The art of the deal is, in many respects, the art of business. From supplier contracts to resolving workplace disagreements, securing investment, or discussing salaries, our ability to negotiate shapes both our professional and personal successes.
Given how important negotiation is in our lives, many organisations are coming to a fairly startling conclusion: that negotiation skills are not as strong or as widespread as they once were.
For businesses across the UK and more widely, this shift is already having real consequences. The good news is that negotiation is not an innate talent, but a skill that can be developed. It’s also one which often grows alongside a person’s confidence, and their knowledge of the business and their role.
Below, we’ll explore how to develop negotiation skills in business, how to improve negotiation skills in the workplace as an individual or manager, and how to practice negotiation skills in ways that build long-term confidence, credibility, and greater success in your role.
The changing landscape of workplace negotiation
Negotiation is a fundamentally interpersonal process. A successful negotiation depends on your ability to listen, ask the right questions, read signals, and respond appropriately in real time. With most of our professional communications now taking place via email or instant messaging, it might not be such a surprise that those subtle interpersonal cues can be lost.
For younger employees entering the workforce, however, this issue has been massively amplified. As well as the usual difficulties of entering the workplace from a structured academic setting, young people have also grown up in a more digital environment than previous generations. What opportunity young people had to practise disagreement, persuasion, and compromise in person was further interrupted by the pandemic, leaving many people even less prepared for the world of work.
Changes made by many businesses since the pandemic may not have helped this. The proliferation of online meetings has been a net positive in terms of unnecessary journeys and convenience, but may have had its own effect on people’s ability to negotiate in person. Being behind a screen can give you false confidence, and body language can be harder to interpret. The informal conversations around a meeting are also diminished, and the relational element of negotiation is compressed.
When in-person negotiation is required, then—as is often still the case in industries like manufacturing, property, professional services or retail—these shortcomings can fall into stark relief. Individuals can find themselves struggling to manage the pressure, maintain rapport with negotiating partners, and make deferential decisions that secure the best outcome for their business. All of this points to a growing need for improving negotiation skills, whether that’s through experience or preparatory training.
Understanding what negotiation involves
Contrary to what certain world leaders might believe, negotiation isn’t just about ‘winning’, and imposing your terms on others. Instead, effective negotiation means reaching an agreement that works for both parties, while also preserving your relationship.
On a basic level, a business negotiation will generally involve the following:
- Defining your objectives and non-negotiables;
- Understanding the other party’s motivations and constraints;
- Communicating your proposals clearly and confidently;
- Managing your emotions and any conflict constructively;
- Identifying trade-offs and creative solutions;
- Closing an agreement with clarity and mutual understanding.
When people struggle with negotiation, it’s not generally because they miss any of these aspects, but rather that they focus too heavily on one dimension. That could be being too aggressive and damaging trust, or not being assertive enough, and conceding too quickly. Learning how to be a great negotiator is about finding the balance between all of these factors: mixing confidence, empathy, firmness, flexibility and tact.
How to develop negotiation skills in business
The simple answer to how to develop negotiation skills in business is personal development. While experience is always valuable, it doesn’t pay to learn everything about negotiation by diving in headfirst. That’s not just because a badly handled negotiation can be so consequential, but because bad habits can easily become entrenched, making it harder to improve in future.
The first step is building awareness of your negotiation style, and what your inherent weaknesses are. Are you someone who avoids conflict, or talks more than they listen? Do you rush to compromise without considering all of the options? This can come from honest self-assessment, but it also helps to source feedback from colleagues or peers, something that’s a key component of negotiation skills training.
Your ability to prepare is equally important. This might not come as a surprise to anyone who naturally struggles with things like presentations, but many people who find it easy to improvise or aren’t daunted by social situations might still be poor negotiators.
Preparation ensures you have all of the information you need, and a plan for every eventuality. Many negotiations fail before they’ve really begun because the objectives going into them haven’t been clearly outlined, meaning that you not only don’t know exactly what you want or need, but also where you are able to compromise.
Negotiation skills training combines both these theoretical elements with practical experience, emulating negotiations and working on your weaknesses. Practising conversations that feel specific to your industry in a structured environment is a great tool to test out language, tone, and strategies before entering a real discussion. It’s also a way to learn and employ persuasion techniques, whether that’s how you frame a proposal, or how to appeal to shared objectives rather than the more tangible things you can offer.
How to improve negotiation skills in the workplace through training
Training is a great practical environment in which to test these skills. Importantly however, it’s also an ideal way to build the groundwork for negotiation skills in people who might lack them. The great benefit of structured training like our Influence, Persuasion and Negotiation Skills course is that it provides frameworks, language, and techniques that you can fall back on in challenging situations, and that will inform your development going forwards.
Part of that is built on improving learners’ fundamental communication skills, and the psychology of identifying and overcoming resistance. But part of it is also about effective planning and management, and putting the building blocks of a successful negotiation in place. For younger people in particular, this can break down negotiation into an actionable and logical process, adding a layer of distance from the stressful aspects of negotiation without losing sight of the value of empathy.
It’s also an extremely valuable forum for practice and feedback. Negotiation skills training provides structured opportunities to rehearse conversations, put plans into action, and receive direct feedback that’s relevant to the field you work in. It’s also a great way to build a tangible understanding of the interplay between verbal and non-verbal communication, allowing for conversations to be broken down and reflected on as they proceed.
This is a valuable process even for experienced leaders. The most seasoned negotiators can fall into habitual patterns, lose their awareness of how younger people might approach negotiations, or miss out on new psychological insights and techniques. Negotiation skills training is a great way to revisit these core principles, sharpening your awareness and improving negotiation outcomes.
What next…?
Improving your ability to negotiate can have a wider impact than just securing better deals, however desirable that might be. The skills you learn can be applied in a range of contexts, and contribute towards better leadership, strengthening your working relationships, and reducing workplace conflict.
Whichever approach you take, what’s important to remember is that negotiation isn’t about confrontation. A successful negotiation is always built on constructive dialogue, mutual understanding, and well-considered agreement. In a world where digital communication is increasingly dominant, it’s past time that we rediscover the art of thoughtful, in-person negotiation, and apply those skills in our jobs and our broader lives.
