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Learn the secrets of successful negotiation at work and in your personal life

19 February 2024-

VIDEOS /

By Michel Ghazal Contrary to some prejudices, you are not born a good negotiator, you become one. It is an expertise that you can learn and develop, day after day, by practising it in all situations of your professional life.

the European Negotiation Centre, quoted in Le Point.

13 February 2024-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

Become a well-informed negotiator and achieve your goals with the Centre Européen de la Négociation training programme. Many professional and personal situations involve negotiation. It's an expertise that you can learn and develop, day after day, thanks to the European Negotiation Centre.

Social negotiations: beware of the three false leads!

2 March 2021-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

To all those who are interested in social negotiations, in the conflicts that may arise during the announced "social spring", we can advise them to take a look at what has just happened in Australia between the government, the media and the "Big Tech", alias the GAFAMs in French, and above all Google and Facebook.

Collective bargaining: the stakes of a "social spring

16 February 2021-

DECRYPTAGES /

On 31 January, during a "RTL-Le Monde" programme, Philippe Martinez, the CGT General Secretary, declared: "I want a social spring". He also asked for a ban on redundancies until the health crisis was over.

Drawing inspiration from the "Great Negotiators

26 October 2020-

PODCASTS /

Do you want to know the qualities, skills and talents of great negotiators to improve your posture?

Joint management/trade union training: a mechanism to make social negotiations more successful

20 October 2020-

PODCASTS /

France is going to experience one of the most serious economic crises in decades. A renewed social dialogue is vital to preserve the sustainability of companies and limit the damage to employment...

Barriers to creating value or inventing creative solutions in negotiation: how to overcome them?

23 June 2020-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

By Michel Ghazal. In both simple and complex negotiations, the objective of the negotiator is to be inventive in finding acceptable and workable solutions to the problem at hand.

Curiosity: what a fantastic flaw!

16 June 2020-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

By Michel Ghazal. Among the dozen or so biases in negotiation, there is one that I consider particularly problematic: overestimating one's self-confidence.

State/Business/Trade Unions: all in the same boat

2 June 2020-

DECRYPTAGES /

By Michel Ghazal. Faced with the economic and social tsunami that is coming in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, all the social partners are in the same boat.

How to build and inspire confidence in negotiation?

10 March 2020-

VIDEOS /

By Michel Ghazal Inspiring and building confidence concludes the series of 10 videos as announced last September. It is a key to success. Without confidence, there is no salvation.

What do the Greek debt, the Iranian nuclear issue, the influx of migrants into Europe, the fight against Daech and the COP 21 have in common?

2 March 2020-

DECRYPTAGES /

All of these issues that have dominated international relations since the beginning of the summer have one thing in common: the negotiations to address them are multilateral.

Negotiating with oneself in order to better negotiate with the other

25 February 2020-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

By Michel Ghazal It is now accepted that negotiation skills are a key competence to be mastered in both professional and private life. It is no longer considered, as it was for a long time, as being reserved for diplomats or for specialists gifted and/or endowed with real or supposed skills.

What makes a good negotiator?

4 February 2020-

VIDEOS /

By Michel Ghazal Defining a good strategy through good preparation is a prerequisite for success. It is then necessary to implement it by deploying the necessary qualities of a good negotiator: demonstrating an ability to listen, inspiring confidence and being curious.

For an intelligent commercial relaunch: always present, never heavy

28 January 2020-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

By Michel Ghazal In these times of economic crisis, which in many sectors is causing a relative wait-and-see attitude in decision-making, sales managers tend to increase the internal pressure on their teams.

The 3 mistakes to avoid for successful negotiations

21 January 2020-

VIDEOS /

By Michel Ghazal To increase your sense of satisfaction with the outcome of your negotiations, you must avoid these three mistakes.

Pensions: what are the ways out of this crisis from the top?

13 January 2020-

DECRYPTAGES /

By Michel Ghazal In matters of decision strategy and conflict management, Mazarin advised: "If you decide to enact new laws, begin by demonstrating the imperative need for them to a council of sages, and work out the reform with them.

How do you put yourself in the other person's shoes when negotiating?

7 January 2020-

VIDEOS /

By Michel Ghazal If "putting yourself in the other person's shoes" is easier said than done, our preparation tool makes this task much easier.

Interest-based negotiation: 10 misconceptions to overcome

23 December 2019-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

By Michel Ghazal The evidence of the "Interest-based Negotiation" approach, which at the European Negotiation Centre we call the "Mutual Gains Strategy", is obvious, but its practical application is not easily overcome.

How can we remove the obstacles to creativity?

18 December 2019-

VIDEOS /

By Michel Ghazal To remove the main obstacles to creativity, namely the withholding of one's own ideas and the systematic rejection of those of the other party, it is advisable, before starting, to establish a rule of play: the separation between the invention of ideas and the commitment to a solution.

Emotions are always information, even in negotiations

10 December 2019-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

By Philippe Etienne, Consultant Trainer The classic or adversarial negotiator, the one who equates negotiation with a game of poker, is consistent with his vision of negotiation: he plays "poker face". I'm happy, I don't show anything, because you never know, maybe I can "scratch" a little more.

Why and how to go beyond compromise in negotiation?

