Negotiation, or bargaining, is a type of discussion that is used to resolve disputes and reach a mutual agreement between two or more parties. Negotiations often result in a kind of settlement, whereby each party makes some concessions in favor of the other relevant parties. Negotiations often occur in work environments between colleagues, departments, or between an employee and a boss. As for their topics, they are usually about the terms of the various contracts, timetables for project delivery, or the value of compensation and fees paid from one party to another.
Thus, negotiation is one of the most common and important professional aspects, and you must understand its mechanism of action, its types, and how to improve and develop it, as we will cover all these aspects in today’s article.
What are negotiation skills?
Negotiation skills are a set of attributes that enable two or more parties to reach a settlement over a dispute. Negotiation skills often include a combination of soft skills and abilities, such as:
- Communication.
- Persuasion.
- Planning.
- Strategic thinking.
- Teamwork and cooperation
Understanding these skills is the first step to becoming a better negotiator. However, it should be noted that the type of negotiation skills you will need will vary depending on the situation, the surrounding environment, and the parties involved. However, we can summarize the most important of these skills, which apply to most situations, as follows:
1- Effective communication skills
Effective communication skills include the ability to identify and understand nonverbal cues from others as well as express yourself in an engaging, interactive manner. It is also important to be able to understand the logical and natural flow of different dialogues and to seek feedback. Not only that, listening skills are also an important part of the effective communication process that avoids misunderstandings and helps you reach the desired settlements.
2- Persuasion skills
The ability to influence others is undoubtedly an important and necessary skill in the negotiation process. It helps you explain why your proposal is the best solution for all parties and thus win their support.
3- Planning
In order to reach an agreement that satisfies everyone, it is important to be able to consider the long-term consequences for all parties.
Hence the importance of having planning skills, as in addition to their great impact on the negotiation process, they are also a key factor in defining the terms of agreements and contracts and clarifying their workflow.
4- Strategic thinking
The best negotiators enter their discussions and negotiations with at least one Plan B and usually more than that. They possess strategic thinking skills that allow them to consider all possible outcomes and all possible scenarios.
Types of bargaining
Most negotiation outcomes fall into one of the following two categories:
- A win-win outcome, or “win-win,”
- A win-win outcome for one party and a loser for another, or “win-lose”
In addition, there are also several forms of negotiation that may hinder you during the different stages of your practical or personal life. Therefore, you must understand each of them in order to be able to determine the necessary skills that you must develop in order to succeed in the art of negotiation. Here are 5 forms or types of bargaining:
1- Distributive Negotiations
It is also called distributive bargaining. This type of negotiation occurs when each of the negotiating parties has a limited amount of resources, and each party believes that if it loses something in the negotiation process, the other party will undoubtedly gain something in return.
Thus, instead of both parties seeking to reach a common agreement based on their interests and needs, each tries to obtain more benefits from the other. Example:
A customer may feel that if the supplier does not reduce the price of a service, he will have to pay too much. At the same time, the service provider believes that if he lowers the price, he will lose money.
2- Integrative negotiation
Negotiation is also known as “win-win” negotiation.Because this type of negotiation makes everyone benefit from the agreement, Both parties must receive a certain value in order to reach an integrative negotiation.The integrative negotiation process usually takes longer than others because it is necessary for both parties to feel fully satisfied before reaching any agreement. Example:
If a customer is convinced that the service provider should reduce the price to $800 and the provider is convinced that it should maintain its service price of $1,000, the two parties can negotiate and agree on a price of $900 for the service. Thus, both parties will earn $100.
3- Management negotiation
Administrative negotiations with management may be a cause for anxiety and stress. Employees may sometimes feel uncomfortable sharing their wants and needs with someone superior to them. However, this type of negotiation will come up a lot during the job search process or the recruitment process. You may need to negotiate your salary, benefits, or job responsibilities. All of these things directly affect how satisfied you are with the job.
Not only that, negotiating such matters may be an appropriate opportunity to show your negotiation skills to your future boss. You may also need to negotiate with management regarding your current job title when you are being evaluated, when your employment contract is renewed, or when a raise is requested.
4- Co-worker negotiation
Depending on the nature of your work, you may sometimes need to negotiate with your co-workers, as many jobs require teamwork skills. Unless you have enough negotiation skills, you may face an imbalance in the distribution of work. You may also sometimes have to negotiate with colleagues when resolving differences and conflicts at work.
5- Vendor negotiation
Some employees need to deal occasionally with external vendors or service providers, and many times the performance of these employees is affected by their ability to negotiate. Therefore, they must hone and develop their skills because they greatly affect their professional relationships and career success in general.
How do you develop your negotiation skills?
After you got acquainted with the concept of negotiation and the most important skills associated with it, and after you got acquainted with the different types of negotiations, there is no doubt that you are now wondering how to acquire and enhance this skill. Here are nine ways and tips to help you:
1- Determine your ultimate goal.
What are the minimum requirements that you need? How ready are you to negotiate? And what value do you find in being able to negotiate? It is extremely important that you enter the negotiation knowing exactly what you want from the agreement and knowing what you are willing to sacrifice. For example, if you are negotiating a salary, your primary goal may be $1,000 per month, but you are still willing to negotiate $850 per month.
2- Practice building relationships and connections.
A successful negotiation requires you to not only communicate your goals and expectations effectively but also to understand the needs and wants of the other party. For this reason, and in order to reach an agreement that satisfies everyone, it is necessary to build positive bonds and relationships with others.
