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5 Minutes Till the Meeting | |||||||||
| 5 Minutes Till the Meeting- Research by Rolodex 2006-06-21 5 Minutes Till the Meeting is a regular feature of Better Negotiating. Here you'll get ideas about how you can put your negotiating training to work when you discover you've got five minutes to prepare. Here we look at the Research by Rolodex- a simple way to get readier when you have no time. ...Read more |
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Better Negotiating at the Movies | |||||||||
| Better Negotiating At The Movies- 12 Angry Men 2006-11-25 Several negotiation instructors use 12 Angry Men as a case study in persuasion. Here's why......Read more |
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Five Minute Refresher | |||||||||
| A Negotiation Phrasebook- 14 Phrases That Let You Be Hard on the Problem, Soft on the Person 2007-02-06 Imagine you are about to try to negotiate with your supervisor for a budget increase. Or that you are about to confront a car dealer about a noisy transmission, or that you need to convince your companion to postpone your vacation together. What should you say? You are worried: what if the words you use sound too demanding, or too weak? You can strike the right balance by using one or more of these fourteen phrases that let you signal you want to be “hard on the problem, soft on the person”......Read more |
I FORESAW IT: A Way to Improve Your Preparations for Negotiating 2007-01-18 By Seth Freeman (c) 1996 Preparation- Jewel in the crown of negotiation. Get this right (and merely doing it is not enough) and your performance in the negotiation dramatically improves. -Gavin Kennedy How do you prepare for a negotiation? A simple planning tool can help you focus your thinking. The tool is a mnemonic called "I FORESAW IT."...Read more | ||||||||
| Five Minute Refresher - Being More Effective at Work by Winning a Mandate 2006-11-25 You find you have too much responsibility and not enough authority. What do you do? One solution is to go out and win a mandate. That is, win the authority you need by negotiating for it. ...Read more |
Five Minute Refresher – Is This Deal Necessary? How to Know To Say "No" to Bad Offers 2006-11-25 When you see business leaders announcing a big deal on TV, the chances are excellent that you are witnessing a disaster in the making. In fact, many deals you read about (and do?) may be mistakes. How can this be, and what can you do to intentionally avoid bad ones? ...Read more | ||||||||
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Negotiation of the Month | |||||||||
| How To Win at Office Politics (and Save a Global Network) with 2 Simple Negotiating Tools 2007-02-06 There are times when your job depends on getting colleagues from other departments to agree to do something, and then do it. But what do you do when office politics make them refuse? When they simply don’t care, or don’t want to be blamed? My student Mohammad* faced this very problem as he tried to get bank colleagues in other departments to do a careful job fixing fixing the global computer network. They refused. Then he used two simple negotiating tools to persuade them to do the job right....Read more |
Keep Your Team Together- Three Stories from War and Crisis 2007-01-18 Seasoned negotiators know it’s not enough to talk to the other side; it’s also critical to keep the team unified. Three brief stories from Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the siege at Waco illustrate what can happen if you don’t, and hint at what might help you keep your team together.......Read more | ||||||||
| Negotiation of the Month- Trucker v. Building Manager: Can Negotiating Skills Work? 2006-11-25 The trucking company insisted on delivering at 6 a.m., making all kinds of noise that woke the neighbors. The building manager was furious. Could key ideas from negotiation training help two tough guys reach agreement? ...Read more |
My Big Gaffe in China 2006-11-25 So, Mister big shot negotiation professor- how well can you negotiate the purchase of a disposable camera at the Great Wall of China? Not very well at all, it turns out. ...Read more | ||||||||
| Negotiation of the Month- Saving a Merger, Millions of Dollars, and Several Careers with Skillful Negotiating 2006-11-25 You're sitting at your desk when your boss calls you in a panic. A new, post-merger policy shift now threatens your division, her career, and yours. What do you do? Can negotiation skills save you? Yes indeed.......Read more |
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Skill Building | |||||||||
| Quick Tips for Negotiating Salary 2011-02-26 |
What Does it Take to End a Civil War? 2007-08-17 What determines the success of efforts to stop a civil war? We have some answers in a fascinating 2001 Stanford-led study of every civil war in the past 20 years....Read more | ||||||||
| Good Books And Videos About Political Negotiating 2007-08-16 Students occasionally ask me to recommend books and videos on political negotiations. While talks among government officials do have their own special dynamics, they can also offer valuable insights for any student of negotiation. Here is a brief set of reviews of books and videos that are fascinating, illuminating, and enjoyable. Most are available on Amazon. ...Read more |
Sue or Settle- A Simple, Fun Way to See What Litigation Is Really Like 2007-08-15 “See you in court!” Negotiators often think that threatening litigation can help them win concessions from the other side, and sometimes they are right. But what is it really like to litigate? Many years ago I designed a simple card game to help students experience the process. A version of that game, “Sue or Settle,” has since been published by Harvard’s Program on Negotiation and is used regularly at Harvard Law School and at other schools around the world. It’s very simple- anyone age 14 or older can easily play it. The practical lessons it teaches- which I'll reveal here- can help you make much better decisions when you are considering litigation. These lessons become very real and compelling as you play, so I'll also tell you how the game is played, and how you can get a copy if you’d like to play it. ...Read more | ||||||||
| Coping With Sharp Tactics – Part I: “Nibbling” 2007-08-15 How can you respond well when a negotiator tries to use ethically questionable, manipulative tactics on you? ‘Sharp bargaining’ tactics are fairly common in negotiations. Most of us dislike negotiating because in part because we don’t want to deal with them. But a simple, powerful negotiating tool can give you an excellent set of responses to many of the most common ones. In this first of a series of short, practical articles on different sharp tactics and how to deal with them, we look at a particularly common and irritating one called ‘Nibbling.’ It works like this: just when you think you are close to an agreement, the other negotiator says, “there is just one more thing,” and then asks for something more. Especially if you have already spent a lot of time negotiating with him, you will be very tempted to give in ‘just to get the deal done.’ How can you respond more wisely? ...Read more |
