Career - Test Your Negotiation Skills
Negotiation is one of the most important skills in business. But if you are not prepared, the discussion can turn out poorly for both parties. There are some basic negotiation concepts that everyone can learn and apply to their business dealings, a list has been put together here to help you build your career as a negotiator. Have a look at this list of 33 negotiation tactics and let’s see if any of them will help you improve your relationships with those around you!
What's Negotiation?
Negotiation is an interaction between two sides - one with more power... the other with less. A "negotiator" on one side tries to get things done (e.g. "I'll give you $50 for your old car"). And the other side tries to stop the deal from being made. For example, if your boss asks you to take a pay cut, you are being asked to negotiate. If someone is asking you for your opinion on a new product, that's a negotiation too.
1. How much do you love me?
2. Why do I seem so important in your life?
3. Do we really need this company's product?
4. How long have we been together? 5. Is this something I can live with, or will it break up our marriage? 6. If you bring this up, do you understand what I do for a living? 7. If I make this deal, will you get me that promotion?
8. Do you really have someone to sell it to? 9. Am I getting the best deal in town? 10. How much is your profit margin on this today? 11. How much is your profit margin on this tomorrow? 12. How much is your profit margin on this next week? 13. Would our business be better off with two suppliers instead of one? 14. Are my suggestions worth anything to you or are they just a waste of time? 15. Who's going to make all the money if we make a deal? 16. How are you going to get this done? 17. How long will it take you to do it? 18. What happens if you can't get it done? 19. What do you think we should be asking for (or getting) in this deal? 20. I'm thinking of buying XYZ Company instead of doing a deal with you, how much is that worth to you? 21. Why is this worth so much to me and not to you? 22. How would your reputation be affected if I did a deal with someone else first? 23. How will the overall market affect our deal tomorrow or next year? 24. What are you willing to settle for? 25. I like your proposal, but what if we added something to it? 26. How do we reach an agreement on this? 27. How much will you pay me to drop the deal with this other person or company? 28. You have something that I don’t, so should we trade goods or services for goods or services? 29. What happens if anything goes wrong with this? 30. Why doesn't everyone else want a piece of the action too, aren't they already lining up behind the door waiting to jump in when they find out what's going on here? 31. How much will it cost me to do this? 32. How can we come to an agreement with less cost to me? 33. Are you sure I'm the best one for this job? [ARTICLE END]
No matter what the company culture might be, there are always rules in place regarding office etiquette and how employees should conduct themselves in their workplace. While some of these guidelines will vary based on the company, it is essential for each employee to know how she should act in her position at work so that she fits in nicely. This article covers 20 rules that all employees should follow when at the office, whether you are employed with a small business or a large corporation. As it says in the article, you can't please everyone, but you can sure try!
1. Be on time from day one. 2. Dress appropriately for work and never show up dressed as you would for a night out on the town or wearing flip flops in this type of business environment. 3. Don't divulge too much personal information to co-workers beyond a normal amount of social chatter at the watercooler or common areas within a building or office space. 4. Don't display anything that might embarrass you or the company in any way. 5. Respect the company in which you work and the people who work there. 6. Don't ask for special privileges unless they are reasonable and important enough to warrant it. 7. Maintain a positive attitude no matter what is going on with your job. 8. Be respectful of other co-workers, maintaining a professional but friendly demeanor at all times and never engage in derogatory conversations or actions. 9. Treat others the way you want to be treated by them, anyone who doesn't respect your privacy or makes personal comments while at work is not someone with whom you should continue to associate yourself, regardless of your feelings for that person personally . 10. Be sure to complete the task or job that you are paid to do, regardless of its importance to the company or not. 11. Don't approach your boss as though you are his best friend, a boss is a representative of the company you work for and should always be treated as such. 12. Read and comply with any important company policies if they are made available for employees to read, there might be valuable information about benefits or other programs that could help you in the future in your position at the company. 13. Don't gossip about anyone else within the office or use personal information from anyone else in gossiping about others outside of your immediate co-workers . 14. Be honest when it comes to performing your job function and never be afraid to speak up if you feel that something unethical or illegal is going on around you. 15. Never be late or miss a day of work unless it is something very important and unavoidable, such as a family emergency or being in the hospital due to illness or injury. 16. Try not to overtly take your frustrations with your job out on co-workers, it might make people dislike you and could negatively affect the way they view you in the future even after you are long gone from the company. 17. Always make a sincere effort to care for yourself and your overall health as you would a family member, as it is important that you always look after yourself before caring for others. 18. Try not to talk too much during meetings with other employees, especially if you aren't involved in the discussion and isn't necessary to the process at hand. 19. Give your name when meeting new co-workers and never forget it, after all, you don't want someone else trashing your reputation without knowing how they are responsible for it! 20. Never be late to work unless it is incredibly important to you or on an exceptional day where no one else is coming into work because of a storm or other unplanned event.
Conclusion: Now that you've read all 20 points, think about how you can better yourself as a person and an employee. People skills are critical to the success of any business no matter what type of business it is, whether large or small.
Employees make or break a workplace environment and being a part of the team means being on board with every aspect of it, even if it isn't always the most fun aspects!
When in doubt as to how to act at work, ask your boss for clarification so that you don't make unnecessary mistakes or embarrass yourself at the office.