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Review of “Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills”

‘Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills’ is a 7-week course offered by the University of Michigan on Coursera. George Siedel, the instructor for the course, teaches the matter in a lively and comprehensive manner, providing plenty of examples of concepts to solidify the knowledge. 

The material itself, while simple to understand, can go a long way in improving your career and providing you with important business knowledge and negotiation tactics. Moreover, the content can also be learnt from scratch, with no prior experience.

The course is divided into 7 modules, each being designed to be completed within a week. The modules are designed around the 4-step negotiation process (Prepare, Negotiate, Close, and Perform and Evaluate). After an introductory module and one module for each step in the negotiation process, the course ends with a practice module and the final examination.

The 4 negotiation modules were packed with business and negotiation theory but were explained in a simple manner and expanded with the use of example scenarios. Each module had an average of 8 videos, an average of 10 minutes long. Course materials such as checklists and suggested readings were also given.

The practice module at the end was very useful and was fun. It consists of a partner negotiation regarding the sale of a house, as well as an online experience about pitching your business. These experiences established the concepts taught during the course and gave a taste of what a real negotiation situation would look like.

After going through the course (which took me longer than 7 weeks), I feel the most important takeaway from this course is the fact that there are two types of negotiation. When we think of negotiation, we think of the first type, or a position-based negotiation. This is the ‘competitive’ type that first comes to our mind and is the reason most people don’t negotiate effectively. This type is where people usually haggle prices, and while most negotiations do tend to fall into this category, there are many situations in which both parties would benefit from the second type of negotiation, or interest-based negotiation.


In an interest-based negotiation, we focus on why the other side wants what they want. In this type, other details and motivations become relevant. Both sides end up ‘winning’ after the negotiation. However, this type may not always apply, especially in ordinary situations like the sale of a car. I recommend looking more into this type, either by yourself, or by going through the course. Being able to take advantage of an interest-based negotiation is a very important skill, even outside of business situations.

As per Coursera’s policy, the course is free for anyone to access the materials and even join the community discussion, but to take the final exam and receive the certificate, you must pay.

In conclusion, I do recommend that you take the course on Coursera. While you may not be able to pay for the certificate, the skills that you learn and can use throughout your life are invaluable. I hope that it will help you as much as it has helped me.

I've also included notes that I've taken from the course for reference here.

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