Develop Your Negotiation Skills

By Jayaram V

This article is incomplete. To read the complete article you may purchase the book Think Success now available in two volumes

Negotiation is a process, whereby we try to resolve differences of opinion or conflicting interests. Knowingly or unknowingly, we negotiate almost every day, with our friends, family members, colleagues, superiors, business partners, neighbors, government, businesses, strangers and sometimes even with ourselves.

Your constitution is a negotiated document. So is the paper you sign, when you accept an offer of employment or the services of a professional or a business establishment.

We use negotiation to achieve our goals, realize our expectations, protect our interests, work out a compromise or simply avoid trouble with others. Sometime we negotiate on behalf of others to resolve their problems.

Negotiation is a decision making or problem solving process, involving two or more parties, who are in a state of conflict with each other because of opposing interests, concerns, values, beliefs, emotions, justifications and expectations, the resolution or irresolution of which would weigh heavily upon their future and their well being. In simple terms, negotiation is a kind of conflict resolution or a settlement process, in which the parties to the negotiation try to achieve their respective goals by various means, using effective communication and strategy.

From a negotiator's point of view, negotiation is a balancing act, in which emotions need to be managed, conflicting ideas and interests need to be prioritized, solutions need to be found and expectations need to be tempered, before the parties concerned arrive at an acceptable solution. The almost impossible task of people involved in a negotiation process is how to maximize gains and minimize losses for one or more parties, with minimum friction, so that in the end everyone feels comfortable with what has been agreed upon.

PHASES OF NEGOTIATION PROCESS

All negotiations do not happen alike, as each negotiation has a character of its own, depending upon the people involved and what is at stake. However, broadly speaking, many negotiations confirm to a definite pattern and pass through the following four phases, namely, perception, preparation, resolution and post resolution.

The following portrayal of each phase is especially true in case of business or political negotiations, which take place between organizations, managements and unions, political parties and government bodies. Whether we negotiate rationally or emotionally, most negotiations confirm to this basic pattern...