Anyone who negotiates regularly and works to improve his or her negotiating and influencing skills, whether in the work setting or in personal life, will appreciate the approaches offered in this book, particularly professors and students of management, marketing, organizational communication, political science, public policy, psychology, industrial organization psychology, social work, negotiation, family studies, and law.

Negotiation is a practice that not everyone approves of it. There are those who hate it because they think it is too confrontation or simply they don't want to be bothered. This book will show you how negotiations in everyday transactions do not necessarily have to be confrontational, instead they can be fun. Becoming a master negotiator therefore requires that you develop certain qualities such as problem solving abilities, confidence and the flexibility to change tactic during the negotiation process. Practice always makes perfect and the more time and resources you put into the negotiation planning, the higher the chances that you will succeed and get what you want. Remember that you are not the only one on the negotiation table but rather a party to a wide range of interests and perspectives. Try to accommodate the views and concerns of the other people by listening carefully to what they are saying. Do not try to win every argument because this can make you look aggressive and rude from the perspective of your opponent. On the contrary, strive to make your argument reasonable and fair across the board. The guidelines illustrated in this book will teach you a new way of dealing with people regardless of how difficult or insensitive they are. You will become a better negotiator in both the simple and complex day-to-day negotiations that many people fear. In a negotiation process, every person is significant and there is no ultimate decision maker. Do not dictate what needs to be done and the perspective to be followed. Instead, win people over to your side through the simple tactic of communication skills. Be open to positive criticism and do not take anything personal. Being calm and composed will position you at a vantage point to win any negotiation.

Describes a method of negotiation that isolates problems, focuses on interests, creates new options, and uses objective criteria to help two parties reach an agreement.

We all negotiate on a daily basis. We negotiate with our spouses, children, parents, and friends. We negotiate when we rent an apartment, buy a car, purchase a house, and apply for a job. Your ability to negotiate might even be the most important factor in your career advancement. Negotiation is also the key to business success. No organization can survive without contracts that produce profits. At a strategic level, businesses are concerned with value creation and achieving competitive advantage. But the success of high-level business strategies depends on contracts made with suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders. Contracting capability—the ability to negotiate and perform successful contracts—is the most important function in any organization. This book is designed to help you achieve success in your personal negotiations and in your business transactions. The book is unique in two ways. First, the book not only covers negotiation concepts, but also provides practical actions you can take in future negotiations. This includes a Negotiation Planning Checklist and a completed example of the checklist for your use in future negotiations. The book also includes (1) a tool you can use to assess your negotiation style; (2) examples of “decision trees,” which are useful in calculating your alternatives if your negotiation is unsuccessful; (3) a three-part strategy for increasing your power during negotiations; (4) a practical plan for analyzing your negotiations based on your reservation price, stretch goal, most-likely target, and zone of potential agreement; (5) clear guidelines on ethical standards that apply to negotiations; (6) factors to consider when deciding whether you should negotiate through an agent; (7) psychological tools you can use in negotiations—and traps to avoid when the other side uses them; (8) key elements of contract law that arise during negotiations; and (9) a checklist of factors to use when you evaluate your performance as a negotiator. Second, the book is unique in its holistic approach to the negotiation process. Other books often focus narrowly either on negotiation or on contract law. Furthermore, the books on negotiation tend to focus on what happens at the bargaining table without addressing the performance of an agreement. These books make the mistaken assumption that success is determined by evaluating the negotiation rather than evaluating performance of the agreement. Similarly, the books on contract law tend to focus on the legal requirements for a contract to be valid, thus giving short shrift to the negotiation process that precedes the contract and to the performance that follows. In the real world, the contracting process is not divided into independent phases. What happens during a negotiation has a profound impact on the contract and on the performance that follows. The contract’s legal content should reflect the realities of what happened at the bargaining table and the performance that is to follow. This book, in contrast to others, covers the entire negotiation process in chronological order beginning with your decision to negotiate and continuing through the evaluation of your performance as a negotiator. A business executive in one of the negotiation seminars the author teaches as a University of Michigan professor summarized negotiation as follows: “Life is negotiation!” No one ever stated it better. As a mother with young children and as a company leader, the executive realized that negotiations are pervasive in our personal and business lives. With its emphasis on practical action, and with its chronological, holistic approach, this book provides a roadmap you can use when navigating through your life as a negotiator.

Understand the context of negotiations to achieve better results Negotiation has always been at the heart of solving problems at work. Yet today, when people in organizations are asked to do more with less, be responsive 24/7, and manage in rapidly changing environments, negotiation is more essential than ever. What has been missed in much of the literature of the past 30 years is that negotiations in organizations always take place within a context—of organizational culture, of prior negotiations, of power relationships—that dictates which issues are negotiable and by whom. When we negotiate for new opportunities or increased flexibility, we never do it in a vacuum. We challenge the status quo and we build out the path for others to negotiate those issues after us. In this way, negotiating for ourselves at work can create small wins that can grow into something bigger, for ourselves and our organizations. Seen in this way, negotiation becomes a tool for addressing ineffective practices and outdated assumptions, and for creating change. Negotiating at Work offers practical advice for managing your own workplace negotiations: how to get opportunities, promotions, flexibility, buy-in, support, and credit for your work. It does so within the context of organizational dynamics, recognizing that to negotiate with someone who has more power adds a level of complexity. The is true when we negotiate with our superiors, and also true for individuals currently under represented in senior leadership roles, whose managers may not recognize certain issues as barriers or obstacles. Negotiating at Work is rooted in real-life cases of professionals from a wide range of industries and organizations, both national and international. Strategies to get the other person to the table and engage in creative problem solving, even when they are reluctant to do so Tips on how to recognize opportunities to negotiate, bolster your confidence prior to the negotiation, turn 'asks' into a negotiation, and advance negotiations that get "stuck" A rich examination of research on negotiation, conflict management, and gender By using these strategies, you can negotiate successfully for your job and your career; in a larger field, you can also alter organizational practices and policies that impact others.

Quickly create half-day, full-day, and multi-day workshops on improving negotiation skills with this guide designed to guide facilitators in helping learners recognize strengths and weaknesses. The accompanying CD-ROM contains companion materials of ready-to-use presentations, tools, and assessments.