Learning to negotiate starts early. Kids talk their parents into letting them stay up later, for example. Teenagers might try to trade one chore for another. Knowing how to negotiate holds the key to workplace success, and strong leaders understand both the process and the methods for effective negotiation. Earning a Master of Business Administration with a Management Specialization offers opportunities to build on and hone one’s negotiation skills.
Strong Negotiators Make Better Managers
In today’s work environment, negotiation skills are essential for leadership. Skilled negotiators display three attributes: confidence, the ability to read people and situations, and understanding of another’s point of view. Negotiating comes naturally for some, but developing the required skills and mindset is possible for anyone.
Every negotiator will have to adapt to their role in the situation, notes Colin McRoberts, consultant for Vasher McRoberts LLC. “For commodity buyers, for example, the most important skill may be knowing when to walk away from a negotiation; an HR manager, on the other hand, will rely much more heavily on communication and people skills,” he says.
Can Great Negotiation Skills be Taught?
Most people are already negotiators in their everyday life, but the finer points of effective negotiation, including tactics for use in business settings, can be learned. In management scenarios, going in prepared is essential to achieving the desired outcome. This holds true for job interviews too.
The Negotiation and Interpersonal Skills for Managers elective course in the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) online MBA program will help develop essential skills for negotiation in daily business transactions and in specific contexts such as conflict and change management.
Having excellent negotiation skills helps graduates thrive in the business world and in everyday life, and students who take this elective are on the road for success as managers.
Learn more about SIUE’s online MBA in Management program.
Sources:
TopMBA.com: Essential Soft Skills for the Workplace – Negotiation
Financial Times: How Executive MBA Students Are Learning to Negotiate
