Is your current work contract expiring soon? You may want to continue the association, however, you are clueless about the negotiation part.
Are you due for a promotion or an appraisal in the forthcoming month, but confused about how to negotiate a better deal?
Then you are welcome here. I understand how difficult it can be to negotiate in the current times. Especially when the world remains primarily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic has already forced a new way of work. Companies and organizations had to shift from their traditional work format where employees had to be in the office. Now, remote work or work from home has gained significant momentum worldwide.
Negotiation Becomes Difficult
More importantly, with the massive shift in work-life integration, companies and organizations have positioned themselves better to acquire quality talents. Therefore, it becomes imperative for talents to face difficulties in negotiating a better deal. Hence, here I will share some quality remote negotiation tactics to help guide a successful negotiation.
Tips for Effective Remote Negotiation Tactics in 2022
Whether it is 2022 or any other year from now, negotiation abilities will forever decide the progress of your career. A person with lesser skill and better negotiation skills will likely outdo a better person with a better skill set and poor negotiation abilities. Hence, to ensure your career goals don't get affected or slowed down, you must start to master the art of negotiation.
Following are some important negotiation tactics to practice and improve your negotiation abilities. All the negotiation tactics shared are independent of whether you are an employee or run a business.
Prepare Your Negotiation Plan
Write your plan together with your negotiation partner in a collaborative spirit. Give both buyers and sellers time to show how things have changed for them due to the pandemic and present an overview of the current status and challenges for your business, backed by credible information. Also, allow time for breaks so the teams can come together based on new information that emerges during the negotiation, considering how much has changed. Also, ensure that you adhere correctly to the agreement. Therefore, do not shy away from taking the extra time if required.
Keep Shorter Meetings
Don't look to get through the negotiation meeting in one go. Give it some time for all parties involved to consider the various factors. Besides, it's much easier to get an hour on someone's schedule, even if you have to do it two or three times, than to get a chunk of someone's day.
Involve Stakeholders in The Meeting
If you run a business and want to negotiate over buying technology, you must consider including the company shareholder in the meeting. It will allow you to resolve any cross-functional issues directly in the meeting, and you won't have to spend extra time to address the same to the shareholders. However, the negotiation tactic can turn critical if the other party only hears from the shareholder and not from you - the business owner. So, while you invite several people to the meeting, ensure that you stay in charge. After all, the counterparts will pay more attention to what you bring to the negotiation table.
Have a Back Channel Communication Set up Ready
Again, if you run a business, it is essential to have all grounds covered before a remote negotiation. Try to coordinate with your team in advance to use a messaging system like Slack or other SMS service platforms. It will allow you and your team members to compare observations throughout the meeting continuously. As a result, you will have the ability to pivot the conversation, probe specific areas precisely, or agree when it's time to take a conscious break. However, it would be best to stay careful when using video conferencing tools as it is easy to exchange messages during a video meeting.
Prioritize Hosting Video Meetings
As mentioned above, yes, there is an unavoidable downside to video meetings. However, I still recommend opting for video meetings. Video meetings ensure that you have a direct connection with the counterparty. Furthermore, you can continuously gauge their reactions and improvise, if required, as the meeting progresses. But while you opt for either video meeting technology such as the standard Google Meet, Zoom call, Microsoft Team, or Cisco, ensure seamless connectivity. Furthermore, make sure that you are well-versed with the technology to use the camera and screen sharing functionalities efficiently.
Start Meeting with a Personal Talk
Whether you are negotiating an increment in wage or a business contract, you can't assume everyone is okay. While setting up a priority is a must, you should stay wary of other people participating in the meeting. After all, it is entirely possible people can be dealing with something personally and professionally, which can affect the outcome of the remote negotiation. Hence, the best way to undertake a meeting is to start on something light. Greet and talk about some mutual interests or other party likings. Let them know that you are not just in it for the money. Try to connect with them in a particular personal manner, and it will eventually help you massively attain a positive outcome from the negotiation.
Some Words of Caution
Remember that whether these negotiation tactics work or not will highly depend on your implementation process. So, I would advise you to practice remote negotiation a few times beforehand to perfect your delivery and gain some confidence.
Shellye is committed to helping people from diverse backgrounds achieve their careers and life aspirations. The content published above was made in collaboration with our members.
Shellye Archambeau is determined to help you with all possible strategies to climb the ladder of success. She values your feedback. Do mention them in the comment section below.