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Film-style poster for the Negotiation Prep for Mentors presentation

A guide for mentors: Negotiation Prep for Mentors

How to send the Negotiation Prep, read the basics and rehearse the talk together.

English

What this guide covers

What this guide covers

What this guide covers

What it is

Ready for a talk that matters

Your mentee writes a goal, a limit and the best option if there is no deal.

When to send it

Send it before a big ask

Send it a week or two before the talk, so there is time to rehearse.

  • Pay a raise or a new offer
  • Promotion a new title or level
  • Investment a round or a budget

An honest frame

Know what happens if they say no

The best option without a deal is an idea from Fisher and Ury (1981).

  • Goal what they will ask for
  • Limit below this, they say no
  • Alternative what they will actually do

Sending it

Send it from your pairing

It takes a minute, and your mentee gets an email.

Open your pairing

Choose Assign a tool and find Negotiation Prep.

Try it as your mentee

Fill it in yourself first; nothing is saved or sent.

Add a short message

Your mentee sees it on their home page and Tools.

Open your pairing

Choose Assign a tool and find Negotiation Prep.

Try it as your mentee

Fill it in yourself first; nothing is saved or sent.

Add a short message

Your mentee sees it on their home page and Tools.

Who starts the talk

Asking is a step of its own

Women start negotiations slightly less often than men (Kugler and others, 2018).

  • A meta-analysis many studies pooled together
  • A smaller gap when it is clear what is open to negotiation
  • Your part say plainly what can be asked for

Reading the answers

Check the basics line first

At a glance shows if goal, limit and alternative are written.

  • Basics goal, limit and alternative written
  • Evidence points results they can show
  • Options for both sides room to agree

Questions to ask

Ask, then let them answer aloud

People who ask follow-up questions are liked more (Huang and others, 2017).

  • Is your goal ambitious enough, or did you lower it before you started? then: where did you start from?
  • Which question worries you most? Answer it out loud now. then: shall we try it once more?
  • What will you do if the answer today is no? then: is your alternative real?

Feedback that helps

Sharpen one answer at a time

Feedback can backfire, so pick one answer to improve, not the whole plan.

1 in 3 Over a third of feedback effects lowered performance in one large review Kluger and DeNisi, 1996

One step

Plan what to do after a no

Write it as "if the answer is no, I will do this", with a day.

94 Tests found that if-then plans help people reach their goals Gollwitzer and Sheeran, 2006

After the meeting

Keep it all on Mentornity

The answers, your comments and the next steps stay in one place.

Read it at a glance

Basics, evidence points and options for both sides are summed up.

Add next steps

Write what will be done, by whom and by when.

Ask to fill it again

Earlier answers are kept, so you can compare before and after.

Read it at a glance

Basics, evidence points and options for both sides are summed up.

Add next steps

Write what will be done, by whom and by when.

Ask to fill it again

Earlier answers are kept, so you can compare before and after.

Rehearse the first sentence together

Ask them to say their opening line out loud, then the hardest answer.

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