Still buzzing from an amazing weekend with my distance learning course. It was a long weekend session (four day) which meant I had to take two days off work but it was worth it. The goal of the course was to build and understand negotiation and brokering skills and the only way you can learn from it is to do it. There were tutorials but the highlight from the second day was the allocation of ourselves into groups based on a scenario on East Timor and the return of some East Timorese refugees from Indonesia back to East Timor. The students were split into groups representing the different factions involved: East Timorese NGOs, East Timorese Government, Indonesian Army, Government of Portugal and others. I was part of the East Timor Government. We all had our own agendas and goals and had to spend the next three days negotiating the successful return of the refugees back to East Timor. Some of the groups REALLY got into the role with intimidation and shock tactics in place for all to see. Quite shocking in some ways and it goes to show that many, many people can not stand up to calculated intimidation and that we are largely non-confrontational. I managed to grow some teeth and backbone despite my weak position and quite enjoyed the power trip. Negotiation is always a question of power and the application of it providing you are aware of it. Still, I learnt a lot of myself and one is that I TALK TOO MUCH. A bit of stum would be in order. Thinking before talking is also a good skill but after a few pints of strong bitter it proved to be very difficult! Still, by the end of the day we got what we wanted and managed to negotiate away some other items while gaining some other concessions. All quite surprising but probably representative of what happens in real life situations. Loved it and want to try one again, though this time with better briefing materials.