Melissa Davies is a negotiation expert, professional trainer and coach based in Geneva, Switzerland. She is the founder of negoservices Sàrl and has over 25 years' experience in negotiating agreements and building lasting partnerships around the world. She leads workshops in negotiation skills and conflict management for businesses, universities, research institutes and not-for-profit organizations, and is a visiting lecturer at Geneva School of Business Administration, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland.
"""In this book Melissa provides the necessary toolbox for having the right mindset and a structured approach to long-lasting negotiations."" * Arnaud Chivard, Head of Engineering Performance Management and Improvement, Airbus Defence and Space * ""This book represents the distillate of many years of professional negotiation experience - it simply works."" * Dr. Jochen Rink, Director, Department of Tissue Dynamics and Regeneration, Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry * ""A must-read book that offers a blueprint for handling conflicts, negotiating partnerships and concluding lasting agreements. It provides practical guidance and uses engaging stories. As a professional with an impressive track record in successful negotiations, Melissa Davies expertly introduces her solution-focused approach. She offers a five-step guide to lasting agreements, enlivened by 'real-life' examples from business, politics and humanitarian action. A compelling, highly accessible and timely book that will change your negotiation mindset and skills."""" * Frédéric Varone, Professor of Political Science, University of Geneva * ""The Practical Negotiation Handbook offers a fresh take on negotiations. Melissa Davies emphasizes a constructive and collaborative approach aimed at building long-term partnerships. The book offers extremely practical, easy-to-implement advice on getting what you want from a negotiation. She focusses on hard skills and tactics - as you would expect from a book on negotiations - but also helps to develop the soft skills needed to land a good deal and build a long-term relationship at the same time."""" * Lynda Mansson, Director General, MAVA Foundation * """"Caution! This book could fundamentally change how you think about negotiation. Taking advantage of her extensive experience in partnerships building, Melissa Davies gives us a thorough and handy guide to bringing out the best in our negotiations and achieving sustainable collaborations. You will find this book fascinating, and your counterpart will be delighted that you have read it. I loved Melissa's very simple and rigorous approach. It was interesting to put it in perspective with what we teach at university: both we (based on scientific studies) and Melissa (based on her experience) arrive at very similar conclusions. Does this mean that for once theory and practice meet?"""" * Lisa Faessler, Ph.D. candidate in Management and assistant for Negotiation classes, University of Lausanne * ""Incredibly helpful! The Practical Negotiation Handbook is indeed what the title says, providing a very useful and elegant five step model for 'solution focused negotiation.' It describes in practical detail a process where each negotiating party explores the conditions under which they could say yes to the other party's request. There are plenty of gems here - online negotiations, non-violent communication, mindset, non-cognitive skills, multicultural negotiation. And a really insightful chapter on gender and negotiation including gender backlash and the influence of race and culture on gender, further developed out with the author's own experience as a negotiator over 25 years. Many thanks, Melissa!"""" * ny thanks, Melissa!"" Tim Newton, Sustainability Manager, Solution Focused Practitioner, UKASFP * ""I've been applying Melissa's life-changing approach to negotiation on work and personal projects, and it has done wonders to establish the best outcome in any situation. I would recommend this read to all my friends and co-workers."" * Sandra Pichon, Engineering Director, Nagravision * ""I consider negotiation a key survival skill that can be learned and practiced continuously to achieve more in life and at work, now and in the future. Melissa's book is very easy to read and I agree with her that ""the best indicator of a successful negotiation is its sustainability"". Melissa establishes interesting links with the solution focused coaching methodology and explores some original angles, like gender diversity or the challenges related to remote communication in critical conversations. Enjoy the read!"" * Dr Ofra Hazanov, Head of Talent & Development, EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne) * ""A systemic view of negotiation with clear procedures and helpful examples. I can now prepare myself for negotiations in a completely different way and I know to respond much better to my counterpart."" * Dr Caroline Biewer, Team lead HR development and training, Helsana * ""Very good read. I particularly like that the author clearly distinguishes between negotiations and other means of reaching a solution, and discusses under which circumstance either have their justification."" * Gerlind Wallon, Deputy Director, EMBO * ""This practical handbook will become your best partner for preparing and conducting important negotiations."" * Arnaud Chivard, Head of Engineering Performance Management and Improvement, Airbus Defence and Space *"