Of the three "axes" of leadership optimization- Personal Traits, Interpersonal Skills, and Environment, perhaps one of the easiest to improve upon through training is Interpersonal Skills. Similarly, Interpersonal Skills are a cornerstone of effective Diplomacy and International Relations.
For these reasons BU Brussels has long been offering negotiation classes as part of its curriculum. In this months' blog, we had a chance to talk with one of BUB's current students, Noemie Civino.
During Noemie's studies of Applied Economics at the Catholic University in Louvain, Belgium, she found her finance and logistic courses most interesting. She graduated in June 2010 and decided to continue her education with a Graduate Diploma in Finance at BU which would give her the opportunity to have a more practical education after my four years of theoretical education. Because these courses took place in the evenings she found it a good opportunity to have some real experience in the field and she started her internship at a start-up Be Park (www.bepark.be) in Brussels where she worked on the Business Plan, Financial plan and is currently doing business development for the Flemish part of Belgium.
Noemie, thanks for taking the time to talk with me. Why did you decide to take the negotiations class? What were your expectations of what you would learn (if you had any), and what value did you think you would take from it (before you actually began the class)?
I decided to take the negotiations class it because I never had a class regarding the way of approaching situations, deals, negotiations and conflicts. This seemed the perfect opportunity for me to have a more interactive class with a lot of participation and "learning by doing". We "do" first, and afterwards we reflect on the negotiations, and the tactics used. The class met my expectations regarding the interactive part of it. Currently I'm doing an internship where I experienced that knowledge about how to approach discussions can be vital. I thought it would be a good idea to analyze the way I am negotiating and discussing with people. So what I really expected is to see which tactics I could use to improve my way of handling situations in relation to people.
Had you found the need for negotiation skills previously in your work or academic life? If so, in what context?
Not so in my academic life, but I did have many groups at work. However, I didn't recognize that approaching my discussions and negotiations in another way would change things. Now that I think about it, it could have been very helpful indeed. Currently, I recognize the need for these skills very much at my internship at a start-up in Brussels. I always want to keep my work relationships at its best and by actually learn more about how to approach these relationships it seems helpful in achieving that.
I know Professor Rancourt uses a lot of role-playing exercises in class to bring the concepts to life. Walk me through one of your experiences of these. What was the exercise? How did you do? How did the other side perform? Were there any take-away lessons from the exercise?
The exercise was about a company, Eurotechnologies, who's primary product is an elaborate bioelectronic detection system. To get a contract, the company was in the need for cost cutting so it was trying to keep its employees but move them to another location so they could shut down a redundant site.
I liked the exercise because it is a situation that is not uncommon and was a mix of emotional and rational (for the company) concerns. The company was in desperate need of saving money to get an important contract from the government. The most money would be saved by shutting the oldest plant. We wanted to keep the staff because it concerned the R&D staff, which was one of the most important resources for the company.
To reach that goal we came up with a lot of suggestions to make the move easier for them. Because the savings of shutting down the plant was that substantial we offered things like investing in de infrastructure of the newer plant where they would move to like renovation of the laboratory and the cafeteria to maintain a positive spirit. The most important thing we offered were the scholars and seminars we offered, as well as the ability of some R&D employees to go sometimes to the current plant location to keep the contacts theu were having and invite stagiaires from university to come to the new plant so the level of knowledge would be maintained.
We decided to let everyone speak, so addressing a topic to every person so there wouldn't be just one spokesperson and we could all respond best to the reaction of the other side, taking into account how our topic should be handled. For example, I stressed the ability of keeping their knowledge and contacts up-to-date, which was an important issue for them as well as for us. So I took a rational and collaborative position by doing this. My team members focused on the emotional issues like guidance for them moving, for example looking for good schools for their kids etc., and like the renovation of the plant they were moving to keep their working environment as it was before and even better with new equipment.
In the end we succeeded in them moving to the new plant and compromised on their learning and contacts which was also in our advantage since it benefits the performance of our product.
Do you feel that the material and approach of the class has better prepared you for negotiating outside of the classroom? Are you using any of the techniques in your internship?
I was surprised that I actually started to use the tactics. I focus on keeping my voice low and show the person I'm listening to them and that I understand their position.
I recognized I did everything before to avoid conflicts but realized I just avoided discussion which can actually be good sometimes. Now I talk about how I would like to approach things and every time I had a good response. Now, when I'm getting advice I take it as something I can learn and not as critique. I knew before they were some guidelines and advice but always felt I had to justify why I did it different while it actually was better to change my way of approaching my task.
I know I like my internship a lot, the negotiations course maybe has contributed to that!
One final question: An assumption I've seen people hold is that negotiation is only for high-pressure office and career situations, and that no everyone needs to learn it. Do you see applications in everyday life of your new skills?
In the working environment I try to justify my approach to things using the rationality tactics by backing up my argumentation with explaining and argumenting the benefits of it for both parties.
Great. Thank you for your time Noemie.
Join Noemie and the rest of the BU Brussels students in one of our high-impact classes offered as part of our Master of Science in Leadership, Master of Arts in International Relations, or many certificate programs. Contact us today for more information.
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