Two-Day Virtual Workshop Overview
Negotiation is the process through which people come together to address challenges, generate solutions, and secure agreements. Leaders across sectors negotiate every day, often without structured training.
The Penn Leadership Education Institute’s Virtual Negotiation Workshop helps you strengthen your ability to collaborate, resolve conflict, and reach durable agreements. Through interactive simulations and guided discussions, you’ll explore core negotiation principles and learn how to uncover interests, manage conflict, and design creative solutions that advance shared goals.
Grounded in research and real-world practice, the workshop invites you to examine both the technical and interpersonal dimensions of negotiation. In live virtual sessions, you’ll practice communication and problem-solving strategies that build trust and understanding, and reflect on how values, emotions, and identity shape negotiation processes.
By the end of the program, you’ll have practical tools you can immediately apply to important conversations, enabling you to approach complex discussions with clarity, empathy, and confidence.
Instructor
Dr. Zachary Herrmann
Professional Faculty, Penn GSE
Affiliated Faculty, Management Department, The Wharton School
Dr. Herrmann teaches and researches collaboration, team effectiveness, and negotiation. He teaches “Collaboration & Conflict” at Penn GSE and “Negotiations” within Wharton’s MBA program, where he has earned three Excellence in Teaching awards. He leads programs and workshops for professionals across a wide range of fields.
Learning Outcomes
1. Develop foundational knowledge of key negotiation concepts and terms
Build a working understanding of the essential concepts, terms, and frameworks that shape effective negotiations. This foundational knowledge will help you analyze negotiation dynamics, evaluate potential outcomes, and identify pathways to agreement. After this workshop, you will be able to recognize negotiation concepts in a variety of contexts and apply them with increased confidence when preparing for and engaging in real-world negotiations.
2. Develop foundational skills for effective negotiation practice
Beyond conceptual understanding, this workshop emphasizes practical skill development in areas central to successful negotiation. You will practice communication and active listening techniques that build trust and uncover deeper interests, experiment with strategies that create value, and explore conflict-management approaches that balance assertiveness with empathy.
3. Develop and reflect on negotiation mindsets
A core goal of the workshop is to help you cultivate the mindsets necessary for thoughtful, adaptive, and ethical negotiation practice. You will examine your personal conflict style and reflect on how values, ethics, and identity shape your approach to negotiation, especially in complex, high-stakes conversations.
Details
Registration
Register by Jan. 15. (Zoom link provided upon registration.)
Registration Fee: $995
Group discounts are available. Contact the Penn Leadership Education Institute for more information.
Certificate
Participants who complete the virtual workshop will earn a Penn GSE Certificate of Participation.
Workshop Schedule & Agenda
The workshop runs 12:30–4:30 p.m. ET each day.
Day 1 (Jan. 22): Exploring the Fundamentals of Negotiation
12:30–1:00 – What does it mean to be a good negotiator?
1:00–2:00 – Simulation #1
2:00–2:30 – Debrief Discussion & Exploration of Fundamental Concepts
2:30–3:30 – Simulation #2
3:30–4:30 – Debrief, Conflict Styles Self-Assessment, and Setting Personal Goals
Day 2 (Jan. 23): Going Deeper in Our Negotiations
12:30–1:00 – Dealing with Complexity as a Negotiator
1:00–2:00 – Simulation #3
2:00–2:30 – Debrief: Multi-Issue & Multi-Party Dynamics
2:30–3:30 – Simulation #4
3:30–4:00 – Creative Problem-Solving & Securing Agreements
4:00–4:30 – Closing Out & Looking Forward