Abstract
Negotiations are common practices in people’s lives, whether in business or during personal matters. To know negotiation environments well is essential for using the best styles. The situation of being familiar with bargaining environments is called situational awareness. In most cases, people have a choice of negotiation approaches, and they become much more effective when there is a grasp of their surroundings. To understand a situation, it means much more than how individuals look physically. In other words, it means thinking thoroughly about a potential relationship with a party and getting the relevance of intended outcomes. Typically, the negotiation process is continual and not a single event. As such, functional consequences will result from the relationship built by the parties. Due to that, most people are on the look for opportunities to enhance relationships and develop their position. At some point, the result of bargaining is pre-determined before parties meet to discuss.
People negotiate great deals in life- more than they realize. Sometimes, agreements can go smoothly or, at other times, gets difficult. Negotiation is a complex process, and it takes factors like skills and experience to become a winning negotiator. In real-life situations, a person can come across a product like a CD player in a nearby shopping mall and instantly like it. Suppose the cost of the item is approximately $30, and the person does not have much cash left. He or she will have to engage in a negotiation given the fact that there is much interest in the item. In negotiating, the buyer will get what he or she wants without fear of misunderstandings. The purpose of this paper is to address approaches to negotiation.
Negotiation is a strategy of discussing issues among people and reaches a conclusion that will benefit everyone involved. Usually, this is one of the techniques used as the most effective way to avoid tensions or conflicts. When people do not agree with one another, they sit and discuss issues in an open platform. After negotiation, individuals come up with alternatives that satisfy all. Simply, negotiation is referred to as bargaining. In workplaces, mediation can take place between employees, co-workers, departments, or between a worker and an employer. Professionals can negotiate things like terms of a contract, project timeline, or compensation. As such, it implies that negotiations are common and very essential, where parties concede the benefit of every person involved. In the situation given about a CD player, for instance, if Jack is the buyer, he cannot afford to lose the item as it is exclusive. In that way, he would try to negotiate with the storekeeper to lower the price from $30 to a cost that suits his pocket, and the seller earns profit as well.
Attitudes Regarding Negotiation
Negotiation is determined by mental attitude. For people to excel in negotiation exercises, they have to delve further than the process itself. Individuals’ mental attitudes are established by the objectives to be achieved by negotiating. For instance, the goals are to reach an agreement that satisfies the needs of both parties, and the two sides are happy, then perhaps, mental attitude is not significantly utilized. A common attitude during negotiation is pretending or pre-determining what one will say even before interacting. Some people consider bargaining to be stressful, while others see it as a challenge to overcome. Different attitudes may influence the outcome that individuals reach.
My attitude about negotiation is that by using a friendly approach, I will win the interests of a partner and reach a reasonable agreement. I have this mentality that, to agree about something, people must first understand their basis. For example, when buying an item like a shoe product, I first consider the amount I have, the need for the product, and the item itself. Having been satisfied, especially by product appearance, I consider my affordability. With that, I make the seller understand that sincerely I need the item, but the costs are too high for me. In such a scenario, applying a friendly tone and the right attitude that the seller has a pleasing product, it somehow convinces the seller to reach terms with me. The most important thing to remember is that each person must benefit. The seller cannot drop prices to incur a loss, and thus, I should understand his or her concerns. When a deal is done, and the other side’s needs are not taken into consideration, that can seek to disrupt the agreement, covertly or explicitly, even if the parties involved felt obliged to agree in the first place.
To successfully win a negotiation, my attitude is believing that I will get what I want. First, I am confident that I can persuade someone to agree on something. In negotiation, confidence is the key because someone goes into an agreement process lacking self-belief, which can leak to the other side, and anxieties become self-fulfilling. Such a kind of attitude makes it easy for me to interact with different people and engage in friendly dialogues. My other attitude approach is knowing what I want. During a negotiation, it is essential to keep an ideal outcome in mind as it helps maintain discussions and not to lose interest in the process. My other positive attitude is acknowledging that the use of negotiating skills is vital compared to the use of force or power. I do not force people into deals through the use of power; otherwise, they will not commit to negotiating.
Approaches to Negotiation
Better negotiations can strengthen business, while weak approaches will ultimately hurt it. Business owners or managers often find themselves in negotiations. As such, they can apply various strategies to bargaining, and all techniques used could be appropriate based on particular situations. What to consider along these are skills or qualities which help parties to reach a compromise. Soft skills like communication abilities, persuasion, panning, cooperating, and strategizing are the first step to become effective negotiators. Usually, there is no style to negotiation that is good or bad, but others are more effective, and elements represent the scale of behaviors. The key thing is to understand tendencies, and the way to leverage them will support in future bargaining irrespective of the circumstance.
