Negotiations are conducted between two parties to reach a solution after conflict or difference of opinion. The solution should also be acceptable to both parties, and both of them have to compromise to an extent. However, in the end, it works out favorably for all the parties involved.
In a professional scenario, you might have to negotiate with your managers, employers, co-workers, and team members to get what you want. However, you need to maintain professional decorum, even when things might seem that they are not going in your favor.
To keep in mind, you have to be very calm during the entire negotiation process. Once you can do that, it is half the battle won. The rest depends on your negotiation skills. Here are some ways of going about it and putting it down in your resume for better opportunities at your workplace.
Why will You Need Negotiation Skills at Your Workplace?
You might need negotiation skills at your workplace to tackle different issues that might arise from time to time. You will have to work things out with your colleagues or superiors, and some of the everyday situations are as follows:
- Negotiating your revised compensation package with the HRM after a promotion
- Negotiating a deadline for a project with your manager to ensure that nothing goes wrong due to time shortage
- Negotiating your leave tenure if you have to be away for a while due to personal reasons
- Negotiating terms and conditions while making a contract with a new client
There might be several other instances where you will have to negotiate to get what you want or as close as possible. You have to be able to bring the other party to a compromise, and that is how both voices can be heard.
Benefits of Honing Your Negotiation Skills
If you want to attain a leadership role ever, it is crucial that you hone your negotiation skills. Here are some of the benefits.
#1. Builds Workplace Connections
When you can negotiate your way through any difference of opinion, it gives the impression that you are willing to take everyone’s perspective into account and not just thrust your own opinions on the rest. This is a mark of excellent leadership, and your colleagues and juniors will come to respect you for it. It will also help increase goodwill among the entire team.
#2. Attain Objectives
Unless one is willing to negotiate and compromise to a certain extent, no solution can ever be reached, which will only increase tension at the workplace. The objective should be to reach a permanent solution to any problem and not just attain short-term goals which will not hold good after a while. To create lasting solutions, you should be able to negotiate your way through all the differences and bring the other party on board.
#3. Preventing Conflicts
The art of negotiation can help you avoid several conflicts and pave the way for future success. Once a common solution is reached, you will attain all your business goals, which will show in the form of more significant revenue.
How to Include Negotiation Skills on a Resume?
Any employer will look for an employee who can work with the team and ensure growth for the organization. And negotiation is a big part of it. Hence, if you can put down in your resume that you are a skilled negotiator, your prospective employer is going to take better notice of your resume.
On the other hand, you cannot simply write that you have excellent negotiation skills on your resume, and you have to show that you understand what negotiation entails and how you are equipped to use it to your best advantage. Here is how you can do it.
Understanding which Job Requires Negotiation Skills
Although every job requires negotiation skills to a certain extent, some require them more than the rest. For example, a librarian or an account manager primarily working on calculations on spreadsheets will need less of them. But, several people-oriented jobs will require the highest form of negotiation skills. Some of them are
- Going through details of a contract while dealing with a new client
- Assigning different roles to team members if you are the team leader and making sure all of them are on board with it.
- Ensure that all sales terms are reached when dealing with new customers
- Making sure workplace disputes end amicably
- Dealing with vendors and outsourced employees with patience
These and several other roles will require your negotiation skill as you climb through the ranks over time. Here is how you list them on a resume and back them up to ensure they are well-suited for the job you are applying for.
Listing Negotiation Skills on a Resume and Making them Relevant
Here are some negotiation skills you can list on your resume.
#1. Communication Skills
Communication is the cornerstone of negotiation. You cannot expect to negotiate correctly if you cannot express what you want and expect. Proper communication can open new doors of opportunities, and you can negotiate better with the other party. You can also set a timeline that motivates all the parties to do better and get the job done, rather than spending hours and days going back and forth on a single scenario.
You can add communication skills to the resume and talk about how you convinced your superior to use a better project management tool that would eventually work better for the company.
#2. Active Listening
When you negotiate with something, you have to listen to the other party and make your move accordingly. Listening is as essential as speaking and so you can list it on your resume and relate it to the position you are trying for.
For example, you can engage the clients in productive conversations that have brought about favorable outcomes in the form of more conversions.
#3. Asking Pertinent Questions
There is no room for ambiguity when it comes to effective negotiation. You have to be clear so that your ideas are not misinterpreted and which the other party cannot use against you at a later date.
But to make that happen, you also need to invoke clear responses from the other party, which you can do by asking pertinent and meaningful questions. Open-ended questions can lead to ambivalence, but when you ask well-thought-of questions, you have the ability to steer the situation in the direction you want by inciting favorable responses.
You can list it on your resume saying how you got to the crux of a matter with your interrogation skills that eventually helped the company sign a lucrative deal by making the other party see the profit.
You May Also Read: 14 Common Interview Questions And How to Answer Them
#4. Being Assertive
While you are negotiating, you have to be assertive when you want to make a point at one juncture. It is essential to understand when to do that- being assertive too early will make the other party leave the table altogether, while not being assertive will make the other party have their way. You need to understand when you can be assertive professionally so that the deal goes through just the way you want without the other party feeling like they have not been taken into account.
You can list it on the resume saying how you have confidently approached and closed the deal after convincing the other parties that it will be for the benefit of both parties and making them see the advantages of working with your company.
#5. Problem-Solving
To be a skilled negotiator, you have to think on your feet and try to solve problems as quickly as possible as they come by. That will help you see different kinds of scenarios from a new perspective and come up with multiple possible solutions. Eventually, one of the solutions is going to be favored by all, and it will all be because of you.
You can list it on the resume saying how you can brainstorm under challenging situations and come up with favorable solutions for all parties involved without letting the project lag in the process.
Conclusion
Once you have acquired the art of negotiation, it will be an essential life skill that you can use at work and make your life better. You can use it to advance your career in subtle ways, and it will have long-term benefits that will help you do better at your job. You can also practice better negotiation by improving your communication skills. You can also prepare mock scenarios and get your friends and family to help you out. Every little situation that works in your favor at your workplace because of your participation, involvement, and negotiation is a victory that will yield better results in the future.
