Introduction to Negotiation | SkillsYouNeed

Negotiation is a method by which people settle differences. It is a process by which compromise or agreement is reached while avoiding argument and dispute. INTERPERSONALSKILLS NegotiationandPersuasionSkills WhatisNegotiation? SearchSkillsYouNeed: InterpersonalSkills: SubscribetoourFREEnewsletterandstartimprovingyourlifeinjust5minutesaday. Subscribe You'llgetour5free'OneMinuteLifeSkills'andourweeklynewsletter. We'llnevershareyouremailaddressandyoucanunsubscribeatanytime. WhatisNegotiation? Seealso:TransactionalAnalysis Negotiationisamethodbywhichpeoplesettledifferences. Itisaprocessbywhichcompromiseoragreementisreachedwhileavoidingargumentanddispute. Inanydisagreement,individualsunderstandablyaimtoachievethebestpossibleoutcomefortheirposition(orperhapsanorganisationtheyrepresent). However,theprinciplesoffairness,seekingmutualbenefitandmaintainingarelationshiparethekeystoasuccessfuloutcome. Specificformsofnegotiationareusedinmanysituations:internationalaffairs,thelegalsystem,government,industrialdisputesordomesticrelationshipsasexamples.However,generalnegotiationskillscanbelearnedandappliedinawiderangeofactivities. Negotiationskillscanbeofgreatbenefitinresolvinganydifferencesthatarisebetweenyouandothers. StagesofNegotiation Inordertoachieveadesirableoutcome,itmaybeusefultofollowastructuredapproachtonegotiation.Forexample,inaworksituationameetingmayneedtobearrangedinwhichallpartiesinvolvedcancometogether. Theprocessofnegotiationincludesthefollowingstages: Preparation Discussion Clarificationofgoals NegotiatetowardsaWin-Winoutcome Agreement Implementationofacourseofaction 1.Preparation Beforeanynegotiationtakesplace,adecisionneedstobetakenastowhenandwhereameetingwilltakeplacetodiscusstheproblemandwhowillattend. Settingalimitedtime-scalecanalsobehelpfultopreventthedisagreementcontinuing. Thisstageinvolvesensuringallthepertinentfactsofthesituationareknowninordertoclarifyyourownposition. Intheworkexampleabove,thiswouldincludeknowingthe‘rules’ofyourorganisation,towhomhelpisgiven,whenhelpisnotfeltappropriateandthegroundsforsuchrefusals. Yourorganisationmaywellhavepoliciestowhichyoucanreferinpreparationforthenegotiation. Undertakingpreparationbeforediscussingthedisagreementwillhelptoavoidfurtherconflictandunnecessarilywastingtimeduringthemeeting. 2.Discussion Duringthisstage,individualsormembersofeachsideputforwardthecaseastheyseeit,i.e.theirunderstandingofthesituation.  Keyskillsduringthisstageincludequestioning,listeningandclarifying. Sometimesitishelpfultotakenotesduringthediscussionstagetorecordallpointsputforwardincasethereisneedforfurtherclarification. Itisextremelyimportanttolisten,aswhendisagreementtakesplaceitiseasytomakethemistakeofsayingtoomuchandlisteningtoolittle. Eachsideshouldhaveanequalopportunitytopresenttheircase. 3.ClarifyingGoals Fromthediscussion,thegoals,interestsandviewpointsofbothsidesofthedisagreementneedtobeclarified.  Itishelpfultolistthesefactorsinorderofpriority. Throughthisclarificationitisoftenpossibletoidentifyorestablishsomecommonground.Clarificationisanessentialpartofthenegotiationprocess,withoutitmisunderstandingsarelikelytooccurwhichmaycauseproblemsandbarrierstoreachingabeneficialoutcome. 4.NegotiateTowardsaWin-WinOutcome Thisstagefocusesonwhatistermeda'win-win'outcomewherebothsidesfeeltheyhavegainedsomethingpositivethroughtheprocessofnegotiationandbothsidesfeeltheirpointofviewhasbeentakenintoconsideration.  Awin-winoutcomeisusuallythebestresult.Althoughthismaynotalwaysbepossible,throughnegotiation,itshouldbetheultimategoal. Suggestionsofalternativestrategiesandcompromisesneedtobeconsideredatthispoint. Compromisesareoftenpositivealternativeswhichcanoftenachievegreaterbenefitforallconcernedcomparedtoholdingtotheoriginalpositions. 