Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    Sharpen Your Negotiation Skills
    17 Sep 2014Sharpening Your Skills

    Sharpen Your Negotiation Skills

    by Sean Silverthorne
    Everyone negotiates, but few negotiate well. Here is a collection of Working Knowledge articles and faculty working papers that detail some of the the skills needed to negotiate successfully.
    LinkedIn
    Email

    No business skill may be as important to success as negotiation. We negotiate everything: agreements with partners and vendors, in-scope/out-of-scope parameters around important projects, and our own compensation and job responsibilities, to name just a few. If we don't win (or at least draw) in business talks, our other career skills won't do us much good.

    Many of us, however, approach these critical conversations woefully unprepared. Fortunately, a large number of Harvard Business School faculty research this area constantly, and their tips and strategies have been featured on Working Knowledge for a decade-and-a-half.

    Here are a number of articles and working papers you might find beneficial in upping your negotiation game.

    Negotiators Should Remain Cool And Collected. Right?

    The Role of Emotions in Effective Negotiations

    Andy Wasynczuk, a former negotiator for the New England Patriots, explores the sometimes intense role that emotions can play in negotiations and when passion is a positive at the table.

    Send The Right Message before Talks Begin

    Handshaking Promotes Cooperative Dealmaking

    Handshakes before negotiations, or the lack thereof, serve as subtle but critical indicators of negotiators' social motives. Francesca Gino, Michael I. Norton, and colleagues.

    Picking Up An Opponent's 'tell'

    How to Spot a Liar

    Key linguistic cues can help reveal dishonesty during business negotiations, whether it's a flat-out lie or a deliberate omission of key information. Deepak Malhotra and colleagues reveal how you can spot a dishonest negotiator.

    Not Every Deal Needs To Be Equally Beneficial

    The Art of Haggling

    When teaching negotiation skills, many educators focus almost exclusively on an interest-based approach in which both parties openly collaborate to find a mutually satisfying solution. However, argues Mike Wheeler, it's important for students to know that there's still a time and place for old-school haggling.

    To Read More:

    ARTICLES

    Negotiating with Wal-Mart

    What happens when you encounter the ultimate non-negotiable partner?

    The New Deal: Negotiauctions

    In today's complex financial environment, dealmaking is blending into a merger of negotiations and auctions.

    The Potential Downside of Win-Win

    What happens when a wonderful agreement ignores the needs of consumers?

    WORKING PAPERS

    Psychological Influence in Negotiation: An Introduction Long Overdue

    Causes and consequences of the (surprisingly) limited extent to which social influence research has penetrated the field of negotiation.

    Better Deals Through Level II Strategies: Advance Your Interests by Helping to Solve Their Internal Problems

    Helping the other negotiator solve problems can win the day for you.

    Gender in Job Negotiations: A Two-Level Game

    How negotiation contributes to or diminishes gender differences in compensation.

      Trending
        • 16 Mar 2023
        • Research & Ideas

        Why Business Travel Still Matters in a Zoom World

        • 01 Mar 2023
        • What Do You Think?

        How Much Does 'Deep Purpose' Matter to the Bottom Line?

        • 14 Mar 2023
        • In Practice

        What Does the Failure of Silicon Valley Bank Say About the State of Finance?

        • 13 Mar 2023
        • Op-Ed

        How Leaders Should Leave

        • 25 Jan 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        More Proof That Money Can Buy Happiness (or a Life with Less Stress)

    Francesca Gino
    Francesca Gino
    Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Deepak Malhotra
    Deepak Malhotra
    Eli Goldston Professor of Business Administration
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Michael I. Norton
    Michael I. Norton
    Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration
    Unit Head, Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Andrew Wasynczuk
    Andrew Wasynczuk
    Senior Lecturer of Business Administration
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Michael A. Wheeler
    Michael A. Wheeler
    MBA Class of 1952 Professor of Management Practice, Retired
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Find Related Articles
    • Negotiation
    • Negotiation Tactics
    • Negotiation Preparation
    • Personal Development and Career

    Sign up for our weekly newsletter

    Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College