Scenario 2B: Negotiating Project Timeline of Deliverables for SKS Lawyers

1. Organise participants into groups of 3 people and allocate roles (TrainingCo Client Service Manager Amar, SKS Lawyers Learning Coordinator Zheng, observer)
2. Each role has a separate role-play brief. Ensure participants only read their role brief
3. Suggested role-play time is 50 minutes
   • Preparation time: 10 minutes
   • Role play time: 20 minutes
   • Debrief time (observer to also provide feedback to role players): 10 minutes
   • Group debrief time: 10 minutes

This brief should only be read by the person playing the role of Amar.

Read through the following brief to provide context to the scenario you are role-playing as Amar.

You work for TrainingCo as the Client Service Manager. Your organisation specialises in developing tailored training programs for clients from different fields including education, law, and marketing. Your organisation offers a wide range of skills from a dedicated in-house team that works directly with clients to investigate the learning needs of their staff to then develop effective training programs.

One of your long-term clients SKS Lawyers is growing exponentially and is seeking to overhaul their orientation program and subsequent training programs for their new intake of employees. Following the usual protocol, SKS Lawyers have sent through a brief outline of their project requirements. They are seeking a review of previously delivered training programs, redevelopment of the orientation program, and redevelopment of five separate training programs which cover compliance topics and skills-based training. They have requested that the review of the previous training programs be completed within the next two weeks, the redevelopment of the orientation program to be completed within the next month, and the redevelopment of five different training programs to be completed within the next 3 months.

Due to changes in the educational space, demand from your education clients is high and your teams are extremely busy meeting their demands. You are planning to hire two new staff to assist with the current demands but due to the recruitment process and onboarding of the new staff members, they will not be ready to assist with the workload for a few months (at the earliest). After reviewing the current projects, you are concerned that you will not be able to meet the tight deadlines as outlined by SKS Lawyers. You decide to organise a meeting with SKS Lawyers to negotiate the timeline of the deliverables so that your team can meet their project expectations.

You will need four weeks to review the previous training programs, six weeks to redevelop the orientation program, and up to 20 weeks to redevelop the five different training programs. Usually, you find that SKS Lawyers are willing to negotiate new deadlines however, you have not negotiated with the new SKS Lawyers’ Learning Coordinator Zheng who is meeting with you.

You are now meeting with Zheng to negotiate the timeline of deliverables as required by SKS Lawyers.

This brief should only be read by the person playing the role of Zheng.   

Read through the following brief to provide context to the scenario you are role-playing as Zheng.

You are Zheng. The Learning Coordinator at SKS Lawyers. You have recently started this new role after previously working as a Learning Development Assistant at a rival law firm. You were very excited to land this job at SKS Lawyers and you are keen to make a good impression to your manager and the senior management team as this is your dream job. One of the urgent tasks you need to do before the next intake of new junior lawyers in the next few months is to evaluate the existing training programs, redesign the orientation program and redevelop five of the most critical training programs. The need to do so was emphasised by the previous Learning Coordinator and was cemented by your manager as a KPI. To assist with the training program needs, SKS Lawyers outsources the evaluation and development of training programs to TrainingCo. You have been told that there is a strong relationship with TrainingCo and following the usual protocol, you have sent a brief outline of your project requirements to them. After reviewing timelines for the intake of the junior lawyers, you have communicated the deadline for all deliverables. For example, the review of the previous training programs needs to be completed within the next two weeks, the redevelopment of the orientation program to be completed within the next month, and the redevelopment of five different training programs to be completed within the next 3 months. You have added in a slight buffer in case of any delays, however, the timeline as communicated is set. You have heard back from Amar, the Client Service Manager at TrainingCo that she wants to meet with you to discuss the project requirements in detail and more importantly the deadlines. You have not met Amar before so you are a little apprehensive as to how the discussion will go. You are now meeting with Amar.

As the observer, your role in the scenario is to observe the relationship and conversation between the two players in the negotiation. Part of your role is not to make judgments or interrupt the role play, but rather take notes on the negotiation. Taking observation notes will be a critical part of the debrief, where you are able to provide the role players with your perspective on how the negotiation went. To assist with taking observational notes, here are some questions to consider:

1. Were non-verbal cues utilised? If so, what and by whom?
2. Were any negotiation tactics utilised? If so, what and how did the other party respond?
3. What negotiation skills were evident?
4. Did one/both parties need to compromise and if so, explain what and how?
5. Was an agreement reached? What was it?
6. What could the role players do differently in the negotiation?

At the conclusion of the role-play, it is imperative that the participants are given the opportunity to debrief with each other and other role-playing groups. It is also important for the observer to provide the role players with feedback on what they observed in the relationship and conversation between the two players in the negotiation. The debrief should be prefaced by first outlining the importance of feedback in the spirit of learning through action and reflection and not seen as the opportunity to highlight weaknesses or communicate criticism. The following questions can be utilised to guide the debrief process, with the ability to include further content-specific questions on the negotiation process and/or skills in accordance with your curriculum.

1. How did you find the role-play exercise?
2. What went well in the role-play?
3. What did you find difficult about the role play?
4. What would have helped improve your experience in the role play?
5. What would you do differently next time you negotiate?
6. What skills were evident in the role play?