Negotiation is not only something we do at work; often the toughest negotiations we encounter are in our personal lives. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Daniel Shapiro, Associate Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project and a faculty affiliate with the Program on Negotiation, offers some suggestions on how negotiation skills can be used to repair friendships that are strained or broken. To start, suggests Shapiro, don’t assume that the other party is going to be ready right away to return to a close relationship. By listening closely to the concerns and feelings expressed by a friend, and understanding their perspective, one can begin to rebuild trust, a key component in any relationship.