QUICK TIPS: 3 Primary Steps to Negotiation

Episode Summary:
Negotiation doesn’t have to feel like a battle. In this episode, Dr. Jeremy Pollack walks you through three essential steps to negotiating effectively—without tension or confusion. Whether you're aiming for a raise, a promotion, or a clearer role at work, this framework will help you approach the conversation with confidence, clarity, and respect. Through a relatable scenario, Dr. Pollack shows how to define your ideal outcome, prepare with data, and co-create a plan that works for everyone involved.

What You’ll Learn:
 ✅ How to clarify your best-case scenario before a negotiation
 ✅ Why realistic expectations—and data to back them up—build credibility
 ✅ How to negotiate not just for now, but for a future outcome
 ✅ What to say when your ideal can’t be met immediately
 ✅ Tools and phrases to use in the moment to keep conversations collaborative

Key Takeaways:

1. Know what “great” looks like—and name it clearly.
2. Anticipate what’s fair and reasonable for both parties.
3. Negotiate for details and progress, not just decisions.

Scenario Highlighted:
Follow along with “Jordan,” a mid-level marketing manager seeking a promotion, as each step of the negotiation process is illustrated in real time with practical dialogue and decision-making.

Useful Tools:

• Outcome Mapping: “Ideal vs. Reasonable”
  
  
• Evidence Prep Sheet: Metrics & Results
  
  
• Collaborative Phrasing for Productive Dialogue

Perfect For:

• Professionals preparing for performance reviews or salary talks
  
  
• Team leads navigating new responsibilities or role shifts
  
  
• Managers looking to coach others through negotiation
  
  
• Anyone wanting to feel more grounded in high-stakes conversations

Connect with Me

🌐 Website: PollackPeacebuilding.com

🌐 Dr. Pollack’s Courses: peacefulleadersacademy.com/courses/
📧 Email: support@pollackpeacebuilding.com
📱 LinkedIn: Jeremy Pollack  

📣 Subscribe & Share:
If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a coworker or team leader. And don’t forget to follow Peacebuilding with Dr. Pollack on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode.

#Negotiation #Collaboration #Peacebuilding #Leadership #ConflictResolution #WorkNegotiation #Psychology

Host: Dr. Jeremy Pollack from Pollack Peacebuilding Systems

More from Dr. Pollack:

• Peaceful Leaders Academy
• Conflict Resolution Playbook: Practical Communication Skills for Preventing, Managing, and Resolving Conflict
• FREE e-book: The Ultimate 12-Step Guide to Coworker Mediation: Free Ebook - Pollack Peacebuilding Systems

Connect with Dr. Pollack on social media: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn

