Negotiation is a part of life. People negotiate daily either for individual purposes or for business purposes. But when negotiating for business purpose, which is a very complicated process, one needs to have knowledge and skill of handling such negotiations.
Negotiation is the process whereby interested parties resolve disputes; agree upon courses of action, bargain for individual or collective advantage, and/or attempt to craft outcomes, which serve their mutual interests. It is usually regarded as a form of alternative dispute resolution. Negotiations happen in everyday life. Both individuals and business do contain negotiations in the everyday life and everyday business.
For any negotiation to be successful one has to look into the facts like the purpose of negotiation, persons with whom one is negotiating and the relationship, being unbiased, pursue fairness, best alternative to the negotiated agreement, making the point very clear, the process and method of negotiation should be easy without any complications, if necessary consider expert help too.
Another important factor for negotiation will be to listen to the other parties; active listening helps to understand the negotiating party well and should maintain silence when the other party is negotiating. The negotiation should end with a solution or agreement between the parties, which is acceptable for all the parties.
Major Elements of Negotiation Preparation
Success in negotiation, like other things in life, does not just happen. A good deal of preparation is necessary to ensure that your endeavors are successful. Being well-prepared breeds confidence and a confident manner can always give you an edge in any communication process. Preparation involves several activities
Understand the People Involved
It is important to know something about the people with whom we must negotiate and the organization they represent. What are their roles, their objectives? What problems will they raise? Are they in a position to make a difference or will they have to consult someone else?
The answers to these questions will help you to better handle the issues that come up during the actual negotiation. How the other party sees you is important too. He is likely to respect you more if he perceives you as being professional, confident and as having the requisite authority to negotiate
Know Your Objectives
Having your objectives clearly in mind is very important. Identify the objectives; decide what the priorities are, what the variables are and what should be your attitude to each. The variables are the different factors involved in the negotiation – the raw material, so to speak, of negotiation.
To be well prepared you must know exactly how much you are willing to concede or compromise on each factor. You must also have ready all the arguments you may need to justify your point of view, particularly on those points which you want to win.
Conduct
Two factors that operate during the actual negotiation are the tactics of negotiation and the interpersonal behavior that accompanies them. Negotiation tactics hinge on the variables – some of which are conceded by us and some by the other party.
Variables that are traded are referred to as ‘concessions.’ Negotiation is in fact, the process of trading concessions. To negotiate skillfully you must have knowledge of all the variables and their possible use as concessions. As you start the process of negotiation bear in mind four important principles.
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