Course Information
Challenging Communication: Persuasion, Negotiation, & Conflict Management
Course Description
Do you have challenging conversations with the audit client? Influencing, persuading and negotiating win-win solutions without conflict is an art form. Almost everything we do in our work environment requires negotiation – with colleagues, with bosses and with the client. Challenging conversations can be eliminated or minimized with a firm grasp of the science behind how influence and persuasion work.
This course teaches you how to strengthen your skills of influence, increase your ability to persuade, and negotiation without conflict. In addition, this course will teach you conflict management skills when conflict cannot be avoided. This course is activity packed and you will learn through lecture, video, real-life case studies and plenty of exercises.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
· Learn the science of influence and persuasion
· Know when, and when not to, negotiate
· Learn how to develop and effective plan for negotiating
· Understand how to increase trust and work though low trust situations
· Identify ways to develop flexible responses to conflict situations
· Implement strategies to improve communication
Influence
· What is influence?
· Pervasive influence
· Outcomes of influence and persuasion
ATTiC Characteristics – Components of Influence
· Agents – Appearances, Three C’s, Identification, Charisma
· Targets – Collectivism, Suggestibility, Age, Motivation
· Tactics – Outcomes, Persuasion, Inspiration, Listening, Power Bases, Positioning
· Context – Authority, Scarcity, Social Proof
Dark Side of Influence
· Fraudsters – Bernie Madoff | Andy Fastow | Elizabeth Holmes
· Machiavellianism
· Narcissism
· Psychopathy
· Males versus females
· Toxic Triangles
Influence, Persuasion and Ethics
· Ethical persuader vs. con-man
· Professional skepticism
Negotiation
· Why and when to negotiate
· Hopeful power of negotiation
· The other side
The Negotiator and Preparation
· Knowledge and I FORESAW IT
· Practicing
· Rapport, empathy and credibility
· Skilled Listening
Negotiation Styles
· Interest-based bargaining
· Position-based
· Principle-based
· Game Theory
· Negotiating creatively
· Negotiating competitively – Distributive negotiating
· Sharp tactics – micro-asks, limited authority, commitment
Negotiating When Trust is Low
· Trust Mechanisms
· BATNA – Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement
· WATNA – Worst Alternative to Negotiated Agreement
· Options versus Alternatives
Negotiating as an Auditor
· Informational interviewing
· Negotiation marketing
· Healing from conflict
Persuasion Tools and Techniques
· Agreement
· Let me serve your interests
· Storytelling
· Questioning and active listening
· Generosity
Cross Cultural Negotiations
· The challenges
· Behaviors versus the issue and solutions
· Common differences
· Solving conflict
Conflict Management
· An adversary system
· Win-win versus compromise
· Perception, perspective and punctuation
· Managing emotions
· Goals – the many, the multiple and the changing
· Conflict styles
Impression Management
· Handshakes
· Self-Promotion versus Ingratiation
· Impression Management in Group Efforts
· Selling and being sold
Instructors
Bret Kobel is Managing Partner for Verracy Training & Consulting and has more than 20 years of professional finance, accounting, audit, risk and compliance experience. Mr. Kobel specializes in internal controls, process improvement, process transformation & implementation with organizations operating under GAAP and/or IFRS Standards. He brings a diverse background to the organization from venture-backed startups to global Fortune 500 companies.
Prior to joining Empower, Mr. Kobel spent two years on assignment in Singapore as the Regional CFO and Controller for an international logistics company responsible for seven countries in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Kobel was tasked with transforming the financial organization and redesigning the financial processes to ensure timely and accurate financial reporting.
Prior to that, Mr. Kobel spent several years with a large international drilling services company operating in over 40 countries on six continents. He was responsible for developing the company’s initial policies and procedures and implementing the baseline internal controls framework for the company as well as the initial Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program. Mr. Kobel later led global Internal Audit teams performing the first ever internal audits in the company’s 120-year history.
Earlier in Mr. Kobel’s career, he was part of a team that interpreted the newly released 1992 COSO Internal Control – Integrated Framework that worked to define a set of policies and procedures for one of the largest university systems in the nation and later led teams conducting the initial internal audits for the newly-implemented procedures.
Mr. Kobel received his BS degree from Indiana University and his MBA from The University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and is currently an instructor and conference speaker for the IIA and ISACA.
Additional Information
TAC Rule 523.142(g) requires the CPE Sponsor to monitor individual attendance and assign the correct number of CPE credits. Participants will be asked to document their time of arrival and departure in compliance with this Rule. Additionally, attendance will be monitored throughout the day and CPE certificates will reflect actual attendance of each participant.
If you are making travel plans to come to Austin, we recommend making "refundable" air and hotel reservations or waiting until 14 days before the class to actually book your reservations. Courses are occasionally canceled or rescheduled due to low enrollment. We determine whether a course has enough participants 16 days prior to the course date. If we cancel or reschedule, we will email the participant and his or her billing contact no later than 14 days before the original class date.
The course coordinator will contact you with parking information. Handicapped parking is free at the meters around the downtown area.
Vending machines with Coca-Cola products and various snack items are available. There is also a refrigerator and microwave in our coffee bar area. Feel free to bring in your own drinks and food if you prefer.
You might want to bring a light sweater or jacket, as room temperatures vary.
To see answers to our Frequently Asked Questions, visit http://www.sao.texas.gov/training/faq.html.