The Client:
Willkie Farr & Gallagher, London office of a US Law firm
The Challenge:
The law firm was holding a one-day conference for their European Private Equity group and were anxious to fill the last two hours of the afternoon with a topic focused around business skills that was relevant, useful, involved the maximum numbers, and was fun.
The Solution:
We created a two-hour programme covering two areas – negotiating and challenging conversations. Time was tight, so our Managing Director, Jack Downton, started with a discussion on the issues they face when negotiating. This was followed by a short presentation highlighting the five key areas of negotiating that, if understood and applied, can really make a difference. Attendees were then asked to break into five groups, each with one of our actors, to practice these negotiation conversations. Following this, attendees were invited back into the main room to discuss what they had learned.
Next, we practiced a challenging conversation that each group selected off a short list of examples relevant to an international law firm. At the end of the session, each group was asked to share their experience, so learning was passed on to all.
The Results:
The feedback was excellent, and the organiser felt that the afternoon had been a great finale to the overall programme.
“I’m not normally a fan of this type of programme with actors but this was excellent and by far the best that I have been involved in.”
“Great programme. I hadn’t realised how much people tend to talk when they should be asking questions and listening to what really interests the client.”
