All posts in the ‘ Negotiation Strategy ’ Category

If you haven’t already found it in your internet adventures, might I suggest you scurry over and check out Freelance Finances.

And by “suggest” I mean “get your ass over there now.”

It is, very simply, a blog about how to keep more of your money in your pocket.

Money can be scary.  Not having enough of it, knowing what to do with what … Read More

The Program on Negotiation at Harvard recently (a while ago) started a (somewhat) daily blog.  It’s mostly edited versions of longer articles written by the professors that teach PON classes.  The posts have enough to spark your thinking and get yourself chewing on how you’d tackle that particular issue.

Professor Subramanian is one of my favorites.  He taught a good portion of the classes … Read More

Way back when we started hanging out, I talked a wee bit about the concept of “anchoring.”

Anchoring is what happens when one party in a negotiation names a price, a due date or a list of deliverables.  That number is the number all other suggestions, negotiations, conversation and demands will be measured against.

Once an anchor has dropped it is very hard to move, … Read More

Let’s just say that you booked a job two months ago.  At the time it seemed far off in the distant future.  But now, in October, that November 15th deadline is looking less and less attainable.

Let’s say you were uncomfortable taking the job.  Let’s say it’s not work you particularly like, but it’s money and it was an easy way of getting the client … Read More

I gotta say that one more time: You. Are. Hot.

Like “Joan Jett” hot.

Why?

Because you’ve made it this far along in our exciting journey of figuring out how, why and when to share information during a negotiation.

To summarize:  if you want the information you share to help you, you need to know who you’re negotiating with and what kind … Read More

The kind of negotiation I advocate is a style where information needs to be shared because you’re not talking with the other person about the thing you want, you’re talking about why you want what you want.

I believe that negotiations are essentially problem solving events, and, as such, it’s more important to know all the factors contributing to the problem than it is to … Read More

One of the harder things to figure out during a negotiation is when to share information and what information to share.

I regularly insist that negotiation is just problem solving in a different context and you need to involve your counterpart to find a solution.   That doesn’t mean that I think the other side is completely trustworthy and should be treated as if they were … Read More

A while back I wrote about how people hate losing.  It is a quirky little nit in our psychological make up that causes us to dislike losing more than we like winning.  As a result, we put a lot more energy and effort into avoiding losing than we do into winning.

I got a gentle reminder recently of how powerful fear can be.  Especially … Read More