To Negotiate Well, Learn to Listen

Community Manager — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:25:00 GMT

"The basic mistake people make in negotiations is not listening," said Steven P. Cohen, author of Negotiating Skills for Managers in a Forbes article The ABC's of Negotiating. "Information is the most important commodity that changes hands during negotiations," Cohen added.

In a past post Negotiate What You Deserve, we blogged about how negotiating is a fact of life, be it at work or home: everything from vacation calendars to raises to what to order in for dinner can be subject to the push-and-pull of negotiation and compromise. At the heart of any successful negotiation is skillful listening.

Hear, Hear

So how to listen effectively? Let's take a moment to suss out what constitutes listening. Broadly speaking "listening" incorporates two functions: receiving spoken information and interpreting that information.

Interpreting the spoken word is where things get tricky. A famous Russian composer once said "to listen is an effort, and just to hear has no merit. A duck hears also." The key to effective listening is not merely to hear but to understand what the speaker is conveying.

Listen Up

So how to move from hearing to understanding? Take time to be an active, engaged listener, not a passive recipient of information; ask questions and study nonverbal cues. Stay engaged and connected; make an effort to keep your mind from wandering. Take time to check in and engage in reflexive listening, repeating what the person has said in order to help determine meaning, such as "you believe you need more time to complete the project? Is that correct?"

For more advice on your improving listening and negotiating skills we've assembled the following resources:

Are you an active listener? Do you see a link between effective listening and negotiating? Share your thoughts here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Candie Harris

Negotiate What You Deserve

Community Manager — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:14:00 GMT

Business writer and negotiating-guru Dr. Chester L. Karrass has said, "In business, you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate." As anyone who has tried to reach a deal on a car lease, a home's sale price or even a teenager's curfew knows, life, not just business, requires negotiating chops. So how to get the best raise, sale price or deal?

Do You Know What You're Worth?

To begin, arm yourself with information. Different negotiating experts employ various strategies and tips, but all sound a common theme: educate yourself before sitting down at the bargaining table. Research and listen; often the person across the table will reveal useful information.

Don't Capitulate (Or Worse, Eviscerate)

Since knowledge-is-power in negotiating, we've assembled a selection of resources offering constructive negotiating tips and techniques. One pointer from authors Roger Fisher and Daniel Shapiro of the Harvard Negotiation Project strikes me as being spot-on: successful negotiating requires respect for both yourself and others.

Don't put yourself at a disadvantage by undermining your position with a lack of self-respect for your needs. Similarly, you'll have a greater chance of reaching a winning outcome if you treat your counterpart respectfully and don't try to bludgeon or bully them into accepting your point of view.

For more hands-on tools and tactics, arm yourself with information from these resources:

Do you have strategic negotiating tips? Share your thoughts here and on the Beyond Folders Community's Facebook and Twitter pages.

by Candie Harris

Beyond Folders : negotiation

To Negotiate Well, Learn to Listen

Negotiate What You Deserve