Simplifying negotiations for desired outcome

The six negotiator traits

In a moment of negotiation, especially when stakes are high, you might want to put your best man in the room. You could select this person by looking at their past success rate, or you could also see if they embody these features:

1. Knows how to separate the people from the problem. Someone who strives to imagine the situation from their counterpart’s viewpoint, and explores each side’s perceptions openly while avoiding the tendency to blame.
2. Prefers to focus on interests and not positions. By identifying what interests are motivating the other party, and sharing your own interests, you can open up opportunities to explore and increase your chances of getting a yes.
3. Manages their emotions well. Allowing one another to speak your mind will benefit both sides. When you know you will have your turn to express how you’re feeling, it will be easier for you to listen when your counterpart has their turn.
4. Does not shy away from expressing appreciation. Great negotiators should express appreciation by working to understand the other’s perspective, seeking merit in that perspective, and communicating it through words and actions.
5. Spins their message positively. Instead of speaking on behalf of your group, speak only for yourself. Communicating in a positive way is a much more effective means of getting to yes than blaming and criticizing.
6. Avoids the action-reaction cycle. If the other side announces a firm position, you may be tempted to criticize and reject it. Learn the negotiation jujitsu skill: avoiding escalation by refusing to react. Instead, invent options for mutual gain.

Read more about the basic negotiation skills anyone should have, in the full Harvard Edu piece here .

Body language as the deal-sealer

There is a reason why people prefer to do negotiations in person. Not via a third party, not through Zoom or any other virtual channels, but face-to-face in the same room. Being able to see and analyze how the other party behaves is major in negotiation.

Practicing your body language skills will significantly boost the quality of your negotiations. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Keep Eye Contact

Maintaining good eye contact not only conveys sincerity and attention but also fosters trust and shows respect for the other person's viewpoint.

Use Mirroring Moderately

Subtly copy the other person's body language to establish rapport. Refrain from going overboard since it may come across as mimicking.

Project Satisfaction

Keeping a straight posture and a relaxed, open stance—whether standing or sitting—can help you project a calm and composed demeanor.

Listen Actively

Use gestures, smiles, and nonverbal cues to show you're actively listening. This fostersa collaborative negotiation climate, leading to a more productive dialogue.

Be Aware of Your Gestures

Adopt deliberate and controlled gestures to highlight key points, but avoid using excessive, confusing, or tense movements that may detract from your message.

Not only paying attention to your own, reading the other person’s body language is even more crucial in ‘winning’ the negotiation. Learn more about it here .

Practicing the skills

In our day-to-day life, most of negotiations we need to do probable gear more towards the low-stake levels. However, there are a few situations where you could practice your negotiation skills and shine with them:

1. Recruitment Process. When you’re job-seeking, a very important factor before jumping ship with a new company is to negotiate your salary. In a previous Monday Mavens edition back in 2022, we discussed all about it, including:

• Why recruiters ask for your expected salary
• How to set your salary range expectation (+ case studies)
• The rookie mistakes to avoid

Check out the full Edition on our archive Substack page here .

2. Business Partnerships. Whether you’re dealing with external parties, or internal (other teams within your company), you need to negotiate well in order to get each other’s expectations set and your needs met. Learn more about:

• Steps to start a partnership from scratch
• The 4 main types of industry collaborations
• Metrics to measure the success quality of your partnerships

All available in our past Monday Mavens edition here .

Of course, you can also do role-play within your team to anticipate how the other party might react, and implement other methods to enhance your negotiation skills.

It’s quite a necessity in most teams, yet some people don’t prioritize training it. Once you’ve got your negotiation skills on lock, the rest of the collaboration process will be smooth as butter.

Do you have any coworkers who you deem as the negotiator? Or, you think one of your colleagues might advantage from this week’s Monday Mavens edition? Share this article around and be the bearer of good news in your team!

We’ll see you again next week for even more productivity tips.