Negotiation Strategies

a. What is negotiating?

·     Negotiating is the ability to construct common responses starting from different, similar, or the same interests.

·     It is dialogue. It is a type of discussion between parties aimed at reaching an agreement that is acceptable to everyone.

·     It is bringing about a new reality through an exchange among the parties.

Negotiation can occur when three conditions are met:

• There is a conflict of interest: The parties need to come to an agreement on managing and meeting their interests.
  
  In Daniel Dana’s book, Conflict Resolution, he says, “[d]on’t confuse conflict with indecision, disagreement…or other common experiences that may cause, or be caused by, conflict.” The word “conflict” is frequently used for situations that are not conflicts. It is therefore important for people to understand what a conflict is before saying there is one. Conflicts occur only between parties that need one another and that cannot simply give up their relationship without adverse effects; they need each other, and that is what drives the negotiation.
   

• There is ambiguity about the outcome: A given or future outcome with another party or parties is not precisely known. Negotiation and renegotiation are common for this reason; things are not always as clear as they appear, and the parties need to sit down together and review and spell out their interests; this motivates negotiation in which the parties must be willing to engage in an exchange and/or make concessions to close a deal or reach an agreement.
   

• Agreement is possible: The parties are willing to negotiate to reach an agreement. If not, negotiation simply is not possible.

In order to negotiate, then, the parties must have both the intent and commitment. Without those two variables, sitting down at the negotiating table is useless. Negotiations are therefore said to be successful if the parties:

• exceed their minimum points of agreement;
   

• are able to fulfill the agreement;
   

• meet most of their interests;
   

• remain in a position to repeat the experience.

It is therefore essential to detect, explore, and be assured of the openness to the agreement; normally, the negotiation talks and the environment leading up to them give clues as to the possibility of reaching an agreement, even in the midst of the necessary concessions.

c. A comprehensive approach to negotiation

A comprehensive approach to negotiation shows it to be a method for reaching an agreement in which there are both cooperating and competing elements. Cooperating elements are those points or items that have no major complications because the parties have the same interests; competing elements are those that can bog down the negotiations and can complicate an agreement because of the disparity in interests; greater creativity is needed to envisage options that are satisfactory to the parties.

Likewise, in a comprehensive approach, negotiating skill should not be confused with the ability to do business, be a dealer, or be a merchant, etc. Doing business involves being able to sniff out business opportunities; being a dealer takes the typical haggling approach to negotiating where the aim is to close the deal at hand without regard for the future or the relationship; and being a merchant simply involves being a salesperson.

Here it would be appropriate to clarify one of the initial reflections about whether negotiating and selling are the same thing. Negotiation does complement sales and business management very well when there is space or room for movement, negotiation or exchange; if this is not the case, what you have is a transactional sale in which a product is offered and the buyer decides whether or not to purchase it for the price given; in this take-it-or-leave-it situation, price and other considerations cannot be negotiated. 

Lastly, for a comprehensive view of negotiation it is fundamental to consider that the essence of negotiating is not to try to win or lose. The idea is to close a deal that is satisfactory for the two parties. Of course, one must strive to ensure that it is more satisfactory for him/her than for the other party. However, if one of the negotiators has all the aces up his/her sleeve and the other does not know it, then this is not a true negotiation, but simply an effort by the person with all the advantages to seek the maximum gain possible, without taking into account the wants or needs of the other party.

d. Why do we make reaching an agreement so complex?

As a rule, the process of reaching an agreement is not an easy one. Negotiation, by virtue of the fact that it is an eminently human process, is complex, creates stress, anxiety, frustration, joy, distrust, satisfaction, and power, among other feelings and emotions. For that reason, there are some common obstacles that hinder, delay, or stall the process. Some of these are as follows:

• Individual perspective in an interdependent discipline: People tend to take individualistic mental approaches in which their gain is someone else’s loss. We have been taught from a tender age that in order for someone to win, someone else has to lose. Negotiation, though, requires an understanding that collective approaches foster agreements and that a win/win approach does not necessarily mean the parties are equal, but that they are interdependent. In other words, I need someone else to get the result that I cannot achieve on my own.
   

• Emotions are not checked: As mentioned earlier, emotions weigh heavily in this process of reaching agreements, and if one fails to understand others’ emotions or does not control his/her own emotions, the outcome of the process can be impacted, or the process could fail or simply come to a standstill.
   

• Preconceptions and paradigms: These affect our behavior, through inferences or assumptions, and mire decisions and actions in the past, where decisions and negotiation are no longer possible. The past should help negotiators reach more rational agreements, not block agreements.
   

• Managing positions: The difficulty understanding someone else’s interests, without necessarily sacrificing your own, is the major dilemma and challenge for negotiators. Unfortunately, there is a major tendency to assume rigid positions as a way to manipulate the other party.
   

• Seeing negotiation as an instrumental discipline: In the professional field of negotiation, some view this as a purely technical and product knowledge-driven exercise, rather than as the honing of core soft skills that, ultimately, can impact the key factors of success in the outcome of a negotiation. For example, based on the premise that this is a DIALOGUE, poor, uncreative communication influences negotiations.

e. Importance of negotiation in modern-day administration and generally in all areas of personal and professional life

Understanding the role and impact of negotiations in personal, social, and business relationships is a mandatory aptitude, skill, or ability for achieving results in any scenario. It is interesting to observe in Stephen Covey’s book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, that three of the habits, to name just a few, are directly related to the ability to negotiate: Think win/win; Seek first to understand, then to be understood; and Synergize.

Let us examine how the habits are presented in a way that moves from the individual and personal arena, in order to achieve independence, to forging effective relationships with others, or what Covey calls “interdependence”:

From dependence to independence

• Be proactive (anticipate, plan)
   

• Have goals in mind (a mission and a vision)
   

• First things first (distinguish between was is urgent and was is important)

From independence to interdependence

• Win/win approach
   

• Seek first to understand, then to be understood
   

• Synergize
   

• Sharpen the saw (take care of yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually)

It is also interesting to consider the findings of the “Rome Club” intellectuals who met in Barcelona in 1996 to determine the skills necessary for 21st century leaders. Here again we see negotiating skill as a core competency in today’s world. Let us review, then, the skills they listed:

• Vision and capacity to globalize (manage integral, global, and local approaches);
   

• Coexistence with technology (accept, understand, use, know, coexist with, and add value to the various modern IT and technological tools);
   

• Ability to produce agreements and resolve differences through nontraditional mechanisms (skill in reaching agreements through constructive, creative dialogue).

Moreover the “management by competency” organizational model in which all human processes in an organization revolve around the skills needed to implement the mission and achieve the business’s vision, emphasizes competencies such as:

• Negotiating skills
   

• Conflict resolution
   

• Ability to reach agreements
   

• Teamwork
   

• Collective and synergetic approaches
   

• Openness to cooperation and service

These are key skills for efficient individual and group management and therefore are becoming mandatory for everyone who enters an organization.

The foregoing highlights how important it is for leaders to develop this competency, because of the direct, positive impact it has on organizations’ workgroups, actions, achievements, and management style.

These topics will be explored in depth in the “Negotiation Strategies” course being offered over the Internet from October 11 to November 20 by CITEL, the ITU, and the Colombian Association of Engineers (ACIEM). For more information, please contact [email protected].

Julio Hernando Rincón
Adviser to ACIEM for the
course "Negotiation Strategies".

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