Learn the Art of Negotiation

How to Get What You Want From Your Boss

Aug 25, 2007 Felicia A. Williams

Knowing how to negotiate is key to getting what you want from your boss.

Have you ever wanted something from your boss that would improve your work environment, but were too afraid to ask? Here are a few tips to help you with the negotiation process.

Suppose, for example, you want a new computer monitor. You've been suffering along with the old monitor for years, but the time has come where you find that your computer monitor at work is just too small. You've got a large monitor at home and you realize that you can get much more accomplished with a larger monitor. The challenge is to get your employer to pay for a new, larger monitor at work.

If you do your homework, put together a proposal and present your proposal in just the right way, it might not be as difficult as you think to get your boss to agree with you.

Here are a few tips to help sway your employer:

Research: Be sure to be thorough in your research. If it's a new computer monitor you're after, be prepared with the dimensions, cost, warranty/guarantee information, discounts/coupons if any and where to purchase the monitor.

Put a Proposal Together: Make sure that the proposal addresses the point succinctly. Remember, your boss is busy and does not have time for long drawn out documents. In your proposal briefly outline the following:

• Need: An overview as to why you need a larger monitor. If you work with graphics all day, a larger monitor will help with the fine details. Or, if you are crunching numbers all day, explain how the larger screen will help prevent numerical mistakes because you can see them better.
• Benefit to your boss: Explain how a larger monitor for you will benefit your boss and place of employment. Its best to quantify the benefit if you can. For example, explain that your productivity would increase by 30% because you would be able to keep several program windows open simultaneously which will increase your accuracy and save time.
• Cost: What will it cost your boss to purchase a larger monitor? Make sure you thoroughly research this. List at least three options (more might be overwhelming and less would not provide enough of a comparison), recommending the best choice. It will show that you have done your homework.

Choose the right time to present your proposal: It's best to pick the right time to present your proposal. The middle of a crisis is not be the best time to begin the negotiation process for a larger monitor.

Tips/warnings:

1. Be prepared to explain why you and not the rest of the employees deserve the monitor. Sometimes to avoid conflict and keep the peace, a boss may turn your request down because other employees (who didn't do the research) want to reap the benefits of your hard work.
2. Have a backup plan. If your boss says no to the new monitor, now is the time to present plan B - your proposal to work from home where the monitor size is just right. Your boss might consider your first plan as more doable.
3. Always be professional. Even if you don't get what you want, the fact that you had the wherewithal to present a professional proposal might impress your boss enough to consider you for a task and/or a position that was previously out of the question.

The copyright of the article Learn the Art of Negotiation in Workplace Culture is owned by Felicia A. Williams. Permission to republish Learn the Art of Negotiation in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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