The Economic Development Board (EDB), host agency of the SheTrades Mauritius Hub, held a workshop on “Communication and Negotiation Techniques” on Friday, 25 September 2026, bringing together women entrepreneurs seeking to strengthen their communication skills, relationship-building abilities and time-management strategies. These skills are essential for building stronger business relationships, identifying new opportunities and achieving more effective business outcomes.
In her welcome remarks, Mrs Nirmala Jeetah, Director of the Healthcare & Lifesciences and ITC SheTrades Mauritius Hub at the EDB, set the tone for the session with a guiding thought:
“Communicate with clarity, negotiate with confidence and create opportunities with purpose.”
She highlighted that entrepreneurs are constantly engaging with customers and stakeholders and making decisions that shape the future of their enterprises. In this journey, effective communication and sound negotiation skills are powerful levers for growth.
The first part of the workshop was led by Mrs Srirupa Wawge, an Occupational Health and Safety Specialist, Certified Public Speaking Trainer and NLP Trainer.
She demonstrated how self-awareness enables entrepreneurs to communicate with greater impact, build genuine connections with stakeholders and inspire people to take action. A key mindset shift, she explained, is to focus on creating value. For a message to be effective, people need to understand it, trust it and see how it relates to their own needs.
Participants were also encouraged to adopt a growth mindset by continuously adapting their communication approaches to an evolving business environment. Clarity, empathy and active listening were highlighted as essential elements of meaningful and effective communication. As Mrs Wawge emphasised, strong communication is not about saying more. It is rather, about making every word count.
At the heart of effective communication is the ability to make people feel seen, heard, respected and valued. This sense of inclusion builds trust and strengthens relationships, creating a strong foundation for meaningful business opportunities.
Bringing these ideas together, Mrs Srirupa highlighted that women entrepreneurs are not only building businesses but, they are, rather, building brands around themselves. Their personal identity, values and credibility form an integral part of their business success.
The second part of the workshop, delivered by Mr Raj Bholah, Operations Specialist in aviation at Air Mauritius and Area Director in Toastmasters, focused on time management and stress management, highlighting the close relationship between how entrepreneurs manage their time and how effectively they manage pressure.
Participants were reminded that time is a non-renewable resource. With multiple responsibilities competing for attention, setting clear priorities is essential. Too many demands combined with unclear priorities can lead to mistakes, rework and additional pressure. The workshop also addressed common sources of lost productivity, including distractions and procrastination.
Through practical examples and interactive exercises, Mr Bholah explored how poor time management can contribute to urgency, overload and unfinished tasks. In turn, prolonged stress can affect focus, decision-making, energy and overall performance.
Participants were encouraged to break this cycle by clarifying priorities, protecting focused work time and scheduling periods for recovery.
An important takeaway was that effort does not always translate into results. Entrepreneurs may sometimes invest significant time and energy in activities that generate limited value. Effective prioritisation therefore requires not only working hard, but also, working strategically.
The workshop provided participants with practical tools to strengthen how they communicate, manage their time and respond to pressure, skills that are particularly valuable in the demanding and dynamic world of entrepreneurship.
For women entrepreneurs, strengthening these capabilities can help create stronger relationships, unlock opportunities and build businesses with greater confidence and purpose.
To continue benefiting from opportunities, events and resources of the hub, women entrepreneurs are encouraged to register on the SheTrades Mauritius Platform via the following link.
