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 situations

What are Negotiation Situations?

Negotiation situations arise in business, with coworkers, with our family and friends, and in activities like buying a house our car.

We face negotiation situations every day. Some are obvious, like negotiation your salary at a new job. Others are more subtle, like working with a group on a volunteer project. In almost every case, we can often have a more satisfying experience when we realize we are negotiating and that there are ways to expand the pie and make everyone relatively happy. 

Here’s one example. Say you hire someone to design a new website for your business. In such everyday negotiation situations, when you receive a price quote, should you try to negotiate a better deal? 

Like many negotiations, the outcome may depend greatly on how you approach the situation. A buyer who drives a hard bargain on price could offend the service provider—and reduce their motivation and performance over the long run. Alternatively, by showing concern for the other party and trying to build rapport, you may be able to get a great deal and ensure that those you’re hiring are sufficiently motivated. 

Often, it helps to analyze the unique negotiation situations. And remember that negotiators form the most mutually advantageous agreements when, in addition to claiming value for themselves, they trade on their differences to create value. It may seem paradoxical, but by adopting a cooperative mindset, you are more likely to get what you want.

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.

The following items are tagged negotiation situations:

Essential Negotiation Skills: Limiting Cognitive Bias in Negotiation

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

In past articles, we have highlighted a variety of psychological biases that affect negotiators, many of which spring from a reliance on intuition, and may hinder integrative negotiation. Of course, negotiators are not always affected by bias; we often think systematically and clearly at the bargaining table. Most negotiators believe they are capable of distinguishing … Read More

Police Negotiation Techniques from the NYPD Crisis Negotiations Team

Posted by & filed under Crisis Negotiations.

Few negotiators can imagine negotiation scenarios more stressful than the kinds of crisis negotiations the New York City Police Department’s Hostage Negotiation Team undertake. But police negotiation techniques employed by the New York City Police Department’s Hostage Negotiations Team (HNT) in high-stakes, high-pressure crisis negotiation situations, outlined in an article from Jeff Thompson and Hugh … Read More

Negotiation Skills and Bargaining Techniques from Female Executives

Posted by & filed under Leadership Skills.

Dozens of female CEOs and other high-level women negotiators have told us about their experiences negotiating in traditionally masculine contexts where standards and expectations were ambiguous. Their experiences varied according to the gender triggers that were present in the negotiations and they adapted their negotiation skills to accommodate these shifts. … Read More

Dear Negotiation Coach: Am I Using Deceptive Tactics in Negotiation?

Posted by & filed under Dealmaking.

Ethical negotiators try not to use deceptive tactics in negotiation situations. However, there’s one negotiation technique that may not feel deceptive, but it can slip under the radar and cause problems later. We spoke with Francesca Gino, Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration, Negotiation, Organizations and Markets Unit at Harvard Business School. We asked her … Read More

Implement Negotiation Training in Your Organization

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Training.

Organizations across the globe spend many millions of dollars each year on negotiation training for their employees. This training can be in-house, led by consultants and other experts, or employees can travel to training programs at universities and elsewhere. After engaging in a couple of days of training, employees return to the office and attempt … Read More

Conflict and Negotiation Case Study: Long-Term Business Partnerships and Negotiated Agreements

Posted by & filed under Conflict Resolution.

To protect the future interests of their organization, negotiators sometimes must accept fewer benefits or absorb greater burdens in the short run to maximize the value to all relevant parties – including future employees and shareholders – over time. Suppose that the operations VPs of two subsidiaries of an energy company are preparing to negotiate the … Read More

Negotiation Training: Turning the Lows of Colorado’s Marijuana Laws into Highs

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Training.

In negotiation courses, trainees learn effective management strategies for their negotiations and how to find new negotiation opportunities at the bargaining table. Using an example from the city of Denver, Ben Markus reports for NPR’s Weekend Edition that Colorado’s recent legalization of marijuana has posed challenges to local jurisdictions in enforcing current federal law which … Read More

MESO Negotiation: Learn from a Seller’s Market

Posted by & filed under Dealmaking.

What negotiating skills can negotiators take away from hyper competitive bargaining situations? With home sales heating up (again) in some parts of the United States, homebuyers are facing competition they haven’t seen since before the real-estate bubble burst back in 2008, and it’s showing up in the form of packed open houses, multiple bids above … Read MESO Negotiation: Learn from a Seller’s Market

In Negotiation, Display Anger with Caution

Posted by & filed under Negotiation Skills.

Virtually all of us experience feelings of anger from time to time during our negotiations. Past research findings reassured business negotiators that their displays of anger could benefit them by conveying toughness and motivating their counterparts to make concessions. But a new research study by professors Hajo Adam of Rice University and Jeanne M. Brett … Read In Negotiation, Display Anger with Caution

Squeeze that orange

Posted by & filed under Business Negotiations, Daily.

Many of us operate under the assumption that any given pie is fixed. More for me means less for you, right? Not necessarily. While you still want to claim your fair share, in many negotiation situations, there exist value-creating opportunities that can be exploited to provide “more pie” to both parties. This counterintuitive approach is just … Read Squeeze that orange

Announcing the 2010-2011 PON Graduate Research Fellows

Posted by & filed under Daily, Graduate Research Fellowships, PON Graduate Research Fellowships.

The Program on Negotiation Graduate Research Fellowships are designed to encourage young scholars from the social sciences and professional disciplines to pursue theoretical, empirical, and/or applied research in negotiation and dispute resolution. Consistent with the PON goal of fostering the development of the next generation of scholars, this program provides support for one year of … Read More