The Negotiation Guru

This is something I learn from Tim Ferris’ “The 4-Hour Workweek” book.

To learn more, please buy his “4-Hour Workweek”. It has much valuable information inside. It’s about getting the life you want. He gives useful tips on how to live the life. Negotiate for the life that you want!

Tim Ferris gave a simple 5 step process to negotiate with your boss. It’s as easy as that!Step 1: Increase Investment

Get your boss to invest more in you. Tell him about the employee training program that will be beneficial to the company such as “Negotiation Executive Workshop”. This is to get your boss to make investment in you so that he will feel he has more to lose if you do quit at the end of the day. Very smart move!

Step 2: Prove Increased Output Offsite

Call in sick 2 days of a normal workweek. Do it on Tuesday and Thursday. The reason why is because you don’t want to give the impression that you want a 3-day long weekend. It’s just more convincing. Make sure that you really do work on these 2 days. In fact, work harder. Be 5 times more productive than normal. How do you let your boss know that? Send him deliverables. Send him emails. Let him know what you have done. Show him what you have done. Tim suggests using GoToMyPc remote access software so that you can pilot your office computer from home.

Step 3: Prepare the Quantifiable Business Benefit

Create a bullet-point list of what you have achieved during the 2 days of sick leave. Show it to your boss. You must present it in such a way that letting you work from home is good for the business, not just a personal gain. Explain that without the distraction of office noise and the commute, you are able to do more.

Step 4: Propose a Revocable Trial Period

Revocable is a keyword here. You must still let your boss feel that he has power over you. Propose that you wish to work from home 2 days a week.

“Hey boss, for a trial, I let to propose to work from home 2 days a week. You can revoke it anytime you want if you do not think it’s good for the business.”

The reason why you propose 2 days is so that at least you have a backup of proposing 1 day.

Step 5: Expand Remote time

Always make sure that you are MOST productive when you are away from the office.

“I was shocked at the results of me working at home. It makes a lot of business sense too. I have achieved so much from working at home. I am enjoying my work so much more now. I would like to suggest doing a 2-day week. I will come in on Wednesday and Friday. We can do any 3 days you prefer.”

“I can’t do that.”

“What’s your main concern?”

“What if everyone wants to do the same?”

“You are right. You have a very valid reason. Let me be honest. I was actually having the intention to quit after all the interruptions, commuting and whatnot. But I am actually surprised by how I feel after working from home. I feel that I can be more productive at home and be much happier. Not everyone can work from home. They have to exhibit that they are more productive at home. If they are really more productive, why not let them work at home too? This makes a lot of business sense. Can I test it out for another 2 weeks? I will show you the results and if you are not happy, you can always change your mind.”

“By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day. – Robert Frost

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Jens Thang
Negotiation Skills for Everyone

Email: jens@thenegotiationguru.com