Coping With Sharp Tactics – Part I: “Nibbling” 2007-08-15 How can you respond well when a negotiator tries to use ethically questionable, manipulative tactics on you? ‘Sharp bargaining’ tactics are fairly common in negotiations. Most of us dislike negotiating because in part because we don’t want to deal with them. But a simple, powerful negotiating tool can give you an excellent set of responses to many of the most common ones. In this first of a series of short, practical articles on different sharp tactics and how to deal with them, we look at a particularly common and irritating one called ‘Nibbling.’ It works like this: just when you think you are close to an agreement, the other negotiator says, “there is just one more thing,” and then asks for something else. Especially if you have already spent a lot of time negotiating with him, you will be very tempted to give in ‘just to get the deal done.’ How can you respond more wisely? ...Read more | ||||||||
| Revolutionize Your Industry With A Simple Negotiation Idea (Really) 2007-06-21 Your boss tells you to get more for your product; your client tells you to cut the price. What can you do? A simple but powerful negotiation concept can reveal dozens of valuable answers- and literally revolutionize whole industries...Read more |
Love v. Negotiation v. Retaliation? 2007-06-21 Is it rational to love your neighbor, even if he does you harm? For negotiators, the question is central. How DO you respond to someone who is hurting you? Is negotiation uncharitable? Is love irrational? Is retaliation wise or foolish? An excellent PBS series recently presented a debate about these questions. Some thoughts from the debate, and some suggestions....Read more | ||||||||
| “How Can I Safely Practice My Negotiating Skills in Real Life?” Build Your Skills With The Hotel Booking Exercise 2007-06-06 You’d love to be a better negotiator but how can you practice your skills in a safe way? A simple real-life exercise costs lets you do just that. It can also help you learn to save hundreds of dollars on your next trip......Read more |
How Do You Negotiate with a Bureaucracy? Think INSIDE the Boxes 2007-03-20 Administrators often say they can't negotiate with you. They're even less interested in talking about creative options to meet your needs. That’s because their organizations have a strong interest in order and consistency. 'Think inside the box' seems to be their motto. You can still negotiate creatively, however, with someone in a bureaucracy IF you respect her need to stay within the boxes. To be bureaucratically creative, don’t focus solely on ideas that are outside of the box. That is, don't just focus on one-of-a-kind, novel, colorful solutions. Instead, look for grounds to justify fitting your request- or yourself- into a different box. ...Read more | ||||||||
| Business, Auto, Credit Card, Home Buying- Be Ready To Negotiate Well With On-Line Calculators 2007-03-20 "Knowledge is power," said Francis Bacon, and that’s especially true in negotiation. Trained negotiators know that factual research is crucial, which includes understanding the numbers well. On-line calculators can help you understand the numbers before a negotiation about your business, your car, your credit cards, loans, mortgages, house, and apartment, among other things....Read more |
Keep Your Team Together Three Stories from War and Crisis 2007-01-11 Seasoned negotiators know it’s not enough to talk to the other side; it’s also critical to keep the team unified. Three brief stories from Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the siege at Waco illustrate what can happen if you don’t, and hint at what might help you keep your team together. (Click here for full article.)
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| “Am I Getting My Money’s Worth from Negotiation Training?” Seven Ways to Make Sure You Do 2007-01-06 Negotiating training has become a considerable industry. It has the potential to help your colleagues work much more effectively with each other and with other firms. How, though, can you know if the training works? Some practical suggestions…....Read more |
16 Ways to Negotiate Better Rates on Hotels 2007-01-06 Several publications offer on-line articles that gives ideas about how to negotiate for a better rate on your hotel room. ...Read more | ||||||||
| How Do You Negotiate With Wal-Mart and Other Powerful Counterparts? Make Some Moves Away From the Table 2007-01-06 Can you negotiate with Wal-Mart? With a big celebrity? With the President of the United States? In his excellent book, Breakthrough Business Negotiation: A Toolbox for Managers, former Harvard Business School Professor Michael Watkins suggests a way to negotiate when the other side is very powerful and you feel very weak. One particularly valuable insight: you can sometimes do surprisingly well by doing several things outside the negotiating room to improve your relative strength......Read more |
Skill Building-"Help! I Feel So Nervous Going Into A Negotiation!" 14 Ideas. 2006-11-25 "Prof Freeman, How can I not feel nervous before a negotiation? I enjoy the practice we get in each class, but I can't help feeling nervous. Not just in this class, but with any negotiation. Are there tactics or recommendations…? Jill*" Dear Jill, An excellent question about a universal concern. I feel it too sometimes! Here are fourteen suggestions....Read more | ||||||||
| International Negotiation Ideas-Tips for Negotiations between Americans and Chinese 2006-11-25 After three teaching trips to China, I’ve just begun to learn how exciting and challenging negotiating can be between Chinese and Americans. What are some of the biggest traps? How can you cope with them? I’ve begun to learn some of the answers to that increasingly important question....Read more |
Skill Building-Creating Business Opportunity with Interests and Information Interviewing 2006-11-25 Did you know you can create business opportunities by focusing on interests as excellent negotiators do? ...Read more | ||||||||
| Skill Building- "Help! He's Strong and I'm Weak!" 5 Ways to Cope 2006-06-18 "Prof Freeman, What can I do if the other negotiator is very powerful and I'm very weak? My best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) is weak at best. Must I just submit to his demands? Steve*" Dear Steve, You've asked one of the questions I get most often. Sometimes there IS little you can do. Before you give up, though, here are five suggestions....Read more |
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