Communication

Phrase your questions with precision

December 8, 2021
While questions almost always work to your advantage, watch your phrasing. Pay attention to the first word you use to launch your question.

In dealmaking, transparency beats surprise

December 8, 2021
Alexandra Carter shakes loose some of our most ingrained ideas of how to approach negotiation in her book Ask for More. Here’s some of her wisdom from the section titled “What’s the Best Way to Steer?”

Are you negotiating, or just haggling?

December 8, 2021
It’s likely that you’ve bargained with, say, a market vendor about the cost of an item. Eventually, you agreed to a price. “You’re probably thinking you successfully negotiated, but you didn’t. Instead, you haggled,” writes Darren A. Smith of Forbes. “As a leader, you must be able to both haggle and negotiate—and know when one approach is needed over the other.”

Negotiation Quick Takes: January ’22

December 8, 2021
What not to do when employees complain … Give all members a voice

The 6 triggers that make people stop listening

December 8, 2021
Workplace culture expert Tracy Butz writes that there are preparations we must make before entering into any difficult conversation. Avoid these six common conflict triggers—land mines that, if set off, simply make people stop listening to you.

In negotiations, downplay your power

November 10, 2021
By deferring to others, the shrewd tactician can extract maximum concessions without having to make rash decisions or succumb to pressure.

6 ways to ruin your political network

November 10, 2021
Avoid these 6 obstacles to sustaining alliances.

Here’s a way to test your team’s negotiation skills

November 10, 2021
This October, sixteen teams of University of Manitoba Faculty of Law students competed in the sixteenth annual Robson Hall Negotiation Competition. These third-year students were selected for having excelled in the Legal Negotiation course they took in their second year of law school.

When their pay is on the line, do women and men negotiate differently?

November 10, 2021
A team of USC researchers recently set out to find whether women performed differently than men during a salary negotiation. Their results suggested that neither gender is getting it done to the best of their ability, and if women perform worse in a salary negotiation, it is likely due to systemic, implicit biases among recruiters.

Avoid martyrs—and avoiding becoming one

November 10, 2021
Do you work with a martyr-leader? Or do you suspect that you might be one? Let’s examine the criteria.