
  • Phrasing to induce desired perceptions
  • Active listening for critical information: challenges, key skills and the 90:10 rules
  • The power of non-directive responses
  • Translation and “hypnosis” in negotiating
  • Reflection, and deflection
  • Deciphering the language of hidden meanings
  • Understanding and using non-verbal cues
  • How to detect outright lies and deceit
  • Altering your communication ratios for success
    
    
• Becoming an Inventive Negotiator
  
  
• Working and Negotiating in Teams
  • Individual vs. team: strengths and limitations
  • When and how to use a team approach
  • Team management: determining the appropriate team size, roles and responsibilities; Optimizing your team’s strengths
  • Planning and working as a team: a practicum
  • Tactic recognition and response
  • Debriefing and assessing team performance
    
    
• Optimal Negotiator Fundamentals and Attributes
  • The power of creativity: how to change the shape of any deal
  • The symbiotic relationship between price and the terms
  • Leveraging as buyer and seller
  • Negotiating the future
  • Applying the problem- solving mode to break impasse
  • Assessing appropriate strategic and tactical responses
  • Essentials of a good strategy
  • The difference between theory and reality
  • The things you never do
  • Attributes of consistently successful negotiators
  • The professionals speak: critical skill sets and thought processes of winning negotiators. The conceptual framework summarized
  • Closing thoughts: becoming an optimal negotiator — where to from here

The program begins Sunday evening at 5:30 p.m. and concludes Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. Evening activities include assignments and opportunities for attitude adjustment. Daily sessions run from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Emphasis is placed on interactive practice, diagnosis and sharing. Some attention is given to personal coaching and feedback. The instructor encourages attendees to add their own topics or questions of interest. Additional subjects are covered in supplemental notes and program resource materials (attendees receive copies of Dr. Murray’s two best-selling books on negotiating). Students are expected to complete some assignments and pre-readings of relevance prior to their arrival.  

The Faculty

Hailed in the media as “a negotiator's negotiator,” nationally honoured for his career in university adult education and recognized for his “excellence in innovation and design in lifelong learning,” Dr. Jim Murray is CEO of optimal solutions international, a firm that specializes in helping people achieve their full potential. He hold four degrees, teaches leadership development programs for the accounting profession in several provinces and has provided strategic counsel to over 600 organizations during a stellar career.

The following are a few of thousands of testimonials Dr. Murray’s courses have received over the years:

“Provided the tools to be innovative ... even daring.” –  Accountant, Vancouver
“Fascinating, pertinent, dynamic and enlightening.” –  Controller, Ottawa
“Packed a punch. Not pie in the sky.” –  CFO, Calgary
“Incredible.  Kept me looking at my situation from new angles.” –  Manager, Winnipeg
“Fast-paced – appreciated the no-nonsense approach.” –  CEO, London
“Definitely A++. A course that lived up to its billing.” –  COO, Toronto

Pricing

$3,150 for Members | $3,550 for Non-members

The program cost includes individual room accommodation and three meals per day for 3 days at Dunsmuir Lodge – a premier and unique conference centre on Vancouver Island, BC; as well as the cost of the program and all course materials. 

Registration

Please complete the pdf registration form and forward to the PD Department at the ICABC.

download registration form