Enhancing Negotiation Skills

While architects negotiate frequently, even the most seasoned professional gets stuck occasionally. How to help the practitioner address a difficult situation more effectively, in the moment? How to benefit from collaborative thinking? How to achieve outcomes creating Win-Win?

Participants are invited to prepare for this session by reflecting on a difficult practice experience. The topic might be about fees for professional services; addressing unanticipated project costs; change order negotiations; or an office problem; or anything else that was professionally important and challenging. The aim is to sketch out and share a scenario to stimulate conversation - it is emphatically not about judging anyone.

Participants will also learn key terms and concepts used in negotiations. There will be a discussion about important spatial considerations and setting the ground rules for negotiations. The session will conclude with an introduction to some common elements of a difficult conversation, as well as the tactics that people often use to avoid productive engagement.

Peter Gorer AIA, RIBA, LEED will lead the session and provide the presentation. He is an architect, green building consultant and a practicing mediator affiliated with MWI. MWI is based in Boston and provides clients with an array of direct conflict resolution services, including mediation, arbitration, facilitation, coaching, and organizational ombuds services.

Meeting refreshments: This is a brown-bag meeting; attendees are welcome to bring a meal.

For those who qualify, 1.5 LUs are available

To learn more about the Small Practices Network, visit architects.org/committees/small-practices-network

Click "Register" to attend.