Part strategy and part improvisation, negotiation can be challenging to master. Whether you aspire to lead teams, run your own business, or maximize value in daily interactions, bolstering your negotiation skills can set you up to close valuable deals.
One way to do so is by taking a negotiation certificate course. To help decide whether one is right for you, here’s an overview of what to expect and six reasons it’s worth the investment.
Free E-Book: How to Become a More Effective Leader
Access your free e-book today.
DOWNLOAD NOWWhat to Expect from a Negotiation Course
Negotiation courses are designed to prepare you with the skills to navigate the nuances of the bargaining table. Courses can vary in several ways, including:
- Format: Is the course online, in-person, or hybrid? If it’s an online course, does the class meet at a scheduled time, or can you fit it into your schedule?
- Price: How much does the course cost? Pricing can vary widely, so compare each course’s quality to how much you’ll pay.
- Instructor: Who teaches the course? Is it someone reputable in the field?
- Assessment method: How is your knowledge assessed? Are there quizzes throughout, one exam at the end, assignments to track your progress, or a final capstone project?
- What you earn: If you aim to earn a certificate in negotiation, ensure the course provides one upon successful completion. Other options may include academic credit or a degree, so verify that you’ll receive your desired credential.
Negotiation courses can also vary in terms of content, as a function of their level of depth and the instructor’s expertise. In the online course Negotiation Mastery, you can learn:
- The basics of negotiation analysis, including psychological factors and strategy considerations
- How to create value and overcome barriers despite uncommon ground
- How to manage your relationship with your counterpart using bargaining tactics, styles, and emotion
- How to use concepts from the course to advance your career, including asking for a raise or promotion
Finally, courses offer different features, including:
- Real-time negotiation practice
- Peer interaction before, during, and after the program
- Engaging activities
- Real-world examples of business negotiations as told by the professionals who lived them
Whatever you value in a negotiation course, you can find an option that fits your needs. Once you’ve earned your certificate, you can benefit in several ways. Here’s a breakdown of six.
Related: How Online Negotiation Training Can Benefit You
6 Reasons to Earn a Negotiation Certificate
1. It Can Help Increase Your Earning Potential—In More Ways Than One
If you’re concerned about investing financially in a negotiation course, remember that it could pay off. A survey by City Square Associates found that 42 percent of Harvard Business School Online learners earned an average $17,000 salary increase after taking a course—a 10-times return on their $1,750 investment.
In addition, the negotiation skills you gain can position you to have more fruitful discussions about compensation, whether you’re applying for a new job or discussing a raise at your current one.
If you’re applying for leadership and managerial roles, a certificate in negotiation can bolster your resume. Articulate how the skills you gained help you provide more value to your organization and team. You may be able to negotiate greater compensation based on the added value.
To learn more about the skills needed to negotiate successfully, check out the video below and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more explainer content!
2. It Can Make You a Better Leader and Manager
Negotiation skills can round out your skill set as a leader or manager. In any decision-making role, you’ll encounter scenarios that require bargaining, whether over a formal agreement or casual debate.
As a leader, you must regularly negotiate contracts with vendors, pitch ideas for budget allocation, and advocate for your employees’ needs. The emotional intelligence required to manage your emotions during negotiations is also one of the most important leadership skills.
Earning a certificate in negotiation can prepare you for discussions in which each party has their own motives and goals and enable you to generate value for yourself, your employees, and your organization.
Related: 6 Reasons Why Managers Need Negotiation Skills
3. It Can Help You Advocate for Your Ideas
No matter your industry, a negotiation course can teach you to advocate for yourself and your ideas.
Jess Forgue, a design operations manager at a global sportswear company, took Negotiation Mastery to better position her creative ideas. She feels that, while her creativity earned her the job, she needed business skills to back it up.
“I’ve become an unofficial evangelist for HBS Online and have inspired many creatives to pursue Negotiation Mastery,” Forgue says. “The course felt like how I learned in real life, so the course material works well for me. I believe Negotiation Mastery is great for designers to help them articulate their creative ideas and execute them cross-functionally.”
Any role in which you work on a team requires some negotiation. A course can provide the skills to ensure your ideas aren't lost in the shuffle.
4. It Can Help You Build a Business
Entrepreneurship involves negotiating at nearly every stage—from raising funds to navigating the investor process to discussing supplier contracts.
One such entrepreneur is Daniel Dietzel, who founded the advertising and crowdfunding agency Ivory & Gold. He enrolled in Negotiation Mastery hoping to gain the skills to negotiate contracts with investors and customers.
“Negotiation Mastery helped us get really, really good revenue and make sure there were no last-minute changes,” Dietzel says.
A negotiation course can enable you to identify and hone the negotiation strategies needed to gain the most value for your budding business.
5. It Can Boost Your Confidence at the Bargaining Table
Not only can a negotiation course equip you with the skills and tools to succeed, it can also build your confidence through practice. In another survey by City Square Associates, 90 percent of HBS Online learners reported feeling more confident at work after taking a course.
One learner who experienced increased confidence is Nateenond “Boom” Supatpitak, a current MBA student at HBS and strategy intern at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Originally an engineer, Supatpitak knew he had to develop business skills to excel in his sudden pivot from engineering to strategy.
“I realized I had no formal business training and couldn’t afford to stumble through learning on the job,” Supatpitak says. “So, I did some quick research into local and online business programs and found Harvard Business School Online.”
After taking the Credential of Readiness (CORe) program, he enrolled in Negotiation Mastery to hone his deal-making skills.
“Unlike so many classes in college that were all about cramming knowledge into my head, in Negotiation Mastery, I felt I was being mentored into developing the practical skills I needed for my job,” Supatpitak says. “Before taking the class, I had neither the framework to develop a ‘win-win’ solution nor the know-how to achieve it. There’s an illusion of power in negotiations that can change in a matter of seconds. You can’t learn how to handle that by reading a book.”
The real-world business examples and practice embedded in some negotiation courses can help you build confidence for workplace bargaining.
Related: What Is the Negotiation Process: 4 Steps
6. It Can Empower You to Create Value
Although often thought to be about claiming value, negotiation is a process of simultaneously claiming and creating it. A negotiation course can help adjust your mindset and create value in real time.
Tina Guo, a Grammy- and Brit-nominated musician, composer, and entrepreneur—as well as one of the most recorded solo cellists in the world—comments on her newfound ability as she learned to negotiate contracts in the music business.
“When I negotiate, I always think about, ‘If I were on their side, what would I want?’” she says. “I think it’s really important to understand your partner in the situation.”
She recalls a time when she was discussing the terms of a soundtrack contract and drew on her course knowledge from Negotiation Mastery.
“I thought of some things that I feel are priceless, like credits,” Guo says. “I was able to talk to the team about this, and they gave me exactly what I wanted. They were happy with it, too.”
Generating value for yourself and the other party in the moment is a skill you can gain in a negotiation course.
How to Earn a Negotiation Certificate
If you decide that earning a negotiation certificate will benefit your life and career, the first step is researching and selecting a program.
Prioritize what you value most—for instance, peer interaction or real-time negotiation simulations—to ensure you choose a program that meets your needs.
Once it begins, it’s up to you to make the most of your experience. Engage with the course materials and exercises, connect with your fellow learners, and dedicate time to internalizing key concepts.
With commitment and drive, you can earn your negotiation certificate and reap the benefits that come with it.
Are you ready to improve your negotiation skills and advance your career? Explore Negotiation Mastery—one of our online leadership and management courses—and download our free leadership e-book.
