The secret skill to getting what you actually want at work

August 27, 2026 — 2:06pm

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Every meeting is a negotiation. You might think that you’re just casually logging on to a video conference, or sitting passively in a meeting room, to hear an update on the latest project, but whenever someone opens their month at work, there’s usually an unspoken negotiation taking place.

It’s probably not as obvious as haggling over the price of a contract, however the regular push and pull that occurs between conversations about juggling deadlines, talking about your current workload or adjusting expectations for the future are all forms of bargaining.

Knowing you’re in a constant negotiation, and learning how to get better at them, is a skill that can get you better working conditions, higher pay, improved deals and give you more control of your working life. Yet most of us are never taught how to do it properly.

I know this topic very well as I have deeply immersed myself in it for the last few years as I’ve researched and written Clear in Tension, my new book on how to get better at conflict that will be published........

© The Age