My Boss – ‘The dreaded Negotiation’ – The scenario could be either re-prioritising heavy workloads (which of course are all urgent and important according to your boss), managing a performance review & requesting a pay rise or any competitive dialogue you need to have.
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
- What you do or don’t do in preparation and planning will determine the outcome of the conversation
- Know your IDEAL position through to your WALK AWAY, at which stage do you agree to disagree
- Prepare compelling argument to support the reasons why your boss should award a pay rise or indeed re-prioritise work demands. Use this rationale early in the discussion and ensure its robust, relevant and accurate.
- Where to start – What you say and or do within the first five minutes of the conversation is critical to a successful outcome. Create an ‘elevator speech’ and rehearse it until you know it inside out and backwards (fake it until your become it!).
Impact and Presence
- Meet & Greet demonstrating an assertive and personable demeanour
- Second step is to open the meeting with your prepared elevator speech
- Maintain rapport and keep your foot on the accelerator. Utilise collaborative tactics that drive movement as opposed to the competitive tactics that drive stalemate
- Know who you want to be, what success looks like and what, if you were the boss, would you expect in terms of a team member’s presence and ensure your body language supports
Winning communication
- Stay 100% present in the conversation and let your boss speak
- Ask great ‘open’ questions, listen intently to the meaning behind the words and paraphrase.
- Summarise – Summaries help us to reduce any heated situations, show that we have listened and help us refocus on what’s important
- In the spirit of assertive presentation of your point of view feel free to use the way you feel. g. ‘unfairly treated’ ‘disappointed’ ‘upset’ ‘joyous’ ‘excited’ etc but the tip is to not react by becoming ‘emotional’. Always take assertiveness over reactionary behaviours such as aggression or non-assertion
This is just another Negotiation. Preparation, execution and good communication skills are key.
Final thought courtesy of Will Smith – Don’t get confused with fault vs responsibility. It doesn’t matter who’s fault it is that something is broken. It only matters how you take responsibility to fix it for yourself.
