Test Your Negotiation Skills

Negotiation is part of every professional’s life. To negotiate, means to arrive at an understanding with another person, so that both of you are satisfied with the results. Do you know what is your skill in negotiation? If not, why not test and find out because most of our interactions demand negotiation. You are negotiating with your love partner about which place to go for dinner. You negotiate with your co-workers about how to divide the work. You negotiate with your clients about prices and you negotiate with your boss about your paycheck. Let us discuss important test factors of a negotiation.

Understanding Need – If you are a good negotiator, you would begin with understanding the need of the opposite party. Only after you get that understanding will you proceed further. The first requirement is to find out what the other person wants. If you are arguing with your spouse about which restaurant to go for dinner, find out his/her need. Do they want to have dinner outside or they are looking to get away somewhere for sometime? if later is the case, your choices increase many times.

Specifying Your Needs – Please spell out your needs clearly to the opposite party. Let them know very clearly about what you are looking for. If your boss knows that your real need is not rise in pay, but higher status, he/she can work out a solution quickly. Therefore please convey your needs clearly.

Reaching Understanding – This is the result both of you are seeking. If both the parties can modulate their needs so that they meet each other’s expectations, this can be done easily. Flexibility at this stage depends upon how much both of you are interested in negotiation. If both of you want a result without hurting the relationship, flexible approach is a primary requirement. Otherwise, one of you will walk away. Your skill as a negotiator depends upon satisfying you, the other party and getting a good result. You need to develop good thinking skills, communication ability and an understanding of the personalities and what drives them to act. Test yourself about these factors and find out how good a negotiator are you?

Secret of Successful Negotiation

There was a time when I hesitated to negotiate because I was green. Now negotiation is “FUN” for me because I know what I am doing. Now I believe “everything is negotiable”. But don’t be mistaken it is a child game. You should learn the art of negotiation.

Here I will explore the Secret of successful negotiation which I have discovered over the years.

SET YOUR GOAL:

First you should know what you want to achieve. Like before starting your car you should know where you want to end up.

EDUCATE YOUR SELF IN THE SUBJECT:

Always gather the basic information and Knowledge about the subject before commencing to negotiations. You can not negotiate unless you are not willing to challenge the validity of the fact of opponent.

ACT AS AN INNOCENT:

If you will start “I am new to this”, “I don’t know” “you have great knowledge”, “thanks for educating me”. You will find opponent try to rush in to help you out. And he will reveal the fact and knowledge which he wants to cover.

FOLLOW 70/30 RULE:

Listen 70 percent of the time and talk only 30 of time. When you listen carefully enough, you may discover the true motives of opponent, and the rock bottom deal may get out form opponent mouth.

KNOW THE STATE OF MIND OF YOUR OPPONENT:

If you can read the mind of your opponent it means you hit the road. You should analysis how much desperate opponent is for closing his deal? What pressure he is caring to close the deal? This will help you to mold him according to your wish.

“NO” & “WHY” KEY OF NEGOTIATION:

Make the opponent impatient by asking for what he wants and then refusing to take “No” for an answer. In this situation he will come up with new deal, now this is the time you should ask “why” I should accept this deal. This will again compel him to give you the best deal.

DON’T OPEN YOUR CARD FIRST:

If you will purpose something for closing the deal it may possible you could not get the best form your opponent.

Tough Interview Questions

Tough Interview Questions

1. Silence

The silence left by an interviewer is not an invitation to babble or a license to ramble. In fact, it is a calculated tactic used by many a sophisticated employer to make you do precisely that. Avoid breaking the silence and above all don’t lose your cool. Stay casual and relaxed, maintain your friendly demeanor and wait for the employer to break the silence. Remember in an interview the nonverbal cues you give are being observed as closely as your words, tone and diction.

(more…)

How to Resign Gracefully

1. Announce your resignation professionally

Be very professional and tactful in announcing your resignation and make sure you go through the proper channels of command resigning to your immediate boss first and then announcing your departure to your peers and colleagues. Do not let word of your intention to depart filter through the grapevine before you have announced your intentions to your boss.

2. Give sufficient notice

Consult your company’s policies and procedures for the proper notice period and make sure you give sufficient notice. If the company asks you to stay a little longer you are under no obligation to but if you have no other pressing priorities it may be a good idea to prolong your stay as a gesture of goodwill to ease the transition and complete any unfinished tasks.

3. Write a letter of resignation

Always follow your verbal resignation with a written resignation letter. Make this short, tactful, professional and to the point. Your resignation letter should be sued as an added opportunity to maintain a positive rapport with your old employer; it should not be sued as an opportunity to voice grievances or vent any bad feelings you have towards the company.

4. Ask for a reference letter

You don’t want to wait till you need a reference to ask for one as people you work with leave and in time you may lose track of them and the stellar work you did for them may be forgotten. Use your resignation time while you are still fresh in the company’s mind to ask for all the references you need so you have them in hand when you do need them.

5. Offer to help find a replacement

One gesture of good will is to offer to help find a replacement for yourself. This is usually very well-received as no one knows the intricacies of your job better than you do and you are likely to have more time to devote to the task than anyone else.

6. Do a proper hand-over

Make sure your work is well-documented, all outstanding tasks and projects are assigned to the relevant parties and you have done all you can to ease the transition. Make your handover documentation as informative, detailed and polished as possible so you look good to your successor, bosses and peers well after your departure.

(more…)