Negotiation Skills

Negotiation is a deliberative process between two or more actors that seek a solution to a common issue or who are bartering over an item of value. Negotiation skills include the range of negotiation techniques negotiators employ to create value and claim value in their dealmaking business negotiations and beyond. Negotiation skills can help you make deals, solve problems, manage conflicts, and build relationships as well as preserve relationships. Negotiation skills can be learned with conscious effort and should be practiced once learned.

Negotiation training includes the range of activities and exercises negotiators undertake to improve their skills and techniques. Role-play simulations developed from real-world research and negotiation case studies, negotiation training provides benefits for teams and individuals seeking to create and claim more value in their negotiations.

The right skills allow you to maximize the value of your negotiated outcomes by effectively navigating the negotiation process from setup to commitment to implementation.

The Program on Negotiation’s Executive Education negotiation training programs include Negotiation and Leadership: Dealing with Difficult People and Problems, the Harvard Negotiation Master Class, and the Harvard Mediation Intensive.

This training allows negotiators to:

  • Acquire a systematic framework for analyzing and understanding negotiation
  • Assess and heighten awareness of your strengths and weaknesses as a negotiator
  • Learn how to create and maximize value in negotiations
  • Gain problem-solving techniques for distributing value fairly while strengthening relationships
  • Develop skills to deal with difficult negotiators and hard-bargaining tactics
  • Learn how to match the process to the context
  • Discover how effectively to manage and coordinate across and behind-the-table negotiations
See full description

Should you be nasty or nice?

PON Staff   •  03/09/2010   •  Filed in Daily, Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “Honey or Vinegar?”, first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Who brings out the best in us: someone nice or someone nasty? According to a recent study by Gerben A. van Kleef and colleagues of the University of Amsterdam, we may be more generous toward angry people than toward happy people.

In the first two … Read Should you be nasty or nice?

First, know thyself

PON Staff   •  03/02/2010   •  Filed in Daily, Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “Self-Analysis and Negotiation,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

“Separate the people from the problem,” advises the bestselling negotiation text “Getting to Yes”. That’s certainly good counsel when tempers flare and bargaining descends into ego battles, but it’s a mistake to ignore the psychological crosscurrents in negotiation. Unless they are addressed, a deal may … Read First, know thyself

Bargaining with the Devil

PON Staff   •  02/18/2010   •  Filed in Negotiation Skills

Professor Robert Mnookin, Chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, published an article for the Foreign Policy online magazine this week based on his new book, “Bargaining with the Devil:  When to Negotiate, When to Fight.” The article discusses how President Obama should deal with the evils he is confronted with.

Click here … Read Bargaining with the Devil

Give at work

PON Staff   •  02/17/2010   •  Filed in Daily, Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “Pitch Your Offer—and Close the Deal,” by Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman (professors, Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

When you’re having trouble persuading someone, you might be tempted to sweeten the pot with hefty financial incentives. Before doing so, consider whether there are cheaper ways of gaining compliance.
A … Read Give at work

Don’t fight City Hall

PON Staff   •  02/17/2010   •  Filed in Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “Tired of Fighting City Hall? Negotiate Instead,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

No matter what organization you work for or where you choose to live, sooner or later you’ll find yourself facing off with a government official or agency. Here are a few examples:

You apply for a permit from your local zoning board … Read Don’t fight City Hall

Caught in the middle

PON Staff   •  02/16/2010   •  Filed in Daily, Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “When You’re Stuck in the Middle,” by Susan Hackley (Managing Director, Program on Negotiation), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.
At a company in a Midwestern city, employees were divided into two camps: those loyal to the founder and his vision of a mom-and-pop business with a dozen regional stores, and those aligned with … Read Caught in the middle

Gender matters

PON Staff   •  01/12/2010   •  Filed in Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “Gender Assertiveness and Implicit Sexism,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.
Most gender research in negotiation has examined differences between women and men, such as the tendency of women to be more anxious about the process and to set lower aspirations than men. The question of how people react to female negotiators versus … Read Gender matters

Are you afraid of commitment?

PON Staff   •  01/12/2010   •  Filed in Daily, Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “Overcoming Stage Fright: How to Prepare for a Negotiation,” by Michael Wheeler (Professor, Harvard Business School), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Many negotiators grow anxious as they approach the bargaining table, a reaction that puts them in good company with other distinguished professionals. Laurence Olivier’s stage fright almost ended his acting … Read Are you afraid of commitment?

Insights from a Communication and Negotiation Conference: The Benefits of Not Knowing

PON Staff   •  01/05/2010   •  Filed in Daily, Negotiation Skills, Pedagogy at PON

An Experiment: Exploring Interdisciplinary Linkages between Negotiation and Communication Studies

What would negotiation pedagogy look like if we focused more on the core meanings and practices of communication? How can understanding the underpinnings of communication – the components of conversation and the exchange of meaning – help us understand and improve our negotiations? The weekend of … Learn More About This Program

To trust or not to trust

PON Staff   •  12/21/2009   •  Filed in Daily, Negotiation Skills

Adapted from “The Payoff of Trust,” by Iris Bohnet (Professor, Harvard Kennedy School), first published in the “Negotiation newsletter.”

It’s natural to fear trust betrayal, or the violation of pivotal expectations of trustworthiness. Recent corporate and religious scandals have tragically demonstrated the substantial costs of such betrayals. Victims suffer emotional harm, and their ability to trust … Read To trust or not to trust

Would you like us to inform you when new posts become available?

We hate spam as much as you do. You have our promise not to sell or share your email address — ever! Please read our privacy policy.