Negotiating for team members can be more successful and less daunting for women managers.
Focus on aligning individual needs with organizational goals for effective team negotiation strategies.
Deep dives
Benefits of Negotiating for Others
Negotiating for your team members can be more energizing and effective than negotiating for yourself. Research shows that women often find negotiating for others to be less daunting and more successful. By focusing on the organization's goals and aligning personal interests with the team's needs, negotiations can be more effective and less anxiety-inducing.
Considerations in Negotiating as a Manager
As a new manager, it's crucial to assess what is negotiable for the team's success. Apart from economic outcomes, consider everyday working conditions, project relevance, and team satisfaction. Frame negotiations in a way that aligns individual needs with organizational interests. Emphasize versatility in solutions and maintain openness to alternative proposals to optimize team performance.
Effective Negotiation Strategies and Self-Confidence
Effective negotiation involves strategic planning, understanding BATNA and reservation points, and maintaining confidence in advocating for your team. Avoid taking negotiations personally and focus on problem-solving and team needs. Building trust, communication, and likability contribute to successful negotiations, emphasizing the importance of steady relationship building over time.
When you manage people, they ask you for things: to extend a deadline, to make an exception, to give them a raise or more resources. Maybe they don’t even have to ask; you notice the need and start thinking about how to meet it. As successful as women tend to be at advocating on behalf of others, knowing which approaches research shows are most effective will only strengthen your case.
Negotiations professor Martha Jeong explains the mindset, framing, timing, and tone that enable us to attain the money, help, and opportunities that keep our direct reports happy and in top form. She also explains how to set expectations with them to prevent you from feeling too much pressure to attain exactly what they asked for, and too guilty when you can’t.
Guest expert:
Martha Jeong is a management professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.