Leveraging Tactical Empathy for Effective Managerial Negotiation: A Role-Play Exercise

This experiential exercise expands the traditional negotiation framework ( Getting to Yes/Harvard Negotiation Project ) with active listening, tactical empathy, and revelatory insights, integrating the constructs of emotional intelligence, perspective-taking, and rapport-building. As such, negotiation is framed as an act of discovery: uncovering what the other party truly wants requires creating an environment in which they feel safe to reveal authentic interests. Practical techniques include listening intently, employing mirroring, labeling emotions, eliciting “That’s right” responses, and asking calibrated “what” or “how” questions. Two variations of this role-play exercise – a vendor contract negotiation and a terms of employment new hire negotiation – offer opportunities for undergraduate or graduate students to practice important negotiation and interpersonal communication skills.