About/Contact Info I am a business consultant for a leading North American business and [+/-] technology services company and have an MBA specializing in management.
In business, good negotiation skills can give you an advantage over your competition, your suppliers, and of course even your customers. However, as confident as you may feel about your own negotiation skills, it is important to remember that negotiating across different cultures brings with it its own set of challenges and opportunities.
Author Jeswalde W. Salacuse has written an article for the Ivey Business Journal entitled "Negotiating: The top ten ways that culture can affect your negotiation." In it, Salacuse rightly suggests how negotiators from differing backgrounds may each interpret the negotiation process in different ways, and as a result, each participant may want to conduct things that may confuse or perhaps unwillingly even offend the other party.
The author offers some tips on which approach to take with respect to communication style and level of formality to apply. Some tips the author provides for cross-cultural negotiators are:
Not to rush the negotiating process;
Laying out the rules and negotiating framework before-hand so as to make the other side feel more at ease;
Being open to share information;
Building a foundation of trust and partnership; and,
Moving the deal forward in an incremental, step-by-step way, rather than all at once.
In negotiations, people assume different motivational styles in order to achieve their objectives out of the discussion. Three of the most common styles are: 1) the individualistic approach (seeking only to maximize your own goals without consideration for the other party); 2) the competitive apparoach (preferring to widen the gap between what you gain and what the other person loses); and, 3) the cooperative approach (seeking to reduce the difference between the outcomes of both parties).
It should come as no surprise that the cooperative approach is the one which will ultimately yield you the best results. This approach is a blend between a completely altruistic style (where you're giving away too much value!) and a style that is too competitive or individualistic.
When taking part in a negotiation try to keep the following things in mind. In doing so, you will improve your ability to achieve the results you are after, without jeopardizing your long-term business relationships.
Understand what your goals and objectives really are. Prepare notes and don't focus too much on an arbitrary bottom line that you've set for yourself.
Emphasize actual commitments with specific promises from the other party.
Know what your other options are. These are your alternatives should you not reach a deal right now.
Look for ways to add more value for everybody involved. This involves a bit of creativity in order to make the outcome better for you and your counterpart (who will therefore be more willing to agree to your proposal).
It is inevitable that there will be situations in the workplace where conflict or disagreements exist. In these situations, the two parties at odds with one another may also have some level of interdependence between them. If this interdependence provides an opportunity for the parties to gain in some way, and if there is a chance for some sort of agreement to be reached, then negotiations can used to reach a suitable agreement for both sides.
As a negotiator, there are several things to keep in mind when attempting to reach a suitable agreement. Keep in mind however, there is no single best way to negotiate; it is important to consider the context or environment in which you are negotiating, as well as which side has the greater bargaining power in the relationship.
With that, here are some suggestions on ways in which negotiation skills can be improved:
Be prepared to make small concessions and reciprocate any similar concessions made by the other side.
Focus on the negotiation issues and the contextual issues and not on the personal characteristics of your opponent.
Try to get past any repetitive points or counterarguments made by the other side to get to the real reason behind their position. By doing so, you will determine what is truly driving their position, and you may also determine their entire negotiating strategy.
If you have the advantage of possessing power in the negotiation, do not be afraid to use it. Make specific demands that must be met; be persuasive in these demands; and don't hesitate to make mild threats. Being in this position affords you the opportunity to negotiate in this way.
As mentioned previously, be conscious of the environment and the context within the negotiations are taking place. Realize that your opponent's behaviour and/or their power is affected by the fact that the environment is not exactly harmonious at the moment.
Ultimately, you are out to reach an agreement - one that satisfies your needs, and hopefully also the needs of the other side. Effective conflict resolution involves knowing your own personal style, which can either be: accommodating, collaborating, avoiding, or dominating.
Compromising is an approach that combines each of these four styles and involves finding an acceptable middle-ground so that everyone feels as though a suitable agreement has been reached. The compromising approach can therefore be very effective in reaching long-term positive outcomes following negotiations. Do you know which style you use?
Loading