Transcript

0:00

Welcome to Peace Building with Dr. Pollock. This is a Quick Tips episode where I explore the strategies, psychology and interpersonal tools that help you build better relationships at work and beyond. I'm Dr. Jeremy Pollock. I'm a social organizational psychologist with a specialty in peace and complex psychology. I'm also the CEO of Pollock Peace Building Systems. A workplace conflict management, consulting, and training firm. Today we're diving into a skill that can completely shift how you advocate for yourself and collaborate with others. Negotiation. Now, I know that negotiation sometimes gets a bad wrap. You know, for many people, negotiation feels like a, a tug of war. Someone wins and someone loses, but it doesn't have to be that way. Today, I'll share three simple yet powerful steps. That can turn negotiation from a power struggle into a respectful, intentional conversation. One where everyone can walk away, hopefully feeling heard and satisfied. To bring this to life, I'll also run a hypothetical example through the steps. Step one. Define the best case scenario for yourself. Let's take Jordan as an example, who is a mid-level marketing manager. He's been putting in long hours. He launched two successful campaigns recently and he's even mentored a new hire this year. He's feeling ready to move up to a senior role with a salary increase and more say in strategy before Jordan talks to his boss. He should ask himself what's my best case scenario? In Jordan's case, it might be something like a promotion to a senior marketing strategist or a 15% salary increase, and maybe a seat in quarterly strategic meetings, something like that. This isn't about being unrealistic. It's about getting really clear on what it is you want, what would be your, um, ideal outcome. So defining your ideal helps you understand what you're aiming for. It sharpens your focus. It gives you a compass to navigate the conversation. And just a tip, I would write this down. I would be very serious about this. Very intentional. Put your dream outcome on paper. When you're clear with yourself, you're gonna communicate this more confidently with others. Okay. Step two in negotiation, identify what's reasonable and prepare to justify it with evidence. So it is time to balance that ideal, that dream scenario. With a little grounded realism, let's say Jordan, while he's preparing for this conversation, he takes a step back and he asks. What's fair and realistic for both sides? Maybe the company is in a hiring freeze. Maybe salaries are capped this quarter. Maybe the company grew at lower than a projected rate last year. All of these need to be considered when making an ask, and this doesn't mean you down from your ideal necessarily, it just means you get smart and prepare for what might be more reasonable or doable in the conversation. So Jordan might think maybe a 10% raise is more realistic right now in the immediate, or maybe the promotion would come with a three month ramp up plan. He could start by sitting in on one strategic meeting per month and most importantly, whatever conclusion he comes to in terms of what is reasonable relative to his ideal, he needs to be able to justify it. He should be able to say something like, in the last six months I've led two campaigns that increased inbound leads by 38%. I also trained our new hire, freeing up leadership time and improving team efficiency. See what's happening here is Jordan isn't just hoping for the best outcome. He's backing up his request with measurable results. Be as measurable, as you can to help justify your ask, and I would even suggest coming up with a plan to get there if necessary. So here's a tool for you to use in this step. You might wanna make a short case sheet. In other words, making a case for your ask include metrics, examples, the impact of your contributions. You don't need to write a dissertation, just clear and concise evidence that supports why your current ask is actually reasonable. Now, step three. Negotiate the details, including potentially a plan to reach your ideal. So this is when the conversation happens. Jordan schedules a meeting with his manager. He opens up with something like, I'd love to talk about my future here. I've been thinking about how I can grow into more responsibility and leadership, and I'd love to share my thoughts with you. And he might outline his idea, but he also stays flexible. He could say, you know, ideally I'd love to take on a senior strategist role with a salary adjustment and begin contributing at the strategy level. And maybe his manager says something like. Uh, look, I've seen the progress you've made, and I agree there's potential, but that role isn't available right now. It's something we could work toward. That is actually a great opening to this conversation. Here's where the negotiation happens. It's not just in terms of, you know, getting a yes or a no. It's about co-creating a plan to get everybody's needs met so Jordan could respond with something like. Would it be possible to outline a roadmap for that transition? I'd love to know what benchmarks I could hit to make that transition in the next three to six months. What would have to happen for us to get there? And they might sketch out a plan with milestones like complete a new campaign or mentor two team members and a check-in date, you know, 90 days from now, 60 days from now. And of course, some measurable goals. We wanna increase engagement by 25%. If we hit these milestones along the plan, that will help both sides feel really justified in getting to the ideal. And even if the ideal isn't granted today, Jordan walks away with a plan and a timeline that he co-created with his boss, and hopefully a path forward that feels fair to both sides. So here's a mindset tip for you. When you start a negotiation, go in prepared for collaboration, not combat. Go in prepared for win-win, not win-lose. Ask open-ended questions like, what would make this possible? How could we get there? What would success look like from your perspective? Can we build a plan to revisit this in 60 days or six months? Here's the bottom line. Good negotiation is not about winning. It's about aligning on solutions that work for everyone. When we walk into negotiations with clarity, with empathy, when we're prepared, we create opportunities for real sustainable agreements that benefit both sides. So let's do a quick review, three steps to successful negotiation. Define the best case scenario for yourself. Know what great looks like, identify what's reasonable, think practically, and prepare your evidence to support your initial ask. And then negotiate the details and you should be collaborating on a plan that feels fair and also forward thinking. And remember, it's okay if you don't get everything today. If you can walk away with a shared understanding and maybe a plan, that's a huge win. Okay. Thanks for tuning into Peace Building with Dr. Pollock. If this episode helped you and you think it can help others, please share it. For ongoing learning and to really master your workplace conflict resolution skills, consider joining my Peaceful Leaders Club Club members get access to exclusive content coaching with me and my expert, conflict coaches, and my entire online course library. You can join@peacefulleadersacademy.com slash club, or click on the link in the show notes. And if your company needs conflict resolution training or conflict intervention or mediation, visit us@pollockpeacebuilding.com to learn more about our services. Until next time, be kind, be curious, and keep peace building.