My approaches when negotiating include distributive, compromise with other parties, integrative and lose-lose strategy. In the distributive method, I look at the property goal- what to achieve after an agreement, as if it was something fixed in amount. Typically, the style is also known as a fixed pie negotiation. Members of the party want to gain as much for both sides. For instance, when buying something, my motives are to pay the lowest price possible while on the other hand, someone selling wants to get the highest price possible. An instance where I use this type of negotiation approach is when working with the counterparty for a specified period. In this case, there are limited resources, and each party does not want to assume losing. Also, when the disputed resources are limited, I would use a compromise strategy of negotiation. In this style, the ongoing relationship with the counterparty plays many roles. For example, when setting up a relationship with a distributor agent, using a compromise approach to negotiate pay is useful because it sets forth the relation between us. Every person gets what he or she wants. The attitude, in this case, is not just to help out myself but also to consider the needs of the partner.
An integrative approach is also known as a collaborative or value-creating style. In all negotiation methods applied, integrative is superior because it causes parties to feel that they are getting what they wanted. Satisfaction is thus, both ways. The characteristics of the collaborative approach include the probability of both side wining due to the sufficient amount of resources to be shared, and the dominant concern is to maximize combined outcomes. Also, the other feature with a win-win approach is that there are cooperation, information sharing, and mutual problem-solving. Because using the integrative method is desirable, I follow specific guidelines when bargaining. For example, I must orient myself to win-win style, watch a positive attitude, plan, know the best alternatives, focus on interests, and separate individuals from problems. A last negotiation strategy is a lose-lose approach, but rarely do I use it since parties’ interests are ignored in the bargaining process, and both sides end up losing.
Differences in Personal and Professional Approaches to Negotiation
Every person approaches negotiation differently, and this also applies to the context of bargaining. In most cases, people default to a style that they feel most comfortable with based on the specific circumstance they find themselves and the level of skills to negotiate. The trick is to tailor a discussion such that it plays the strength when the default approach is in use. Skill negotiators adapt to a variety of situations; for instance, when negotiating with car salespersons can call for numerous techniques as compared to when negotiating for salary. Besides, someone can adjust negotiation tactics in the course of the agreement as new information is learned or when emotional change is detected.
In my personal life, for instance, when buying a car from a salesperson, my approach may not remain the same. In this case, I would be tempted to adjust the approaches while discussing, but holding to the overall goals or outcomes. When buying a car, for example, I would apply a distribute negotiation strategy and collaboration as well. Since I am buying a product, the overall goal would be to pay the lowest amount possible. The seller’s goals, on the other hand, want to reap the highest profit form the car. Bearing in mind that I might want to transact another time with the car dealer, I would be compelled to consider the person’s needs. In such a case, I must build a relationship with the counterparty, looking forward to having a deal for another product.
In a professional setting, negotiation approaches are different from those applied in personal life scenarios. When negotiating a salary, for example, the style of bargaining to use would be claiming value and emphasizing. Value claimers are successful in business discussions where bottom line; they seek to claim the most value. As a value claimer, the point is to create value instead of focusing more on the existing one. In that case, there are high chances to expand the pie and bolster the long-term relationship with the employer. My understanding and being realistic with salary requests give the best result when in an attempt to claim for more value.
Enhancing Negotiation Strategies
Whether someone is an artist, an employee, or executives in one of the Fortune 500 companies, strengthening negotiation tactics is paramount. Training the art of bargaining helps to create a wider path on the road to financial and professional achievements. Irrespective of what someone is discussing to practice a few techniques will help improve navigation to agreements and succeed even in toughest negotiations. The trick involves first, knowing what one wants, doing a background check, placing oneself in shoes or other parties, and aim for a win-win situation.
Regarding my negotiation strategies, I look forward to practice and train to gain more knowledge. Enhancing my negotiation styles is very important because it equips me with the ability to face real-life challenges and deal with different types of people. Also, improving negotiation styles is a strategic way to prepare for future success in any setting, be either professional or personal. At any point in the career, whether it is during job interviews or pay rise discussions in a company, honing strong negotiation skills is a must. Quality abilities will follow me from the workplace into other aspects of life. I will, therefore, enhance my bargaining strategies by learning essential skills, which will help me become an effective negotiator. An Example of how to do this is being prepared by completely understating the situation and have a clear sense of what the stake is.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper aimed at addressing negotiation approaches, and different styles, such as compromise, collaboration, value claiming, lose-lose, and integrative has been identified as key styles. Notably, the use of a specific style or a combination might be limited to the situation involved. In personal settings, for example, techniques of negotiation applied may differ from approaches to be used during a professional discussion like when negotiating for a pay rise. In business settings, there are no choices on whether to negotiate or not, what matter are the skills to do so. In other words, it means that negotiation in businesses is common, and what is most important is the master skills needed to attain the best outcomes.