Commercial Negotiation - December
This course is designed to provide practical strategies and tools for navigating commercial negotiations within the Commonwealth Procurement Framework. Emphasis is placed on planning, managing complexity, handling negotiation dynamics, and improving value-for-money outcomes through structured and confident negotiation.
Participants will build commercial confidence, deepen their understanding of power and preparation, and learn to respond effectively to the behaviours and tactics of seasoned vendors, including in high-stakes scenarios. Emotional intelligence, room dynamics, and escalation planning are core themes.
This learning experience has been provided by the Department of Finance.
Participant benefits
- Apply structured planning tools to prepare for commercial negotiations.
- Identify negotiation positions and interests on both sides.
- Use commercial thinking to identify and trade sources of value beyond price.
- Recognise and manage power imbalances and uneven information (asymmetry).
- Manage negotiation meetings, including team composition, pauses and escalation.
Suitable for
All staff. This course will benefit officials undertaking, or expecting to undertake, procurement activities, whether regularly or on an ad hoc basis.
Considerations
The following knowledge is assumed for participants undertaking this course.
- Procurement and contract management basics: Foundational knowledge of procurement legislation and policy, the procurement lifecycle, value for money, and contract management. This could be through the Procurement Basics and Contract Management Basics courses or through prior training or experience.
- Risk basics: Foundational knowledge of risk and risk management. This could be through the Introduction to Risk in the Commonwealth and/or Practical Risk Management courses or through prior training or experience.
Key topics
- Negotiation planning in action.
- Commercial thinking.
- Managing the room.
- Managing tactics.
Category and User level
This learning experience is part of the Commonwealth Procurement and Contract Management training suite and aligns with the Procurement and Contract Management Profession Craft at the Practitioner level.
Price
Free of charge.
Face-to-screen considerations
- Prior to the session start date, it is suggested that you check if your agency’s network has any restrictions using any virtual classroom platform. If you are unable to access the virtual classroom platform on your work device or network, you will need to use a personal device.
- Please ensure you have access to a working camera and microphone to participate.
Attendance (Virtual)
When you attend a virtual session:
- Provide your name or email when joining, as our attendance reports record this information from the virtual classroom platform.
- If you log into the session with a different email address to the one you are registered with, let us know to ensure your attendance is properly credited.
- If you join as a group from one location or cannot provide your details during the session, please email us afterwards so we capture your attendance.
- If we do not receive your information, you may receive a notice indicating you were not marked as attended.
* Capacity limits may apply. Please log into APSLearn to check availability.
- If the session is full or none of the additional sessions are suitable, you can express your interest, through APSLearn, for this event. You will be added to a mailing list to be notified when a new session becomes available.