Getting to Yes Workshop

This practical workshop based on the insights from the book Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton introduces your team to the core principles of effective negotiation, helping each member communicate clearly, manage conflict constructively, and reach better agreements that strengthen trust and collaboration.

Read time: 5 minutes

Most teams negotiate all the time.

Not in the formal, boardroom sense.

But in the day-to-day stuff.

Who takes what task, how to prioritise, and which direction to go next.

It’s constant. Often unspoken.

And that’s where problems start.

This workshop is about learning how to negotiate well.

Clearly, respectfully, without damaging the relationships that hold a team together.

That sounds simple but most teams get it wrong.

Not because they don’t care, but because they haven’t been taught how to do it differently.

What tends to happen is one of two things.

People either avoid the tricky conversations—keep quiet, go along with things—or they push hard to get their way, and others withdraw.

Both approaches break down trust over time.

The real skill is knowing how to speak up without escalating tension.

To make space for disagreement, and still move forward together.

That’s what this session teaches.

It’s based on the principles from Getting to Yes, which, if you’ve read it, you’ll know is one of the clearest guides to negotiation out there.

I’ve seen teams take these ideas and change the way they work—less frustration, better decisions, and more trust.

That’s not an overstatement. It just makes sense once you’ve done the work.

And I’ll be honest—this kind of work isn’t flashy. It’s not exciting. But it’s practical. Quietly transformative, in some cases.

What Participants Will Walk Away With

It’s a short session. But it has a long tail.

Teams keep using the ideas well after the workshop ends.

Not perfectly, of course. But enough to shift how they work together.

And sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Let’s get into it…

Workshop Title

Getting to Agreement — Smarter Negotiation for Stronger Teams

Duration: 2 hours

Purpose:
To help team members learn how to negotiate effectively so they can express what they need, listen to others, and reach better outcomes without damaging relationships.

The session introduces a simple, practical approach that helps teams handle disagreements, make decisions together, and solve problems while maintaining trust and respect.

Workshop Objectives

 Understand the five core principles of effective, relationship-friendly negotiation.
Recognise the difference between positions and interests in team conversations.
Practise using negotiation skills to handle disagreements constructively.
Reflect on their own negotiation style and identify ways to improve.
Agree on simple team habits to support better negotiation and decision-making.

Materials Needed

 Flipchart or whiteboard
Markers
Post-it notes
Timer
Handout with the 5 key insights from Getting to Yes

Workshop Plan

Welcome and Setup (10 min)

Key Insights Overview (15 min)

Conflict Case Practice – small groups (25 min)

In small groups (2–4 people):

Personal Reflection – your BATNA (10 min)

Ask each person to reflect silently:

Roleplay Skill Practice (25 min)

Close and Commit (15 min)

Facilitation Tips

Conclusion

Most teams don’t fall apart because of big blowups.

It’s the smaller stuff—mismatched expectations, unspoken frustrations, decisions made without real agreement—that slowly wears people down.

Learning how to negotiate well doesn’t fix everything.

But it gives people a way to stay in the conversation, even when it gets uncomfortable.

It gives teams a structure they can rely on when things feel stuck.

And it helps people speak with more clarity and less fear.

That’s the real value here. Not just better agreements, but a better way of working together.

So this workshop might be worthwhile if your team finds itself going in circles, avoiding the hard stuff, or struggling to move forward when opinions clash.

It won’t solve every problem. But it will give you a way to start tackling them, together.

And that’s often where real change begins.

If you want the slides and handouts for this workshop, you can get them in my Bestselling Book Workshops Bundle.

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See you next week.