What is Negotiation?
“The most difficult thing in any negotiation, almost, is making sure that you strip it of the emotion and deal with the facts.” – Howard Baker
Negotiation, in simple terms, is having strategic discussions with the aim of coming to an agreement acceptable to both sides in the discussion. This happens, usually, after an initial tabling of ideas where a concrete decision has not been reached. Negotiation occurs at different levels – among individuals, employers, prospective employees, and among nations, to mention a few. The art of negotiation is a key skill one needs to hone in order to maximize the outcomes of negotiation in any area of life, and even more so in the business world.
“Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.” – John F. Kennedy
Great negotiation skills have everything to do with good communication skills, which include active listening, putting forward ideas in an easy-to-understand manner, and allowing the other side put forward their views also. Enveloping all these and more with professionalism is the icing on the cake. Since effective communication forms a huge part of negotiation, care should be taken to execute it to the best of our abilities.
“If you come to a negotiation table saying you have the final truth, that you know nothing but the truth and that is final, you will get nothing.” – Harri Holkeri
Negotiating Right
A few guiding nuggets include, but are not limited to, the following:-
The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today — H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
- Prepare adequately to represent your organization well – You do this by being as thorough as possible with researching your organization’s stance and expectations. Brainstorm with your team to come up with possible counter-arguments from the other side and prepare how to respond and play your cards. If possible, write down your points to avoid the unpleasant situation where you forget to table some of these points.
- Approach discussions with an open mind – Generally being open-minded, is a better approach, than coming to the table with a rigid mindset. One may be surprised to walk off with an even better deal than expected when this attitude is at play.
An open mind allows you to:
- Re-organize/ re-structure your thoughts as you take in other paradigms of thinking about issues.
- See things from a somewhat different perspective so that a more holistic approach to resolving matters or making decisions is used.
- Build a workable rapport with people on the other side of the table. Joseph Joubert gave fantastic advice when he asserted, “Never cut what you can untie”.
“The most dangerous negotiation is the one you don’t know you are in” – Christopher Voss
- Ask questions – Ask as many questions as you possibly can to gain clarity. Never assume in a negotiation set-up. Assumptions could lead to unforeseen losses. Making use of good questions, you can probe the sources of information you are receiving from the other side and clear any confusion you may have. Asking questions also shows a level of interest in what is going on.
- Persevere – Persevering until the end of a negotiation process pays off especially when both parties are able to come to an agreeable conclusion. Huge doses of patience usually accompany perseverance.
“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did” – Newt Gingrich
Increasingly, one of the skills organizations look out for in a skill set is strong negotiation skills. Almost every department, not only the sales department, benefits immensely from having strong negotiation skills. Arguably, many things in life involve negotiation. So, one may want to develop and/or improve upon this area.
“Everything is a negotiation. Everything is a little bit of give and take.” – Lamman Rucker
Conclusion Remember that, “Successful negotiation is not about getting to ‘yes’; it’s about mastering ‘no’ and understanding what the path to that agreement is.” – Christopher Voss and as Luke Roberts also says, “Conflict is good in a negotiation process… it’s the clash of two ideas, which then, all being well, produces a third idea.”
Freda Abah-Dakou
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