Learn how to negotiate like a diplomat, think on your feet like an improv performer, and master job offer negotiation like a professional athlete when you download a copy of our FREE special report, Negotiation Skills: Negotiation Strategies and Negotiation Techniques to Help You Become a Better Negotiator, from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.


negotiation skills and strategies

The following items are tagged negotiation skills and strategies:

Hardball Negotiation Tactics: Time Pressure in Major League Baseball

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations.

Major League Baseball (MLB) games are known for their leisurely pacing. In recent years, off-season negotiations between teams and free agents have sometimes proceeded at a similarly glacial rate, to the consternation of players. Changing power dynamics have led teams to resort to hardball negotiation tactics, such as dragging out talks. As a result, players … Read More 

Negotiation Skills and Strategies: Winning Over Reluctant Counterparts

Posted by & filed under Conflict Resolution.

In the aftermath of the December 2012 killing of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, then-president Barack Obama moved gun control to the top of his legislative agenda. By April 2013, the Senate was considering requiring universal criminal background checks for all gun purchases and banning assault weapons … Read More 

Skills of Negotiation: Launching a Quick Campaign

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

Advice on how to negotiate a job offer often focuses on the candidate’s perspective, offering compensation negotiation tips and guidance on adding other issues to the discussion. But how can hiring organizations gain an edge when competing for star candidates? The negotiation example of how Howard University lured Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones away from the … Read Skills of Negotiation: Launching a Quick Campaign 

Bipartisan Agreement Proved Elusive in 2017 Immigration Negotiations

Posted by & filed under Dealmaking.

On September 5, 2017, President Donald Trump announced that in six months he would phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Obama-era policy that has shielded from deportation about 800,000 people brought to the United States illegally as children. Members of Congress seeking permanent protections for the so-called Dreamers covered under DACA then … Read More 

Nelson Mandela: Negotiation Lessons from a Master

Posted by & filed under Leadership Skills.

Some people learn to negotiate on the job, in a classroom, or in a therapist’s office. In Nelson Mandela’s case, “prison taught him to be a master negotiator,” writes Bill Keller in his New York Times obituary of the legendary activist turned president, who died on December 5, 2013. Soon after his arrival at South Africa’s … Read Nelson Mandela: Negotiation Lessons from a Master 

Managing Conflicts of Interest

Posted by & filed under Conflict Resolution.

An agent—whether a real-estate agent, lawyer, literary agent, or financial adviser—can provide the knowledge, experience, connections, and negotiation skills and strategies needed to get you a great deal. But we tend to forget that agents’ and clients’ financial interests are almost never perfectly aligned. A busy real-estate agent may advise you to offer more for … Read Managing Conflicts of Interest 

Major Negotiations in History: In Paris Climate Talks, Planning Was Key

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

On November 4, 2020, the day after the U.S. presidential election, President Donald Trump officially pulled the United States out of the global climate agreement known as the Paris Accord. The United States is the only country to have exited the pact, which President-elect Joe Biden vowed to reenter upon taking office in January. The 195 … Read More 

Asking for More in Salary Negotiation: When Jennifer Lawrence and Jennifer Aniston Spoke Out

Posted by & filed under Salary Negotiations.

“We’re very much a sexist society,” actress Jennifer Aniston said in back in 2015 in an interview with the New York Times, addressing not just the constant questions she faces about marriage and children, but about recent revelations of pay discrimination and salary negotiation in Hollywood. “Women are still not paid as much as men,” Aniston … Read More 

5 Tips for Improving Your Negotiation Skills

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

The prospect of boosting our negotiation skills can be so overwhelming that we often delay taking the necessary steps we can follow to improve, such as taking time to prepare thoroughly. The following five guidelines will help you break this daunting task into a series of manageable—and often essential—strategies. … Read 5 Tips for Improving Your Negotiation Skills 

Everyday Negotiation Situations: Should You Negotiate Service Fees?

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

Imagine that you’re about to hire someone to provide a service—say, to repair your leaky roof, design a new website for your business, or host an online event. In such everyday negotiation situations, when you receive a price quote, should you try to negotiate a better deal?  Conventional wisdom would answer with a resounding yes. Opening … Read More 

Negotiation Skills and Strategies at Work: Negotiating Jewish Identity

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

What does it mean to be Jewish in America? The question offers many opportunities to apply negotiation skills and strategies, writes Robert Mnookin in his new book, The Jewish American Paradox: Embracing Choice in a Changing World (PublicAffairs, 2018). The author of numerous books on negotiation, Mnookin is the Samuel Williston Professor of Law at … Read More 

Real Leaders Negotiate to Meet Their Organization’s Goals

Posted by & filed under Leadership Skills.

Imagine a typical leader, and you might think of someone who is bold, decisive, visionary, assertive, and charismatic. Now think about the kinds of actions that such a leader might regularly engage in. Delegating, making top-down decisions, and otherwise exerting one’s power might immediately come to mind. A behavior that’s not typically at the top of … Read More