Becoming a Negotiator
Many people shy away from negotiation because they think it implies conflict. In fact, negotiation is what you make it. When undertaken with confidence and understanding, negotiation is a creative interpersonal process in which two parties collaborate to achieve superior results.
Seeing the benefits
When you become skilled in negotiation, you can create real value for your organization. Negotiation allows you, for example, to secure cost-effective and reliable flows of supplies, enhance the financial value of mergers and acquisitions, settle potentially damaging disputes with union leaders or government officials, or resolve internal conflict constructively. Negotiation is increasingly recognized as a core competency. Many companies develop their own methodologies and offer training and mentoring programs for negotiators.
Understanding the basics
Good negotiators are made rather than born. Although some may be naturally gifted and intuitive (possessing, for example, the ability to empathize with others), most have developed their principles and tactics over time and recognize that negotiating is a largely rational process.
To be a successful negotiator, you have to feel psychologically comfortable in the negotiation situation. This means being able to tolerate uncertainty, deal with unexpected behavior, take measured risks, and make decisions based on incomplete information. You need to think about solving problems and creating opportunities rather than winning or losing: if you are confrontational, you are likely to have a fight on your hands. And if you “win” there will necessarily be a loser, with whom you may have to work in the months to come.
Building a foundation
| Fast track | Off track |
|---|---|
| Keeping an open mind to learning new techniques | Believing that negotiating is an innate ability |
| Treating negotiation skills as a mixture of rationality and intuition | Negotiating from a fixed viewpoint |
| Developing trust slowly | Appearing too eager |
| Expressing empathy while negotiating assertively | Behaving assertively without expressing empathy |
| Having a strategy and sticking to it | Chasing haphazard opportunities |
TIP
Developing the skills needed to be a successful negotiator can take time, so be patient. Try to learn from every negotiation you undertake, both for your organization, and in your life outside work.