5 Steps to Better Negotiating Today

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

I recently published an article on the two different types of negotiation – positional and principled. If you haven’t seen it, I hope you’ll check it out. Within both types, there are steps … and they’re basically the same. 

Assessment. The first step is to understand the negotiation. What type of negotiation do you anticipate? What are the issues that will be negotiated? What do you know about the organization / person you will be negotiating with? Trust me – the people and/or organizations that you will be negotiating with are doing the same about you and your organization. Preparation. In this step, take time to research the issues. If you need to have data to support your point of view, start gathering it. Also, use this time to identify not only the issues that you want to cover, but what you think the other parties will want. Try to put yourself in their position and anticipate their topics. Also, let me add here, if there are any dealbreakers, this is the time to identify them. Communication. During this step, you’ll be actively in the negotiation. You’ll talk about the things you want, and they’ll do the same. You’ll want to use all your communication skills including empathetic listening and non-verbal cues. Building trust is an important part of the process if you want to reach a solution. And in the previous step I mentioned dealbreakers, this might be the time to express what those dealbreakers are. Not because you want to play hardball, but because holding back that information could damage trust. Proposal / Solution. Speaking of solutions, this is where proposals are exchanged, and solutions are designed. It’s possible that your initial proposal will need to be revised a little. I like to think of this step like problem solving. During the communication step, the situation / problem has been identified. In this step, both parties realize their common goals and work toward a solution.  Agreement / Commitment. Once a solution is identified, it’s important for both parties to agree and commit to it. Like in consensus building, you don’t have to love it or even like it … but you do need to be able to live with it. We rarely get everything we want in a negotiation, but we do need to support the result. 

We negotiate all the time in our professional lives. Right now, many organizations are in what I call “budget season”, where we have to negotiate things like how much headcount we will have next year. Or how much money will be in the training budget. 

Another common negotiating scenario is when we’re looking for a new opportunity. Job offer negotiations are regular events. Don’t assume that every job candidate just wants “more money”. There could be other things like more vacation or guaranteed professional development. Whether you’re the person extending the offer or the candidate, you need to be prepared for a negotiation.

Oh, and one more thing. Once the process is completed, take a moment to do a quick two-question debrief with yourself. 1) What went well? And 2) what would you do differently next time? Negotiating is a lot harder than it sounds. The good news is that the debriefs will help you get better at it. 

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby after speaking at the HR Technology Conference in Las Vegas, NV

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