Negotiation strategies to empower you in work & life: A virtual workshop

Abstract

Librarians negotiate salaries, workloads, vendor contracts, pricing, authorship, and more, yet few have opportunities to learn effective negotiation strategies. If you negotiate as part of your job or are interested in improving your skills in personal negotiation, this opportunity to learn negotiation skills from an expert and experienced trainer is for you. In this highly interactive course, Katharine Macy, MBA, MLIS--a veteran negotiation trainer and primary investigator of an IMLS-funded project to develop curricula and open educational negotiation resources for librarians and library students--will introduce you to best practices in negotiation strategies and guide you in practicing your new skills in library-based case study role plays. This course is based on the hugely successful workshop Katharine presented at MLA '22. You’ll learn a principled approach to negotiation that considers the interests of both parties and seeks win-win agreements. You’ll learn how to create and execute a negotiation plan, analyze a deal and plan strategies, choose tactics, manage problematic behaviors, and identify the important Zone of Possible Agreement (ZOPA). You’ll begin the course with a set of case studies and role assignments available a week before the first session. After an hour or so of preparation between sessions, you’ll be ready to conduct role play negotiations in which you’ll apply the negotiation framework you learned in the first session. You’ll leave the course with skills you can use to better advocate for your institution and yourself, more empowered to ask for what you need, and more comfortable saying no.