Negotiation – Text
Check unknown vocabulary before you read the text:
to resolve – come to a definite or earnest decision about; determine (to do something)
to overpower – defeat or make helpless or captive by a greater strength
damaging – causing or capable of causing damages; harmful; injurious
subsequent – following in order
to give in – stop fighting and admit defeat; yield
circumstances – a condition (time, place etc) connected with an event
at stake – in danger of being lost, as something that has been wagered; critically involved.
honesty – the quality or fact of being honest; uprightness and fairness; truthfulness; sincerity
worthwhile – deserving attention, time and effort etc
consequence – the effect, result, or outcome of something occurring earlier
to maintain – keep in existence or continuance; preserve
mutual(ly) – common to, or shared by, two or more
to give way – withdraw or retreat; yield to
Team Negotiation Skills
Negotiation skills help you to resolve situations where what you want conflicts with someone else’s interests. There are wrong ways of handling these situations: With an aggressive approach, you could seek to overpower the other person to give what you want. This is clearly damaging to subsequent teamwork. With a passive approach, you could simply give in to the other person’s wishes. This is clearly not good for you.
The aim of negotiation is to explore the situation, and to find a solution that is acceptable to both people.
There are different styles of negotiation, depending on circumstances. Where you do not expect to deal with people ever again, and you do not need their goodwill, it may be appropriate to play hardball. Here you may seek to win a negotiation, while the other person loses out. Many people go through this when they buy or sell a house, which is why house buying can be such a confrontational and unpleasant experience.
Similarly, where there is a great deal at stake in a negotiation (for example, in large sales negotiations), then it may be appropriate to prepare in detail, and use gamesmanship to gain advantage.
These approaches are usually wrong for resolving disputes within a team. If one person plays hardball, then this puts the other person at a disadvantage. Similarly, using tricks and manipulation during a negotiation can severely undermine trust, damaging subsequent teamwork. While a manipulative person may not get caught if negotiation is infrequent, this is not the case when people work together on a day-by-day basis. Honesty and openness are the best policies in team-based negotiation.
Preparing for a successful negotiation
If a major disagreement needs to be resolved, preparing well is worthwhile. Think through the following points before you start negotiating:
· Goals: What do you want to get out of the negotiation? What do you expect the other person to want?
· Trading: What do you and the other person have that you can trade? What do you and the other person have that the other might want? What might you each be prepared to give away?
· Alternatives: If you don’t reach agreement with him or her, what alternatives do you have? Are these good or bad alternatives? How much does it matter if you do not reach agreement? Does failure to reach an agreement cut you out of future opportunities? What alternatives might the other person have?
· The relationship: What is the history of the relationship? Could or should this history impact the negotiation? Will there be any hidden issues that may influence the negotiation? How will you handle these?
· Expected outcomes: What outcome will people be expecting from this negotiation? What has the outcome been in the past, and what precedents have been set?
· The consequences: What are the consequences for you of winning or losing this negotiation? What are the consequences for the other person?
· Power: Who has what power in the relationship? Who controls resources? Who stands to lose the most if agreement isn’t reached? What power does the other person have to deliver what you hope for?
· Possible solutions: Based on all of the considerations, what possible compromises might there be?
The best approach for negotiation within a team is to adopt a win-win approach, i.e. one in which both parties feel positive about the situation when the negotiation is concluded. This helps to maintain a positive working relationship afterwards.
This governs the style of the negotiation. Displays of emotion are clearly inappropriate because they undermine the rational basis of the negotiation and bring a manipulative aspect to it.
The negotiation itself is a careful exploration of your position and the other person’s position, with the goal of finding a mutuallyacceptable compromise that gives you both as much of what you want as possible. Note that the other person may quite often have very different goals from the ones you expect!
In an ideal situation, you will find that the other person wants what you are prepared to give, and that you are prepared to give what the other person wants.
If this is not the case, and one person must give way, then it is fair for this person to try to negotiate some form of compensation for doing so. The scale of this compensation will often depend on many of the factors we discussed above. In the end, both sides should feel comfortable with the final solution if the agreement is to truly be considered a win-win agreement.