Developing Negotiation Skills

When it comes to business or even your day to day life - negotiating is an important part of our interactions with others. Developing our negotiation skills can help us navigate this process of "give and take" in a way that is helpful and productive while being in line with our ultimate objectives.


When it comes to negotiation, it's not about winning or losing. Good negotiation means understanding the intricacies involved and changing the situation to a favourable set of circumstances to help you move towards your goal.


When it comes to negotiation scenarios, there are broadly two types:


*Hard negotiation - this is the one that usually involves money or some kind of deal, such as salary increase or a used car sale. The two sides generally have different interests in mind and out to achieve diametrically opposite objectives - they're in a competition to cut the best deal in their interests.


*Soft negotiation - with soft negotiation skills, as is the case with conflict resolution or amongst friends or within a team, parties are looking to arrive at an agreement and are generally more willing to make concessions in order to get the job done.


Principled negotiation


Meanwhile, many negotiation training sessions highlight a third way of approaching negotiations, and that's through principled negotiation. In this situation, people and egos are removed from the equation and the merits of the outcomes themselves are weighed. This is an effective way to help manage and resolve internal conflict within an organisation, where the primary objective should be to further business aims.


Whether you're job is to cut the best deal or you're looking to enhance internal communication, professional development that develops your negotiation skills can be useful. It can be a part of your sales coaching program or something you undertake independently in your business. Just remember that when it comes to any successful negotiation strategy - communication is key.