2 December 2019-

VIDEOS /

By Michel Ghazal Splitting the difference is often a poor compromise that leaves the parties unsatisfied. If it is possible to do better, isn't it a shame to leave it at that?

How do you judge the effectiveness of a negotiation method?

26 November 2019-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

By Vincent Reille & Michel Ghazal Every transaction has a cost. The "reasoned negotiator", even before starting to negotiate, is encouraged to think and prepare his solution in case the negotiation fails. This is what we call the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement, the BATNA.

Pension reform: the test of strength is on

23 November 2019-

DECRYPTAGES /

By Michel Ghazal Whether it is the CGT, Sud or Unsa at the SNCF or the three representative unions at the RATP (UNSA, CGT and CGC), they are all up in arms to make the government back down on its pension reform project. Even though everyone agrees on the diagnosis (already very old) and on the urgency of the measures to be taken, they are all moving to ensure that nothing changes, at least for them.

The importance of setting an objective in your negotiations

19 November 2019-

VIDEOS /

By Michel Ghazal If it is essential to set a target for your negotiations, are you sure you are doing so without risking a deadlock?

Are you a victim of decision bias in negotiation?

13 November 2019-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

By Nicole Spitaleri, Consultant-Coach How our choices, which we think are free, are conditioned and biased? How can the functioning of the two hemispheres of our brain be unbalanced and unknowingly impact our way of negotiating?

Why do we need to avoid hasty judgements?

5 November 2019-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

By Michel Ghazal The more certain we are of our facts, the more the case will seem to us to be heard and the more difficult it will be to accept to put our judgement temporarily on hold and to defer it. To achieve this, we need to negotiate with that inner voice that keeps telling us that we are right and the other person is wrong and that there is therefore nothing to learn.

Why do most negotiations descend into a war of positions?

30 October 2019-

VIDEOS /

By Michel Ghazal Trench warfare is unfortunately the daily lot of many negotiations. Thanks to the Mutual Gains Strategy, the negotiator has concrete tools to avoid getting into the trenches and to help the other party to get out.

Compromise or creative arrangement?

22 October 2019-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

Interview with Michel Ghazal by Revue Négociations "The essence of compromise: a situation that satisfies no one, but makes everyone feel that they know the others were as badly off as they were. Trevanian in Shibumi

Why is it vital to prepare well for negotiations?

15 October 2019-

VIDEOS /

By Michel Ghazal Always be ready to negotiate but never negotiate unprepared. While many negotiators know that preparation is one of the keys to success, it is not clear that they know exactly what preparation entails. The risk is that they will block rather than facilitate their negotiations.

Negotiation, the art of living with others

7 October 2019-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

Interview with Michel Ghazal by Violaine Gelly, Revue Psychologie. Negotiating is not just sitting around a table to discuss a problem. It means trying, every day, to reach agreements with those around you, explains Michel Ghazal.

Avoid making this mistake in negotiations

9 September 2019-

DECRYPTAGES /

Since he took office, Boris Johnson has brandished what he would do if the European Union refused to renegotiate the agreement reached with Theresa May: an exit with a "no deal" on 31 October. The dispute is particularly focused on one point: the "safety net" designed to protect Europe from non-European products AND to avoid creating a physical border between the two Irelands.

Confidence in negotiation: how to develop it and when to be wary of it?

13 June 2019-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

By Michel Ghazal. The ability to give the other person the effective feeling of being listened to and the ability to gain the trust of others are for me the two main qualities of a good negotiator.

Defusing aggression: can you apply the Buddha method?

18 April 2019-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

Aggression is not limited to the political or social fields. Everyone can be confronted with it on a daily basis in their professional negotiations or in their private lives: faced with a complaint from a dissatisfied customer, a disgruntled colleague or their screaming teenager.

What you won't read in How to negotiate successfully

18 April 2019-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

When I first read Getting to Yes in 1981, I immediately realised that what I had in my hand was a real methodological breakthrough that would go on to become a landmark. Indeed, Fisher and Ury's book revolutionised the art of negotiation in both theory and practice. Three things struck me immediately:

What do Theresa May and the EU, the EU and Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron and the Gilets Jaunes have in common?

12 April 2019-

DECRYPTAGES /

The Harvard approach called "The Mutual Gains Strategy" teaches us that a key condition for the success of any negotiation is to have a good alternative to a negotiated agreement (MESORE) before it starts.

Why can listening sometimes lead to a dialogue of the deaf?

9 April 2019-

FEATURE ARTICLES /

It is difficult for anyone to escape the news surrounding the "yellow waistcoats" movement for the past three months. Like in a play, we are soon in Act XIV and it seems to last until the European elections.

Why did 10 billion in concessions not stop the Yellow Vests crisis?

7 April 2019-

DECRYPTAGES /

Faced with an unprecedented movement, President Macron and his government, disoriented and forced to act, finally gave in on the first demands on 10 December: abandonment of the tax on fuel, cancellation of the CSG increase

Brexit: why can't Europe say it's their problem?

24 December 2018-

DECRYPTAGES /

For weeks now, the question of extending the deadline for Brexit has been on the table. After a first postponement accepted until 12 April but which did not allow the UK to reach an agreement internally, Theresa May has been active in obtaining a new deadline. Emmanuel Macron defended a position of great firmness. The President of the European Council Donald Tusk, supported by Angela Merkel, was in favour of an extension until 2020.