PRESENTED BY GERALDINE JANUARY Negotiation & Effective Communication in Business

Why we negotiate The reason you negotiate is to produce something better than the results you can obtain without negotiating. What are those results? What is that alternative? What is your BATNA -- your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement? That is the standard against which any proposed agreement should be measured." -- Roger Fisher and William Ury

Effective Communication Accurate, complete shared meaning  What the sender means is what the receiver understands Supportive  The relationship is enhanced through communication Achieves the sender’s objectives  Interests are successfully communicated

Obstacles to Effective Communication Frames of Reference  People think about things differently Semantics  Words mean different things to different people Value Judgments  People have different values towards things said

The more annoying… Obstacles to Effective Communication Selective Listening  Tendency to hear what you want to hear, or expect to hear Filtering  Withholding certain information Distrust  Doubt the person’s honesty or reliability  Make people comfortable – make it a win-win situation Defensiveness  Very anxious to challenge or avoid criticism  If you challenge criticism, the receiver will go back to selective listening

Generating Support vs. Defensiveness SupportiveDefense Provoking Problem OrientedPerson Oriented CongruentIncongruent DescriptiveEvaluative ValidatingInvalidating ConjunctiveDisjunctive SpecificGlobal OwnedDisowned ListeningTalking

Supportive Communication Principles Problem-oriented  Change the problem and issues, not the person and their characteristics Congruent  Verbal statements match your thoughts and feelings Descriptive  What occurred without judging the person Validating  Communicate respect, flexibility, collaboration and areas of agreement

Supportive Communication Principles Conjunctive  Statements relating to what was previously said to facilitate interaction Specific  Specific events of behaviors Owned  Use “I” words, take responsibility for your statements Listening  Use probing and reflecting responses to encourage 2-way communication

Managerial Communications Coaching  Giving advice, direction or information to improve performance  “I can help you do something better” Counseling  Helping someone understand and resolve a problem him/herself by displaying understanding  “I can help you recognize that a problem exists”

Response Types Directive  Useful when coaching Non-directive  Useful when counseling Closed  Useful at later stages Open  Useful at earlier stages

Distinction between Mood & Emotion Specificity Intensity Duration

PRESENTED BY GERALDINE JANUARY Negotiations in Business

Conflict Management Styles Considerations Considerations Affecting Negotiation Strategy  Importance of Issues  Importance of Relationship  Relative Power  Time Urgency

Negotiation Strategies Compromise  Generally inappropriate as an initial strategy  Requires giving up part of what is wanted Win-Lose (Forcing)  Issue is important  Relationship is unimportant  Relative power is high  Time urgency is high Accommodation  Issue is unimportant  Relationship is important  Relative power is low

Negotiation Strategies Avoiding  Issue is unimportant  Relationship is unimportant  Relative power is low to high  Time urgency is low to high Win-Win (Collaborating)  Issue is important  Relationship is important  Relative power anywhere from low to high  Time urgency is low to moderate, not high

When to Use Conflict Management Techniques Avoiding  Small issue, limited time/resources Accommodating  Keeping harmony, using small favor to get larger one Forcing  Emergencies, when only one right way exists, prevent others from taking advantage Compromising  Late in conflict, when partial win is better than none for both parties Collaborating  For important issues when time is not a problem, where organizational support exists, when win-win solution is possible

Likely Outcomes for Conflict Approaches Forcing (Competing)  You feel vindicated, but the other party feels defeated Avoiding  Problems don’t get resolved Compromising  Participants seek convenient, not effective, solutions Accommodating  Other person can take advantage of you Collaborating  Problem likely to be resolved

How to Negotiate Using a Win-Win Strategy Take a Problem Solving Perspective  Not - “How do I get what I want?” or “What do I have to give up to reach an agreement?” Separate the Problem from the Person Determine Interests - Yours and Others Develop Alternatives

Separate the Problem from the Person Address relationships issues before substantive issues Understand and manage Perceptions, Emotions and Communications  PERCEPTIONS: “Walk in his shoes”  Determine how the other sees things  EMOTIONS: Recognize yours and others  Don’t make or react to emotional outbursts  Allow time to cool off  COMMUNICATION: Listen and reflect back  “If I understand correctly, you’re saying…”

Focus on Interests - Not Positions POSITIONS  One way to achieve your interests INTERESTS  Underlying objectives  Identifying Interests  Ask: Why do you want what you’re asking for?  Ask: What is it about what I’m seeking are you having difficulty with?  Ask: What is it you are really looking to achieve? (Not “what do you want?”)

Focus on Interests - Not Positions Clarify Your Interests  Be specific, clear and convincing  Have the other person feel they would want the same thing if they were in your situation Clarify Your Understanding of Their Interests Obtain Agreement on Interests, Issues, Problems Develop Options to Meet Interests of Both  Brainstorm alternatives  Separate idea generation from idea evaluation  How would experts from different areas see it  Examine areas where you agree and disagree  Make it easy for other to accept an alternative that meets both your needs

Is Conflict Good or Bad?

Dysfunctions of Conflict Competitive, win-lose goals Misperception and bias Emotionality Decreased communication Blurred issues Rigid commitments Magnified differences, minimized similarities Escalation of conflict

Negotiation Planning Guide Issues to be negotiatedYour strengths and weaknesses Principal interestsOther party’s strengths and weaknesses Relationship between partiesObjections and responses Other party’s interestsResponses to win-lose negotiating How to initiateAlternative ways to achieve objectives Preferred and minimally acceptable outcomes BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement)