Channeling Mindfulness Techniques to Improve Negotiation Skills & Outcomes

What in the world do negotiation and mindfulness have in common? Quite a lot, actually. Negotiation is often characterized as a competitive, combative, and otherwise stressful practice. But good lawyers understand that a productive negotiation is a dialogue in which two (or more) people seek to find a solution to a problem. Mindfulness is the practice of maintaining a non-judgmental state of complete awareness. Therefore a mindful negotiation is a practice of conferring with others to derive some mutual benefit while staying present, focused, and proceeding without judgment.

Using mindfulness techniques when preparing for and conducting negotiations can help attorneys take a more positive approach to negotiations, operating from a place of focus, positivity, and non-judgmental awareness. And this is important because it will lead not only to a better experience in the negotiation itself but also better outcomes for the client. 

This program, taught by the internationally renowned mediator and arbitrator Erin Gleason Alvarez, will help attorneys appreciate how and why mindfulness techniques should be applied to negotiations and discuss the addition of specific practices to the negotiator's toolkit. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Apply mindfulness techniques to negotiations and understand why this is beneficial
2. Recognize patterns in our emotional responses to negotiation - whether as an advocate for clients, when negotiating for ourselves, or as a neutral – and utilize this information to achieve better negotiation experiences and outcomes
3. Discuss the application of specific mindfulness practices in negotiation, whether virtual or in-person, including non-judgmental awareness, active listening, and silence