The Top 10 Things You Must Know About Negotiations

Leigh Thompson

You spend more time negotiating than you do driving to work each day. The need to negotiate can happen at any time—sometimes once a day and sometimes more than once a day. This list is about how to make sure you are prepared and ready to negotiate on the roughest of terrain, with the most daunting road conditions.

1. Prepare

Even if you’ve got only an hour—or just moments—to prepare, there are several crucial steps you have to take.

1. Identify your key goals.

2. Brainstorm your options.

The four fundamental rules of brainstorming:

• Suspend your initial judgment and just list all options that come to mind, even outlandish ones.

• Strive for quantity—often, a good idea emerges ...