- 1). Research the background of the negotiations topic. If you are mainly negotiating about compensation, then researching the average rate of compensation for similar industries can help you to bring a researched, unbiased solution to the bargaining table. Sites such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides data collected by the government on income and other jo- related statistics. If you are negotiating on benefits, then you may need to take a look at standard, up-to-date benefits packages if your benefits package has not been updated recently.
- 2). Prepare a proposal. You should have selected leaders who will represent your side of the negotiations. Leaders are responsible for drawing up proposals and making sure that their respective group which they represent agrees to them. In addition to drawing up proposals, it is important to consider what the other group that is part of the negotiations will propose. This will help you to form counter-proposals that you already know in advance that you can bargain with and accept.
- 3). Know your rights. If a union has formed, then management of an organization is legally required to negotiate with the union. In every union contract is a clause for management rights as well as the recognition clause. This is a form of covering all the bases that were not part of the original union contract. Management rights maintain that the management of an organization maintains the rights to run their business; however, the recognition clause states that the employer recognizes the union as the "sole and exclusive bargaining agent" for contracting matters of wages, hours, and conditions of employment. If the workers feel that the recognition clause has been overlooked by management, then they can file a grievance, which may lead to negotiations or a strike, depending on the nature of the grievance.
- 4). Hire a moderator. Having a neutral party involved in the negotiations can help to move the negotiations along without getting bogged down in one side dominating the other side. If both parties can agree to a moderator then that will give some structure to the negotiations.
- 5). Negotiate your terms. This is where your research and your planned-out proposals are used to represent your terms for the negotiations. Each side should have an equal amount of time to present their first round of offers, followed by counteroffers. You should know ahead of time which terms are negotiable and which terms are not negotiable. Prioritizing each negotiable term, as well as the non-negotiable items, will help you weed through that things you can afford to compromise on and which things you need to stick with.
- 6). Find common ground of terms that you can agree on and build a foundation from there. Working out the details of the negotiation from that point will be much easier than trying to sort through all of the things that you do not agree on first hand.
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