Commentary
Negotiation concepts can be used not only to get what you need or want but also to make your family life happier overall. (Photo by Marko Geber/DigitalVision via Getty Images )
By Rachel Croson
This is a holiday season like no other. Rachel Croson Many people have been apart for nearly two years and have had so many “virtual” holidays that they are craving physical presence this year.
Now that the opportunity for travel has resumed, so have social obligations – from trips to see family across the country to work gatherings and visits with friends. Between balancing the desire for contact with continuing to navigate a changing work environment, spare time is becoming less common again for a lot of us.
This year, my husband and I are consciously deciding what we will do and what we won’t. For example, we’ve decided to stay home for Thanksgiving and have dinner with just us and our two boys, ages 12 and 14. We are planning for our nuclear family to visit us over Christmas. We decided to forgo hosting a party of our own, not for pandemic worries or because of supply-chain challenges but to avoid stress and overscheduling.
How did we reach these decisions? I applied lessons from my academic study of bargaining and negotiation to my personal life. So, with another holiday season upon us, one that may look a little different from last year’s for some, here’s how to negotiate with loved ones for an enjoyable holiday season. From theory to practice
As a professor , I have taught negotiation to students and executives, published many scholarly articles and given numerous public lectures on the topic. But I hadn’t thought to apply my academic expertise to my personal life.
Once I started to do so, however, I quickly realized that negotiation concepts and skills can be used not only to get what you want but also to make your family life happier overall.The most important insight is that negotiation does not have to result in a winner and a loser. It can and should be win-win for all parties. […]
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