Mark asks, "How can I learn to negotiate at work without it becoming a battle between me and my co-workers?"

Good negotiation skills can improve your results and your relationships with co-workers. One way to prevent negotiations from turning into conflict is to get past positional arguing. Identify your interests and those of the other party.

Ask questions such as "why do you want that?" or "what would that bring to you?" instead of engaging in a battle of point and counter-point.

Understanding the underlying problem you are seeking to solve before debating the merits of various proposed solutions helps you to generate more options that address the interests of all parties. Now you can achieve more for everyone, including yourself!

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