What are Negotiation Skills?

It is the ability where two or more groups or individuals reach a common objective.

You must have the below mentioned Skills to Ace the Negotiation Skills:

• Communication

• Persuasion

• Planning

• Strategizing

Types of Negotiations:

Distributive Negotiation: This form of negotiation occurs when there is a limited amount of resources and each party assumes if they lose something, the other party will gain something.

Integrative Negotiation: An integrative negotiation occurs when everyone benefits from the agreement. Also termed as Win-Win.

Management Negotiation: This type of negotiation often comes during Hiring , Job Seeking and during working. Where you have to negotiate regarding Salary, Benefits and more with the management.

Co-worker Negotiation: Many job positions require close teamwork and without strong negotiation skills, you may face imbalances in work distribution.

4 Ps of Negotiation

1. Purpose:- Each negotiation has a specific purpose. Without aim, negotiations will lead to wastage of resources in terms of manpower, money and time. The purpose also may be further split into various sub-purposes.

2. Plan:- Plan will discuss the agenda on which the negotiation takes place. Even each step in the process of negotiation is planned.

3. Pace:- It should be kept in mind that people’s concentration drops rapidly after about twenty minutes.The negotiator should try to achieve agreement on points of the negotiations before their concentration diminishes. 

4. Personalities:- Negotiation process involves personalities. Two interest groups sit together to arrive at an agreement. Their personal characteristics like age, status, position, temperament, communication skill, experience in negotiation, etc. influence the whole process of negotiation.

Do’s and Don’ts of Negotiation

DO’S

• Be a silent listener of the other speaker’s argument

• Use searching questions to verify the correctness of factual information offered by the other party such as dates, figures, etc.

• Use adjournments during the discussion; it gives a chance to consider new points or proposals before the final commitments

• Use concession and compromise as it helps in moving the discussion toward the final outcome

• Summarize all that has been discussed and the final agreement reached. Use written summaries at the end of the discussion.

• Be hopeful, even in a situation of deadlock; remain positive of reaching a mutual agreement ultimately

DON’TS

• Do not state the whole case in the beginning; develop the case as the discussion proceeds

• Do not interrupt:- It may annoy the other person, instead of encouraging cooperation

• Avoid a confrontational tone during the negotiation to encourage cooperation throughout the discussion, as the strategy should be to allow the discussion to move towards agreement.

• Do not make personal criticisms; use impersonal terminology to point out corrections

• Do not allow the discussion to go on too long without bringing in concessions/compromises necessary for reaching an agreement

• In case of a deadlock, no further concessions should be made.

Qualities of a good Negotiator

• Patience

• Empathy

• Communication skills

• Self-confidence

• Mindfulness

• Strong competitive spirit

• Mastery of details

Phrases you can use while negotiating

Suggesting

Insisting/ Rejecting

Softening your position/ Comprising

Moving the discussion on

Summarising

Ending

Activity: Role Play- Negotiation

When: during session

How: under trainer’s guidance, read the following situations and plan how you will negotiate in the given scenario

Situations for Negotiation

Situation 1

A fellow employee, Lalit, has not been contributing equally to complete the normal weekly work at hand. Lalit claims he is contributing, but that he is swamped with other work and the emotional aftermath of a bitter divorce. Some fellow workers are upset that he has been so lax and feel that they should take their complaints about Lalit to the supervisor. You are good friends with Lalit and know he’s not lazy but feel that he may be overdramatizing his problems a bit. You brought up the topic with Lalit over coffee last night, but he was defensive and maintained his “innocence”…he even accused you of not sympathizing with him.

Question: What alternatives are there to the course of action your fellow employees want to take (filing a complaint with the supervisor)? How might your suggestions improve the situation without involving the administration or hurting Lalit’s professional reputation?

Situation 2

Your work group is composed of two women and five men. The two women have brought up a problem to the group: They feel that the men are dominating the group process and, more importantly, the decision making. Three of the five men tell you privately that the women are “taking advantage of being women” to gain power”. You know that the women are right and that they are following an ethical group process by bringing up the issue to the group, rather than running to the boss. You feel, however, that you might jeopardize your own reputation (and future with the company) by supporting them, especially since the corporation is dominated by men. One of the men in the group appears to be neutral, as far as you can tell.

Question: What are your possibilities?

Situation 3

Recently, you and three or four other members of your group have been increasingly aware of personal disagreements and unspoken resentments among the people with whom you work. There is no official procedure to handle such problems, and you realize that, not only is productivity (personal and collective) suffering, but that everyone appears to be unhappy in general with the declining working conditions these problems have created. 

You feel the same way and would like to do something to improve the situation.

Question: Considering the fact that these three or four other individuals are also aware of the problem, what can you do?

Situation 4

Ishitha has worked as the executive assistant to Meenu for ten years. Ishitha has worked overtime on many occasions when Meenu had special projects to complete. Meenu has not given Ishitha a raise in her salary for three years and Ishitha is thinking about looking for a new position which could pay her more money. Meenu is concerned about losing Ishitha to another employer but is worried that her own company has not made a profit in the last two years. Ishitha and Meenu sit down in the conference room to negotiate a possible raise in salary for Ishitha.

Question: Considering the situation of the company, should Ishitha be given a salary hike?

http://www.jmu.edu/ihot/interpersonal_communications_conflict_scenarios.html

Quiz

1) When people communicate to reach a solution, it is called?

a) Discussion

b) Termination

c) Negotiation

d) Conflict

2) Which of the following skills is not required for Negotiation?

a) Memorising

b) Planning

c) Persuasion

d) Communication

3) When people negotiate for salary or hike, this type of negotiation comes under which category?

a) Integrative Negotiation

b) Management Negotiation

c) Distributive Negotiation 

d) Co-worker Negotiation

4) Which of the following is not a part of 4P’s of Negotiation?

a) Purpose

b) Plan

c) Pace 

d) Product 

5) A good negotiator must be ________?

a) Collaborator

b) Communicator

c) Goal Oriented

d) All of the above