This will help you relieve stress and reach a proper agreement faster. The first step to building relationships and bonds is to show respect for the other parties and to use active listening skills during the negotiation process.
3- Be prepared for some compromises.
Without compromises, reaching a common agreement will be almost impossible. So be sure to prepare early. In this case, you will have a general idea of what aspects you can sacrifice, as well as those that, if not provided and agreed to, you will withdraw from the whole deal.
4. Consider imposing some time constraints.
Setting a specific time frame for negotiations will encourage all parties to work hard to reach an appropriate agreement. And if an agreement is not reached at that time, all negotiating parties can reassess their needs and return to the negotiating table. But make sure that your negotiations are not open-ended without a time frame, or they will drag on forever!
5- Adopt the principle of multiple presentations.
When you present different offers or possibilities, you can save a lot of time during the negotiation process and increase the chance that one of the options you put forward will be approved.
And in the event that the other party rejects your suggestions, you can simply ask him to provide his feedback on these suggestions, and then you amend and review the terms of each of them to reach an agreement that satisfies everyone.
6- Be confident in yourself.
Expressing your desires during negotiations can be challenging. But successful negotiation requires you to show enough confidence in yourself and what you offer the other party.
Be sure to boost your self-confidence, whether through body language, your speaking style, your tone of voice, etc. All of these are factors that make other parties more inclined to accept your offer and believe in the benefits you offer them.
7-Don’t take rejection personally.
Sometimes the goals and needs of each side are so different from each other that it is impossible to reach a settlement.
If that happens and the deal doesn’t work out, don’t take it personally. Think about the reasons that led to the failure of this negotiation, and try to find better alternatives that you can use in the future.
8- Know your weaknesses and treat them.
Take your time to identify your weaknesses and focus on addressing them. You may find that you need to develop your ability to build connections and relationships during negotiation or that you need to enhance your persuasion and influence skills. Understanding your weaknesses is the first step to overcoming them and thus taking your negotiation skills to the next level.
9- Practice and practice negotiation
One of the best ways to enhance your negotiation skills and feel comfortable during negotiations is through regular training. Try practicing a mock negotiation with a friend or colleague. Or, better yet, try to engage in real negotiations in your daily life.
Make sure you don’t have much to lose in these negotiations. The goal here is to practice, not to win. You will most likely lose in the beginning, so avoid entering into negotiations in which you will lose a lot of money.Start with small steps and develop little by little.
How do you prepare for negotiation?
Whether you are preparing for a salary negotiation or about to negotiate an important deal, preparation is the key to success in negotiations. When preparing for negotiations, be sure to identify the following:
- What do you want to earn?
- What do you feel you are willing to sacrifice or lose?
- What terms do you refuse to accept?
- Objections you may encounter.
- All possible outputs.
By reviewing these matters before the negotiation date, you will most likely not encounter any unexpected situations, and your performance will undoubtedly be better. In addition, you can do the following during the negotiation preparation process:
1- Do the necessary research.
Before entering into any negotiation, evaluate all parties and keep their objectives in mind. For example, if you are in the final stages of the recruitment process, there is no doubt that you will soon be negotiating about the salary that you will receive when you get the job.
The boss undoubtedly wants to hire someone who can complete the responsibilities of the job for an appropriate fee, while you want to serve the company with your experience and knowledge in return for what you see as a competitive and fair salary. Try to research the person you are going to negotiate with. Learn about its limitations. Does he have the power to give you what you want? Perhaps he is restricted by a budget set by the company’s accounting department, which makes it difficult for him to give you the salary you want!
Understanding these determinants will greatly help you to develop an appropriate negotiation strategy that guarantees the satisfaction of all parties.
2- Set your priorities.
As we have already explained, negotiations often require some concessions on both sides. In order not to end up compromising on things that are important to you, always make sure to set your priorities well in advance of the negotiation date. Write a list of the most important matters (contract clauses, conditions, demands, etc.) that you cannot give up at any cost and keep it in front of you during the negotiation process.
3- Think about the opposition you may face.
Consider all of the possible objections you may face during your negotiation.Do you think, for example, that your manager will refuse to give you a salary increase because the sales value of the company has declined? Or could your application be rejected because the value is higher than a reasonable normal range?
Write down all the possibilities and responses that might challenge your claims, and then gather appropriate information that you can use to respond to those objections and defend your case.
4- Select the best alternative for you.
Understanding the best alternatives to a negotiation process, or BATNA (short for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement), is one of the most important steps in the negotiation preparation process and an important factor in enhancing your negotiating skills. Always have an alternative plan that you can resort to in the event that the offer you made during the negotiation is rejected. You can, for example, decide that if your request for a salary increase is rejected, you can, in this case, ask for more vacations or facilities regarding deadlines for handing over tasks, etc. By adhering to the previous advice, whether during the negotiation or during the negotiation preparation stage, you will find that your negotiating skills are constantly improving, but you should always bear in mind the need to adjust these skills according to the situation in front of you. How is that?
Well, sometimes you may need to negotiate over the phone or through e-mail, which may prevent you from reading the body language of the other party and benefiting from it to know the extent of his interest in your offer or if he is about to accept the deal or not. Here, you can rely on other indicators to evaluate the progress of the negotiation or suggest doing it using videoconferencing technology or some other solution. But there is no doubt that your negotiation skills will guarantee you a great development in your career and even in your personal life. So make an ongoing effort to develop and improve it.
Read also: How to arrange your priorities intelligently?
