George Siedel on information as power in negotiation and using XR in his “Successful Negotiation” course

Sean Corp, Content Strategist

With more than 1 million already enrolled in his course and a decorated teaching career at University of Michigan, you’d understand if George Siedel wanted to maintain the status quo. His open online course “Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills” is currently one of the most popular courses on any subject available on Coursera with 1.4 million enrollments, and Siedel, professor emeritus at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, worked with a team at U-M’s Center for Academic Innovation to add a new interactive component to the course that uses extended reality technology to immerse learners into a negotiation session. 

Learners are transported to a 360-degree interactive environment where they can use the skills taught throughout the course, including researching the potential investors they will be pitching their business to, and core negotiation strategies.

The interactive experience allows people to practice, learn, reflect, and start over as they build confidence in their own negotiation skills. Professor Siedel answered a few questions about the wide variety of people who have enrolled in his course, the power of information in any negotiation, and how practice is key to improving as a negotiator. 

More than 1.4 million learners have enrolled in your online course “Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills.” Why do you think the course resonates with so many people? 

Learners join the course because negotiation skills are essential for success at work, where we negotiate constantly with colleagues and with individuals outside our organizations. These skills are also important on a personal level when we negotiate with friends, family, landlords, service providers, and others. 

Learners also enjoy the flexible format of the course. They can spread the course out over several weeks. They can listen to the modules in their cars or when working out. They can even binge watch the course over a weekend. Some of the binge watchers have enthusiastically compared the course to Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad protagonist Walter White certainly did face some interesting negotiations!

What kind of feedback do you receive from learners who have completed the course? 

The volume of feedback has been astonishing. More than 18,000 learners have posted feedback at Coursera. Many of them give examples of their success when using skills developed in the course. At one end of the spectrum are successful everyday negotiations with retailers, hotels or even dentists. At the other end are negotiations where CEOs have reported saving millions of dollars. In between are negotiations that have resulted in promotions, salary increases, resolving disputes with family members, successful car sales, and so on. 

Positive feedback from learners is useful because it validates the concepts and tools included in the course. The feedback also helps me improve the online course and my live course on campus. For example, my experience with the course has encouraged me to develop a website that provides learners with a set of free planning tools for their business or personal negotiations. 

Are you surprised at all about the array of people who have enrolled in the course?

The variety of learners has been a major surprise. They range from teenagers to retirees, and from professional negotiators to people with little negotiating experience. The most common age group is 25-34, and most learners are employed full time. Over 40% of learners have a bachelor’s degree and one third have a graduate degree. They come from countries around the world, with the United States and India leading the way. Other countries in the top 10 include Brazil, China, Germany, and Russia. 

What excited you most about the opportunity to allow learners to experience an interactive negotiation in extended reality when taking the “Successful Negotiation” course?

The new interactive experience called “Negotiating with Investors” enables learners to practice for the final negotiation in a virtual environment. They receive suggestions on how to prepare for a negotiation and feedback on how to improve. They can repeat the negotiation as often as they’d like to build confidence in their negotiation skills. 

The course then concludes with a live negotiation called “The House on Elm Street” that allows learners to negotiate with someone from a different part of the world. This experience is very popular because it enables learners to practice what they have learned in the course and obtain feedback on how to improve. Many learners become friends with their negotiation partners during this experience. 

The new interactive experience is reminiscent of some popular TV show formats like “Shark Tank” and "Dragon’s Den.” Why do you feel this is the best way to introduce learners to a negotiation scenario?  

 The extended reality simulation is the best way to give learners practice in negotiating for two reasons. First, the simulation reinforces learning from the course on how to prepare for a negotiation. Second, the interactive experience challenges them to stay with their game plan when challenged by negotiators who are tough, hostile and experienced—like the investors on Shark Tank. Learners also learn how to deal with time pressure during negotiations.

What is the biggest misunderstanding most people have when they think about negotiating as a skill or in approaching negotiation in their lives and career?

People often think that success in negotiation depends on their ability to persuade the other side to do what they want. By focusing on skills of persuasion, they often overlook the importance of asking questions and listening carefully to the other side’s answers. In a negotiation, information is power. Negotiators who gather more information than the other side through careful questioning are in a better position to achieve their own goals and to develop solutions that create value for both sides. 

Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills

7 weeks

Course

We all negotiate on a daily basis. On a personal level, we negotiate with friends, family, landlords, car sellers and employers, among others. Negotiation is also the key…