Negotiation skills are soft skills

In the workplace, you may have to display your negotiating skills in

various situations such as:
• Negotiating a salary hike with the HR manager after promotion
• Negotiating a project deadline with your team lead or manager
• Negotiating few days off for a family holiday with your manager
• Negotiating contract terms with a potential customer
Negotiation skills are important both in the
workplace as well as in personal life
At the workplace

• Help you achieve long-term career success

• Reduce workplace conflicts.
• Dealing With Clients
• Increases Profit & Salary
• Builds Reputation
• Boost productivity
In your personal life

• Develops Interpersonal Skills

• Builds Confidence
• They boost your creative & reasoning abilities
• Make it more difficult for people to take advantage of your
 Definition
• Negotiation is a dialogue between two parties to resolve conflicts or
issues so that both parties find the solution acceptable.

• Usually, it is a compromise involving give and take.

• Negotiation results when each party compromises to resolve a

conflict for everyone's benefits.
 Formal
• In the workplace, negotiations may take place between managers,
departments, colleagues or between a team member and a
manager.
• Even before you join the workplace, you may negotiate the job offer
with the interviewer or HR manager.
• Preparation: The first stage in any negotiation is preparation. This involves
making decisions on important matters like where the negotiation is to take
place, how many people are going to be involved, etc.
• 2. Discussion: During the second stage of negotiation, the parties involved put
forward their own side on the matter and engage in dialogue regarding it.
• 3. Clarification Of Goals: The clarification stage occurs in tandem with the
discussion taking place. During the discussion, the parties involved form a clear
idea of what the other person’s goals & expectations are.
• 4. Moving Towards An Outcome: Once goals are firmly established, it’s time to
figure out how to achieve them in a manner that’s mutually beneficial to both
parties. That is, finding a win-win situation for the parties involved.
• 5. Agreement & Implementation: Once a mutually beneficial outcome has
been found, it’s time for the parties to formally agree on the outcome. This is
followed by the implementation of the outcome in real life i.e by following the
actual course of action, which can take place anytime in the future.
Steps go into a negotiation process?
What is BATNA?
• BATNA is an acronym that stands for Best Alternative To a Negotiated
Agreement.
• In other words, BATNA is what a party’s alternative is if negotiations
are unsuccessful.
• BATNA is often used in negotiation tactics and should always be
considered before a negotiation takes place. It is never wise to enter
into a serious negotiation without knowing your BATNA
 Advantages of setting BATNA
• It provides an alternative if negotiations fall through.
• It provides negotiating power.
• It determines your reservation point (the worst price you are willing
to accept).
 Negotiation skills that can make you an
excellent negotiator at the workplace:
• Communication
Communication is the backbone of negotiation. The way you
communicate decides the fate of the negotiation. It involves identifying
the nonverbal cues, using the right words and expressing your thoughts
in a compelling and engaging way.

• Strategizing
There may be instances where the other party disagree with the
solution you provide. Good negotiators often come with one or more
backup plans. Consider all solutions to the problem before entering a
negotiation.
 • Planning
Proper planning before the negotiation ensures you know the
long-term consequences of the negotiation terms. Planning comes in
handy during the negotiation process and ensures the successful
execution of the decision.

• Persuasion
Unless you possess the persuasion skills, it becomes difficult to justify
how your solution will benefit both parties. Your persuasion skills
decide whether the other party agrees to your solution.
 • Listening
Active listening is the key to a successful negotiation as it ensures that you
listen to the other party and understand what they are trying to say. Also,
with active listening, you do not miss out on crucial information, which
builds trust and helps reach a consensus faster.

