I’ve just come through a tricky couple of days at work, but got through it due to a mumsnet thread and some golden nuggets of advice I got from a brilliant manager in the past. I thought I’d pay forward the kindness I got on my thread and start a new one for the best advice you ever got at work:
Never begin a difficult conversation on the same day you realised the need for one.
Never enter a negotiation without a clear idea of the outcome you want.
Never ‘meet them half way’ - reduce your offer in gradually reducing increments, never more than 10% at a time.
Never make yourself a threat. Work with your opponent never against them. ‘Us’ is much easier to sell than ‘me vs you’
Make your opponent feel ahead of a problem, not behind it. They are more likely to offer a resolution if they feel like they’re creating a ‘near miss’. ‘Let’s work out how to stop this becoming a problem’ is much more motivating to come to the table than ‘this is a problem, what are you going to do about it?’