Negotiation is a process that involves activities needed to resolve different kinds of disputes by conducting consultations between the involved parties to reach a consensus. Negotiations can happen at any time within the project management life cycle and it can be either formal or non-formal. A formal negotiation involves issues regarding agreeing with contracts while information negotiations include discussions to resolve a conflict between team members.
A good project manager needs to have excellent negotiation skills. Such skill is used in the areas of P3 management which include contract management, conflict management, stakeholder management, and requirements management.
In project management, the process of negotiation is categorized into phases and these include planning, discussing, proposing and reviewing. Planning refers to the preparation of all relevant information needed for the discussion. The second phases refer to setting up the scene for discussion. In this scene, the key issues are explored and discussed. The proposing stage refers to creating the proposal as a means to solve the problem at hand. This may also include bargaining for trade-offs before an agreement is achieved and the information is disseminated all throughout the organization.