• Problem-solving
Most negotiations occur to find a solution to an issue. With excellent
problem-solving skills, you propose viable and intelligent solutions that are
beneficial for both parties.
• Emotional intelligence
The ability to control and manage your emotions and deal with the
other party's emotions differentiates a successful negotiator from an
unsuccessful one. People high on emotional intelligence (EI) can
accurately perceive and express their emotion, recognize others'
emotions and use these emotions to facilitate solutions.
Styles of Negotiation
 Styles of Negotiation
• In the game of negotiation, you should always think about using
various negotiation styles to fit each situation. There are many
different ways to negotiate and they can be identified as
Competition,
Collaboration,
Compromise,
Accommodation
Avoidance.
To choose the right style you need to consider two important factors:
• The outcome – what you might lose.
• The relationship – how the negotiation will affect you your
relationship with the other party.
 Competition (win-lose):

• A competitive negotiation style is the classic model of “I win, you lose.”

This style of negotiation considers winning at all costs even at the expense
of the other party.

• A competitive negotiation style is beneficial when the outcome is

important, and the relationship is not.

• The competition negotiation style is, however, very risky. It can be costly
and time consuming and often lead to a deadlock.
 Collaboration (win-win):
Collaborative negotiation style seeks win-win situation .

with this style, both relationship and outcome are important.

It requires an investment in time and energy in finding innovative

solutions.

It is successful in situations where the party’s goals are compatible

such as within an organizational or family unit.
 Accommodation (lose-win):
The accommodating style might be used in situations where one party has caused
harm to another party and needs to repair the relationship.
Additionally, this style might be preferred in order to increase support and
assistance from the other party and hope they will be accommodating in the
future.
The major drawback, however, is that it may appear to be condescending toward
the other party or cause the other party to feel uncomfortable because of an easy
win.
 Avoidance (lose-lose):
This style is the “I lose, you lose” model. This style is used when both
outcome and relationship are not important.

This strategy is implemented by withdrawing from active negotiations or by

avoiding the negotiations entirely.

An avoidance style is used infrequently in negotiating and is often used

when the negotiation concerns a matter that is trivial to both parties.
Compromise (split the difference):
Compromising is the style most people think of as negotiation, but it
is really only bargaining. Compromisers use this style instead of
finding a solution that fully benefits everyone.

Thus, this style is best used in circumstances where factors, such as

time, prevent the players form achieving a true collaboration but still
wish to achieve positive outcomes and relationships.
 Tips for Negotiating
• Every situation is unique, but some strategies, tactics, and principles
can help you address many of the issues people face in negotiating
with employers.
 Don’t underestimate the importance of
likability.
This sounds basic, but it’s crucial: People are going to fight for you only
if they like you. Anything you do in a negotiation that makes you less
likable reduces the chances that the other side will work to get you a
better offer.
 Help them understand why you deserve what
you’re requesting.
It’s not enough for them to like you. They also have to believe you’re
worth the offer you want. Never let your proposal speak for
itself—always tell the story that goes with it. Don’t just state your
desire (a 15% higher salary, say, or permission to work from home one
day a week); explain precisely why it’s justified (the reasons you
deserve more money than others they may have hired,
 Make it clear they can get you.

• If you intend to negotiate for a better package, make it clear that

you’re serious about working for this employer.

• If you’re planning to mention all the options you have as leverage,

you should balance that by saying why—or under what
conditions—you would be happy to forgo those options and accept
an offer.
 Understand their constraints

They may like you. They may think you deserve everything you want.
But they still may not give it to you. Why? Because they may have
certain ironclad constraints, such as salary caps
 Be prepared for tough questions.
You need to prepare for questions and issues that would put you on
the defensive, make you feel uncomfortable, or expose your
weaknesses. Your goal is to answer honestly without looking like an
unattractive candidate—and without giving up too much bargaining
power. If you have thought in advance about how to answer difficult
questions, you probably won’t forfeit one of those objectives.
 Focus on the questioner’s intent, not on the
question.
Often the question is challenging but the questioner’s intent is benign.
An employer who asks whether you would immediately accept an offer
tomorrow may simply be interested in knowing if you are genuinely
excited about the job, not trying to box you into a corner. A question
about whether you have other offers may be designed not to expose
your weak alternatives but simply to learn what type of job search
you’re conducting and whether this company has a chance of getting
you.