Get the Edge You Need
Negotiation is one of the most crucial skills you can have as a project manager. It’s something you’ll do day in and day out, with all kinds of stakeholders – everyone from team members to clients. I’ve been honing my project management negotiation skills for over 20 years, so I have some key insights to share with you.
These negotiation tips will help you navigate tricky situations, keep your projects on track, and steer clear of common pitfalls and setbacks.
Tip one: Understand project priorities
Time, scope, and budget are key in project management – they’re the project priorities you’ll focus your attention on as project manager – and most negotiations will center on one or more of them.
You can’t negotiate well if you’re not clear on which priorities are fixed and which are flexible, so it’s crucial to understand those before negotiation starts. Define them early – and in writing – with your project sponsor and steering committee.
Tip two: Separate emotions from the facts
Unfortunately, hidden agendas, politics, and even underhanded behavior are all things you’ll run into as a project manager. As much as we want people to negotiate in good faith, that’s not always what happens.
Negotiations get tense when people feel overwhelmed and there’s a lot at stake. That’s why it’s important to keep things calm, be patient and positive, and stay focused on facts instead of feelings.
Ask neutral, fact-based questions, and refer to what’s laid out in project documentation. That will encourage collaboration instead of resistance when it comes to project negotiations.
More tips to negotiate like a pro
I have 5 more negotiation tips to tell you about, and I think you’ll find them really helpful, so I put together a video to spell them all out. It explains:
- The pre-negotiation prep step you should never skip
- Supporting negotiation through communication
- The crucial step that follows negotiating an agreement
- What mindset to leave out of your negotiation
- The best way to respond to conflict and stress
Follow me over to YouTube and we’ll keep chatting about this!
If you want even more tips on all aspects of successfully managing projects, make sure you check out my SLAY Project Management course where I give you all the templates, tips, and techniques to make all your future projects productive and successful.
Adriana Girdler, PMP | Creator of Slay Project Management™
P.S. Check out what one of my students said recently about SLAY:
“Before this course, I had fundamental knowledge of project management… taking this course added another layer of understanding of how to become a more effective facilitator and project manager.” EJ
