Federal Contract Negotiation Techniques

Course Description

As the Government uses negotiation more and more frequently, and sealed bidding less and less, it is important for Government personnel to negotiate effectively. This FAI-compliant course (part of the Principles of Contract Pricing curriculum) takes the student through the various aspects of the negotiation process, including the reasons for negotiation, human characteristics that influence the negotiation process, presentation skills, and negotiation strategies.

Through a combination of lecture-discussion sessions, case studies and practical exercises, students will learn to formulate negotiation objectives, plan and execute negotiation strategies, and get real-time feedback on the effectiveness of their approach.

This would be a valuable course for any Government employee who would like to develop better negotiation skills. While the course focuses on negotiations with contractors, the skills and techniques learned can be applied to any situation that might require negotiation, inside or outside the Government.

ACE Credit Recommendation

In the lower division baccalaureate degree category, 2 semester hours in Business Administration, Federal Acquisition, Public Administration, Procurement Management, or Purchasing..

Prerequisites

To ensure success, we recommend that students have completed the following courses:
Acquisition Planning I, Contract Formation I, Contract Administration I, Price Analysis and Cost Analysis.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Conduct exchanges with offerors prior to negotiations
• Determine competitive range and extent of discussions
• Prepare a negotiation strategy
• Conduct discussions with offerors in the competitive range
• Conduct negotiations in a noncompetitive situationCourse Contents

Course Content

Lesson 1: Introduction to Negotiations

• Describe negotiations as defined in FAR.
• Identify the factors necessary for a successful negotiation.
• Recognize the three possible negotiation outcomes and perceived negotiation styles.
• Describe negotiator attitudes that lead to successful negotiations.

Lesson 2: Exchanges Prior to Negotiations

Given a proposal, the government’s analysis(es) of the proposal(s), and a competitive range determination (in competitive negotiations):

• Participate in exchanges (i.e. factfinding sessions) between the government and one or more offerors to obtain the information necessary to finalize prenegotiation positions.

Lesson 3: Negotiation Preparation

Given a proposal, background materials for government teams, background materials for offeror teams, and the results of exchanges:

• Organize the negotiation team in the negotiation process.
• Inventory the negotiation issues and objectives.
• Identify the other party’s negotiation history and probable approach.
• Describe potential bargaining strengths and weaknesses of both parties.
• Identify negotiation priorities and potential tradeoffs or concessions.
• Determine an overall strategy for attaining the prenegotiation objectives.
• Prepare a negotiation plan.

Lesson 4: Non-Competitive Negotiations

Given a proposal, background materials for government teams, background materials for offeror teams, the results of exchanges, and negotiation plans:

• Identify the steps in conducting and documenting both pre-award and post-award non-competitive negotiations.
• Conduct a non-competitive negotiation.

Lesson 5: Non-Verbal Communications

Given negotiation scenarios:

• Recognize different forms of nonverbal communications that may be present during a negotiation.
• Describe different forms of body language and the effects they can have on negotiations.
• Describe different elements of the physical environment and the effects they can have on negotiations.
• Recognize the importance of personal attributes in negotiations.
• Employ non-verbal communication techniques.
• Interpret non-verbal cues from other participants in the negotiations.

Lesson 6: Bargaining Techniques

Given negotiation scenarios:

• Identify and apply bargaining techniques.

Lesson 7: Bargaining Tactics

Given negotiation scenarios:

• Recognize Win/Win and Win/Lose tactics.
• Identify ways to apply Win/Win tactics in negotiating a fair and reasonable price.
• Recognize tactics used by the other party.
• Apply counter-measures to Win/Lose tactics.

Lesson 8: Competitive Discussions

Given two or more proposals, background materials for government teams, background materials for offeror teams, the results of exchanges, the negotiation plan, and the agenda:

• Recognize the steps for a competitive discussion.
• Conduct competitive discussions.
• Conduct a comparative assessment of final proposals.
• Develop a presentation that communicates the findings.
• Identify the use of the Price Negotiation Memorandum (PNM) in documenting a fair and reasonable price.