Top Negotiation Skills for Professionals

Negotiation is a two-way conversation between two parties to resolve conflicts or issues in a way that is acceptable to both parties. It is usually a compromise involving give and take. Negotiation occurs when each party makes a concession to resolve a conflict for the benefit of all parties. Negotiations may take place in the workplace between managers, departments, colleagues, or between a team member and a manager. You can negotiate the job offer with the interviewer or HR manager even before you start. In this article, we will define negotiation skills, discuss their benefits, provide examples, and provide tips for improving your negotiation skills.

Negotiation Skills: Meaning

Negotiation skills are inevitable characteristics that help two or more parties reach an agreement on a logical solution. At work, you may need to use your negotiation skills in various situations, such as: 

• Negotiating a raise after a promotion with an HR manager  
• Agreeing with a team leader or supervisor on a project deadline.
• Negotiating with the boss and taking some days off for a family vacation 
• Contract terms are being negotiated with a prospective customer.

A lack of negotiation skills has an impact on the bottom line of the business and can ruin customer relationships. Negotiation skills are soft skills that must be developed in order to become a negotiator and resolve workplace conflicts.

Advantages of Negotiation Skills

Negotiation is a skill that every leader should have. By helping individuals function effectively together and avoid conflict, a leader can help businesses achieve their goals. Here are some main advantages that negotiation skills give a team leader in the workplace:

Negotiation is a sought-after leadership skill that assists businesses in achieving their goals. Here are some of the reasons why negotiation skills are important in the workplace:

• Helps in team building: Disagreements are a part of working together. However, with good negotiation, team members can find a common ground and work towards a solution.
• Provides excellent solutions: The focus of negotiation skills is that conflict resolutions are long-term. It focuses on long-term solutions because neither party makes a concession unless the solution is adequate.
• Avoids conflicts for the future: When you have good negotiation skills, you find a common ground which in turn helps to avoid the conflicts that may arise in the future.
• Create a business-friendly environment: The achievement of business objectives, resulting in a business-friendly environment is the focus of good negotiation skills. This increases the likelihood of future business transactions.

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Types of Negotiation Approaches

The negotiation approaches that you use are determined by your situation. The majority of workplace negotiations are “win-lose” type or “win-win” type. Here are four different types of negotiation strategies:

Distributional Bargaining

It is also known as “hard bargaining” due to the fact that both sides argue over the same issue. Considering that each party thinks their loss will help the negotiator, distributive negotiation is a lose-lose strategy. For instance, you might not want to reduce the cost of a SaaS tool because doing so would put you at a financial disadvantage, but your customer might feel you are raising prices for them if you do not offer discounts.

Integrative Bargaining

It also goes by the name “interest-based bargaining” due to the idea that by making trade-offs, both parties can benefit and add value. This negotiation benefits both parties, making it a win-win strategy. For instance, you may quote a monthly cost of $2,000 when purchasing a SaaS tool, but the customer insists on paying only $1,600. You two might settle on a $1,800 monthly rent. Given the financial gains for both parties, it is a win-win situation.

Cooperation with Co-workers

It might be part of your job to work closely with various departments, and if you don’t have good negotiation skills, it might be challenging to accomplish your goals. For instance, a test automation engineer may mark a portion of your code as a critical error while you are working as a software developer. You and the automation engineer concur that since the product’s functionality has changed, the error is no longer valid. As a result, you come up with a plan to stop similar incidents from happening again.

Management Negotiations

Among the most challenging types of negotiations is one with your manager or senior management. With such senior-level individuals, you frequently negotiate your job responsibilities and compensation benefits. Due to the stakes in this workplace negotiation, your career progression is at risk. As a result, be polite and clear when discussing your expectations when negotiating your salary and other benefits.

Tips to Improve your Negotiation Skills

Negotiation skills are essential in every business, so you must constantly hone them. Here are a few pointers to help you improve your negotiating skills:

• Prepare for the bargaining- Enter a negotiation only after you’ve determined what you want and how willing you are to compromise in order to resolve the conflict.

• Be willing to make concessions– Without compromise, it is impossible to reach a mutually beneficial agreement that benefits both parties. When negotiating at work, leave your ego at the door and be willing to compromise on the best-fit terms.

• Make a timetable- Without a timetable, a negotiation can drag on for months or years. Setting a deadline or timeline encourages parties to arrive at an agreement before the last date.

• Provide several options- If a conflict can be resolved in more than one way, it makes sense to present all potential solutions at the start of a negotiation. This saves time and increases the likelihood that both parties will choose one solution that achieves their desired outcome.

• Speak with assurance- Negotiation is more about how you say something than what you say. As a result, it is critical to speak confidently in order to persuade the other party that your solution is beneficial. Lack of confidence and self-affirmation may lead to negotiating terms that are more favourable to the opposing party.

• Accept failure as a part of life- When the needs of both parties are so dissimilar, it can be difficult to reach an agreement. You may fail at negotiation, but you should never take it personally. Accept it instead and go over the entire negotiation again to figure out how to improve your efforts.

• Work on your flaws- Your negotiation skills will always be complemented by your planning, communication, persuasion, problem-solving, and listening abilities. As a result, it is critical to hone these abilities. If you lack persuasion skills or find it difficult to listen to others, you should work on these areas to improve your negotiation abilities.

• Negotiation practice- Practicing your negotiation skills is one of the best ways to improve them. Make a fictitious negotiation scenario and practise it with family or friends. The more you practise, the better your negotiating skills will become.

Negotiation Skills for Resume

The ability to create better relationships, deliver long-term solutions, and avoid future problems is the primary reason why good negotiators are preferred by employers. Good negotiators are especially well-suited for positions of leadership, where they must assume greater responsibility. They are capable of leading quality business discussions, reading the room, and managing a team.

Good negotiators do more than just bargain. Instead, they are so situationally aware that they can identify areas where two parties can benefit from each other, such as partnerships and sales leads, or even merger and acquisition opportunities.

When it comes to demonstrating these qualities on paper or on your resume, you should highlight specific situations in which your excellent negotiation skills came in handy.

Best Negotiation Skills

Here are some examples of negotiation techniques that can help you succeed in negotiations at work:

• Communication Skills
• Strategising Skills
• Proper Planning
• Persuasiveness
• Listening Skills
• Problem-Solving Skills
• Emotional Intelligence
• Interpersonal Skills
• Decision-making Skills
• Preparing BATNA (Best alternative to a negotiated agreement, your alternatives)

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