Negotiation skills are not only important in the business sector, they are also important in our social lives perhaps for deciding a time to meet, or where to go on a rainy day, etc. It is usually considered as a compromise to settle an argument or an issue to benefit ourselves as much as possible.

Be as creative as possible

Brainstorming, listening to outlandish proposals and opening up to unanticipated possibilities make negotiation skills more effective. If we were to respond with new ideas and do the unexpected, this would open doors to far greater gains than when we behave predictably. Creativity can make just about everyone look good.

Be conscious

Consciousness of the difference between positions and interests is among the most important negotiation skills. Great negotiators are people who can figure out why they want something - and why the other party wants their outcome - that is what looking at interest is. These interests are what lasting agreements are made of. 

Always be fair

If the party you are negotiating with feel a process is fair, they're more likely to make real commitments. They are also less likely to walk away from the negotiations or agreement reached. To make sure there is fairness, sometimes the two teams are helped when a neutral, external authority or mediator.  

Listen actively

One of the bad negotiation skills is spending all of your listening time planning how to get back at the other party. This means when they finally stop talking, you have not heard them. It is a good negotiation skill to focus on what others say, both on their words and their underlying meaning because this will help you understand the interests upon which agreement can be based.

BATNA 

BATNA stands for the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement and it simply means that if you can improve things on your own, you don't need to negotiate. However, BATNA is not your bottom line and is only a measure of the relative value of negotiating a particular issue with a particular party, or whether you can fall back on a better alternative.

Commitment

Never make a commitment unless you can fulfill it - this is one of the most undervalued negotiation skills although it is important. You should note that commitment is not likely if one party feels that the process has not been fair.