5.Agreement Agreementcanbeachievedonceunderstandingofbothsides’viewpointsandinterestshavebeenconsidered.  Itisessentialtoforeverybodyinvolvedtokeepanopenmindinordertoachieveanacceptablesolution. Anyagreementneedstobemadeperfectlyclearsothatbothsidesknowwhathasbeendecided. 6. ImplementingaCourseofAction Fromtheagreement,acourseofactionhastobeimplementedtocarrythroughthedecision. Seeourpages:StrategicThinkingandActionPlanningformoreinformation. FailuretoAgree Iftheprocessofnegotiationbreaksdownandagreementcannotbereached,thenre-schedulingafurthermeetingiscalledfor. Thisavoidsallpartiesbecomingembroiledinheateddiscussionorargument,whichnotonlywastestimebutcanalsodamagefuturerelationships. Atthesubsequentmeeting,thestagesofnegotiationshouldberepeated. Anynewideasorinterestsshouldbetakenintoaccountandthesituationlookedatafresh. Atthisstageitmayalsobehelpfultolookatotheralternativesolutionsand/orbringinanotherpersontomediate. SeeourpageonMediationSkillsformoreinformation. InformalNegotiation Therearetimeswhenthereisaneedtonegotiatemoreinformally. Atsuchtimes,whenadifferenceofopinionarises,itmightnotbepossibleorappropriatetogothroughthestagessetoutaboveinaformalmanner.  Nevertheless,rememberingthekeypointsinthestagesofformalnegotiationmaybeveryhelpfulinavarietyofinformalsituations. Inanynegotiation,thefollowingthreeelementsareimportantandlikelytoaffecttheultimateoutcomeofthenegotiation: Attitudes Knowledge InterpersonalSkills Attitudes Allnegotiationisstronglyinfluencedbyunderlyingattitudestotheprocessitself,forexampleattitudestotheissuesandpersonalitiesinvolvedintheparticularcaseorattitudeslinkedtopersonalneedsforrecognition. Alwaysbeawarethat: Negotiationisnotanarenafortherealisationofindividualachievements. Therecanberesentmentoftheneedtonegotiatebythoseinauthority. Certainfeaturesofnegotiationmayinfluenceaperson’sbehaviour,forexamplesomepeoplemaybecomedefensive. Knowledge Themoreknowledgeyoupossessoftheissuesinquestion,thegreateryourparticipationintheprocessofnegotiation. Inotherwords,goodpreparationisessential. Doyourhomeworkandgatherasmuchinformationabouttheissuesasyoucan. Furthermore,thewayissuesarenegotiatedmustbeunderstoodasnegotiatingwillrequiredifferentmethodsindifferentsituations. InterpersonalSkills Goodinterpersonalskillsareessentialforeffectivenegotiations,bothinformalsituationsandinlessformalorone-to-onenegotiations. Theseskillsinclude: Effectiveverbalcommunication. Seeourpages:VerbalCommunicationandEffectiveSpeaking. Listening. Weprovidealotofadvicetohelpyouimproveyourlisteningskills,seeourpageActiveListening. Reducingmisunderstandingsisakeypartofeffectivenegotiation. Seeourpages:Reflection,ClarificationandTheLadderofInferenceformoreinformation. RapportBuilding. Buildstrongerworkingrelationshipsbasedonmutualrespect.Seeourpages:BuildingRapportandHowtobePolite. ProblemSolving. SeeoursectiononeffectiveProblemSolving. DecisionMaking. Learnsomesimpletechniquestohelpyoumakebetterdecisions,seeoursection:DecisionMaking. Assertiveness. Assertivenessisanessentialskillforsuccessfulnegotiation.Seeourpage:AssertivenessTechniquesformoreinformation. DealingwithDifficultSituations. Seeourpage:CommunicatinginDifficultSituationsforsometipsandadvicetomakedifficultcommunications,easier. FurtherReadingfromSkillsYouNeed ConflictResolutionandMediation Learnmoreabouthowtoeffectivelyresolveconflictandmediatepersonalrelationshipsathome,atworkandsocially. OureBooksareidealforanyonewhowantstolearnaboutordeveloptheirinterpersonalskillsandarefullofeasy-to-follow,practicalinformation. Continueto: NegotiationinAction PersuasionandInfluencingSkills Seealso: TransactionalAnalysis Assertiveness|PeerNegotiationSkills 7TipsforNegotiatingaBetterSalary TopEmotionalSalesNegotiationTacticsYouNeedtoKnow     TOP