post

Footer About

Footer Get Involved

Footer Links

Mind the Product

General

Product Unplugged Episode 3 with Pierce Healy

Product Unplugged Episode 2 with Lorilyn McCue

Product Strategy

Building Product Teams

Diversity and Inclusion

Digital Transformation

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML)

Product Leadership

Product Management Career

Product Ethics

Minimum Viable Product

Enterprise Product Management

OKRs

Customer Research

Hypothesis and Testing

Business Strategy

User Research

👩‍🚀🚀   Live now for MTP members: <a href="https://mtp2017stg.wpengine.com/membership/#events" style="color:#FFFFFF;text-decoration:underline;">Driving Innovation AMA with Tendayi Viki</a>

Roadmaps: Break the rules without breaking the principles

Got questions about your product career?

Product roadmaps vs data – Jeremy Levy on The Product Experience

From engineering to product management at Google

Mind the Product joins Pendo

Eira is an editor for Mind the Product. She's been a business journalist, editor, and copywriter for longer than she cares to think about.

Eira Hayward

<p>As <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.karrass.com/en/dr-chester-karrass?SID=1r4inf2erpk2l50hk4bseqk417">Chester Karrass</a></span> — the author of several highly-regarded books on negotiation — wisely wrote: “In business as in life, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.”</p>
<p>In this quick guide we outline why negotiation is such an important skill to master and how you can improve your ability to negotiate with confidence.</p>
<h2>When to negotiate</h2>
<p>It’s part of a product manager’s job to negotiate with those around them all the time, admittedly often unconsciously or in subtle ways. So whether it’s keeping team relationships going, working out what to prioritise, hammering out the details of a new remuneration package, advocating for extra budget, like it or not, the likelihood is that you’re negotiating with someone. Product managers have to negotiate all the time, so skillful negotiating can make your life (and that of your team) much easier.</p>
<h2>Why negotiate?</h2>
<p>If you see negotiation as a time to go into combat mode, then you should rethink this attitude. Good negotiation, where everyone has contributed to an agreed outcome, helps to build better relationships and can make an immense contribution to business success. Product coach and consultant <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.jenswanson.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jen Swanson</a></span> says there’s a win/win opportunity in any negotiation: “It’s much better to view negotiation as a dance rather than a battle, so that you come together in a way that works for both of you. Product managers negotiate all the time, so coming at it with a combative attitude is not a pleasant way to do your job.”</p>
<blockquote><p>It’s much better to view negotiation as a dance rather than a battle, so that you come together in a way that works for both of you</p></blockquote>
<p>There’s always an opportunity for a mutually beneficial “elegant” solution, says Jen. It’s what many people call <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/negotiation-skills-daily/principled-negotiation-focus-interests-create-value/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">principled negotiation</a></span>, and she characterises it as “the joy in product management”. “It’s not compromise, but a different scenario that satisfies both sides,” she says, “if we’re at two different points, how do we get to alignment?.”</p>
<h2>How to negotiate with confidence</h2>
<p>While there’s a whole industry of books, training courses, and seminars on how to negotiate successfully, here are a few of our top tips for product managers:</p>
<ol>
<li>If you feel uncomfortable about negotiation, reframe it as a creative endeavour and the opportunity to create a solution that meets everyone&#8217;s needs. Doing this can turn a negative experience into a positive one.</li>
<li>Prepare by looking for mutually beneficial solutions. Assume positive intent, figure out where the other party is, what they want, and how far towards them you can move.</li>
<li>Remember to remove the personal and not to think about what you want, but what the team wants to do.</li>
<li>Remove the word “they”. Remember that no matter who you’re negotiating with, you all work for the same business, and empathy goes a long way. “Those compliance and regulatory people are keeping us out of orange jumpsuits,” jokes Jen.</li>
<li>Remind people there are only three levers you can pull — as Jen says, you can only negotiate for time, space and resources: “Product managers are always asked to deliver more value faster. Sometimes you need to remind people that you can only change these three dimensions, and ask them which one they want to discuss.”</li>
</ol>
<h2>Learn more about negotiating</h2>
<p>Mind the Product has plenty of resources to help you improve your negotiation skills.</p>
<p>This #mtpengage Manchester talk from Garry Prior, director of product at THG Ingenuity, <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://mtp2017stg.wpengine.com/negotiate-like-a-product-manager-by-garry-prior/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Negotiate Like a Pro(duct Manager)</a></span> looks at key areas to focus on, while this post from Chris Bell, <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://mtp2017stg.wpengine.com/negotiation-product-management-pursuit-compromise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Negotiation in Product Management</a></span>, also looks at principled negotiation.</p>
<p>This post,<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://mtp2017stg.wpengine.com/negotiating-with-sales-a-guide-for-product-managers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Negotiating with Sales: A Guide for Product Managers</a></span>, offers a framework for principled negotiation with sales teams.</p>
<div class="g g-21"><div class="g-single a-73"><a class="gofollow" data-track="NzMsMjEsMSw2MA==" href="https://community.mindtheproduct.com/c/general/"><img decoding="async" src="https://mtp2017stg.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Membership-Circle-banner-ad-scaled.jpg" /></a></div></div>

core/freeform

Product Management Skills

Taming the roadmap circus by Maarten Dalmijn

Design for cognitive Bias by David Dylan Thomas

The role of the first product manager by Andrew Moll

It’s all about the outcome by Georgie Smallwood

Transition from a Feature Factory to Business Impact team by Sandra Hinz

Sharpening your product craft as an internal product manager by Alison Hickson

From burnout to bounceback by Sara Wachter-Boettcher

The importance of EQ for product development teams by Nikkia Reveillac

Owning your story as a leader: Advice from Donna Lichaw

Goal Setting in Product

Quick read: Learning to negotiate — when, why and how

ProductTank Columbus

ProductTank Tauranga

ProductTank Edinburgh

Prioritised Member AMA - Perfecting product roadmaps

ProductTank San Diego

Navigating difficult relationships panel

ProductTank Philadelphia

ProductTank Bucharest

ProductTank NoVa

Remote Training Workshops

ProductTank London

ProductTank Birmingham

ProductTank Oslo

ProductTank Astana

ProductTank NoVA

ProductTank Tokyo

ProductTank Belgrade

ProductTank Madrid

ProductTank Leeds

ProductTank Zürich

ProductTank Perth

ProductTank Chicago

ProductTank Auckland

ProductTank Richmond

ProductTank Charlotte

ProductTank Reston

ProductTank Washington

ProductTank Sofia

ProductTank Raleigh

ProductTank Ljubljana

ProductTank Kraków

ProductTank Athens

ProductTank Barcelona

ProductTank Dublin

ProductTank Montréal

ProductTank Bogotá

ProductTank Seattle

ProductTank Madison

ProductTank Singapore

ProductTank Portland

ProductTank Budapest

ProductTank Valencia

ProductTank Porto

ProductTank Austin

ProductTank Los Angeles

ProductTank Norwich

ProductTank Des Moines

ProductTank San Francisco

ProductTank Helsinki

ProductTank Reading

ProductTank Brighton

ProductTank Bielefeld

ProductTank Malmö

ProductTank Canberra

ProductTank Paris

ProductTank Manchester

#mtpcon SF+Americas 2022 Conference

#mtpEngage Hamburg 2022 Leadership Forum

#mtpEngage Hamburg 2022 Workshops

#mtpEngage Hamburg 2022 Conference

#mtpcon London+EMEA 2022 Conference

Quick read: Learning to negotiate — when, why and how

Eira Hayward

Read more

Comments