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Quick Look Course Summary:Conflict Resolution and Negotiation Skills Training (2 days)
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Length: 2 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 10,326 EX VAT 3 Person R 7,594 EX VAT 10 Person R 5,537 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
Conflict Resolution – self-paced online, 6 months’ access: R750 per learner (ex VAT); teams of 10 or more pay less.
Negotiation Skills – self-paced online, 6 months’ access: R950 per learner (ex VAT); teams of 10 or more pay less.
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Conflict Resolution and Negotiation Skills Training (2 days)
Your people settle disagreements early, negotiate agreements that last and keep the working relationship intact.
Most workplace conflict is not dramatic. It is the email nobody answers, the meeting that goes in circles, the two supervisors who have stopped talking. Left alone, it turns into missed deadlines, sick leave, resignations and formal grievances. This conflict resolution training gives managers and staff a dependable way to deal with disagreement while it is still small, and to negotiate outcomes that both sides will actually keep.
Day one is about resolving conflict: where it comes from, the five conflict styles, calming a tense conversation, finding the root cause and mediating between two colleagues. Day two turns to negotiation: preparing properly, separating interests from positions, planning concessions, handling pressure tactics and closing the agreement in writing.
Delegates practise on realistic supplier and workplace scenarios, receive scored feedback from observers and the facilitator, and leave with a plan for a real conflict or negotiation they face now. Examples reflect South African workplaces: multilingual teams, shop stewards and employee representatives, and the point where informal resolution should give way to a formal grievance.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Disputes handled at team level instead of landing on HR's desk
- Managers who step into conflict early rather than hoping it passes
- Better results in supplier, budget and workload negotiations
- One shared process for disagreement across departments
- Agreements that are recorded and followed through
For your delegates
- A repeatable method for any disagreement, large or small
- Calm, confident language for tense conversations
- A preparation worksheet for your next negotiation
- Two rounds of practice with observer and facilitator feedback
What delegates will be able to do
- Identify what is driving a conflict and what it is costing the team
- Recognise your default conflict style and switch styles when the situation calls for it
- Calm a heated conversation and steer it back to the problem
- Mediate a structured conversation between two colleagues
- Prepare a negotiation with clear objectives, a walk-away point and a BATNA
- Spot common pressure tactics and respond without escalating
- Close and record agreements so that both sides follow through
Who should attend
Managers, supervisors and team leaders, HR practitioners, procurement and sales staff, and anyone who has to settle disagreements or negotiate outcomes with colleagues, suppliers, customers or employee representatives.
Course outline
Day 1 – Resolving conflict
Understanding conflict at work
- What conflict is, and what resolving it means in practice
- Where workplace conflict comes from: roles, resources, values, personalities and change
- What unresolved conflict costs teams, managers and the business
- Healthy disagreement compared with destructive conflict
- The six-phase conflict resolution process
Conflict styles: the Thomas-Kilmann model
- Collaborating, competing, compromising, accommodating and avoiding
- Your own default style and its blind spots
- Reading the other person's style under pressure
- Matching the style to the situation
- Self-assessment and group discussion
De-escalation and setting the scene
- Taking the heat out of emotions, starting with your own
- Ground rules, timing and a neutral venue
- Words that calm and words that inflame
- Techniques for stress and anger
- Open questions and the agreement frame
Root causes and workable solutions
- What I want, what they want and what we both want
- Separating the person from the problem
- Tracing root causes with a cause-and-effect diagram
- Generating options before judging them
- Agreeing criteria, choosing a solution and planning the next steps
- A short version of the process for everyday disagreements
Mediation and difficult behaviour
- Running a three-way conversation between colleagues in conflict
- Staying neutral and keeping both parties engaged
- Common difficult patterns: the aggressor, the avoider, the complainer and the passive-aggressive colleague
- Responding without rewarding the behaviour
- When to escalate instead of mediating
Conflict in South African workplaces
- Culture, language and diversity as sources of misunderstanding
- Conflict across generations and levels of seniority
- How informal resolution sits alongside the grievance procedure (general guidance, not legal advice)
- When to bring in HR, a shop steward or an external mediator
- Recording conversations and agreements
Day 2 – Negotiating outcomes
How negotiation works
- Where negotiation happens in an ordinary working week
- Distributive and integrative negotiation
- Interests compared with positions
- The stages from preparation to close
- Why negotiations break down
Preparation
- Objectives, priorities and a walk-away point
- Your BATNA and theirs: the best alternative to a negotiated agreement
- Understanding the other party's pressures and limits
- Planning concessions before you sit down
- Completing a negotiation preparation worksheet
Concessions, tactics and counters
- Trading concessions rather than giving them away
- Anchoring, deadlines, good-cop bad-cop and other familiar tactics
- Countering pressure without raising the temperature
- Breaking a deadlock and knowing when to pause
- Holding your ground while protecting the relationship
Suppliers, employee representatives and colleagues
- Price, scope and service levels with suppliers
- Good-faith engagement with unions and employee representatives (general guidance, not legal advice)
- Workload, deadlines and resources with colleagues and managers
- Negotiating across cultures and differences in power
- Confirming the agreement in writing
Practice negotiations
- Paired negotiation on a supplier case
- Group negotiation on a workplace case
- Observer scorecards and structured feedback
- Facilitator debrief
- A second round applying the feedback
Action plan and close
- Key lessons from both days
- Your strengths and development areas in conflict and negotiation
- A 30-day plan for a live conflict or negotiation
- Evaluation
How it is delivered
Two days, 08:30-16:00. In person at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online. One delegate or a group of up to about 20; scenarios can be tailored to your sector. Workbook, preparation worksheets and a personal action plan included. We deliver it at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and anywhere else in South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online for teams in different places.
What our clients say
“We were particularly impressed by the quality of facilitation and the practical relevance of the content presented. The programme was delivered with professionalism, clarity, and a strong emphasis on real-world application”
“[The organisation] was highly satisfied with the work conducted … demonstrated a high level of professionalism when conducting the training and deadline driven. Quality material and well-designed course content was utilised.”
“What stood out most was the facilitator’s deep subject matter expertise and the highly interactive nature of the sessions. The face-to-face format fostered active participation, encouraged meaningful collaboration, and allowed for immediate feedback”
Frequently asked questions
Can you run the course at our premises?
Yes. Most groups are trained on site, anywhere in South Africa. We can also run it at a BOTI venue or live online.
How many delegates can attend?
Anything from one delegate to a group of about 20. The price per delegate drops as the group grows – see the price table or ask for a quote.
Is the course accredited?
No. It is a non-accredited short course and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Can you use situations from our own workplace?
Yes. Send us two or three anonymised situations beforehand and the facilitator builds them into the practice sessions.
How is this different from Essential Conflict Management Skills?
Essential Conflict Management Skills concentrates on building working relationships with your manager, your team and other departments so that conflict stays small. This course adds mediation between colleagues and a full day of negotiation practice.
Can you run this course in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban?
Yes. We train on site at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and across South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online so a team spread over several offices can attend together.
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Monday to Friday, 08:00–17:00. After hours, we reply on the next working day – or call 011 882 8853.