Happy CEO

Negotiation definition : The Fundamentals.

Negotiation is a means of communication between two or more parties that enable to solve a problem, and therefore to find a compromise, a consensus by using appropriate means and techniques.

The main objective of any negotiation is to reach an agreement where each of the two parties will find his profit. The objectives may vary from one negotiation to another depending on:

• The nature of the negotiation (commercial, litigation, etc.)
• Expressed needs
• Its importance over time and its indispensability for both parties
• The nature of the negotiators involved

“The majority of business situations leave room for negotiation and what you don’t negotiate will be as much gained for those who negotiate.”

Eric Tiertant

The negotiation

It lays down two preliminary requirements for any negotiation:

1. Anticipating and evaluating the conditions and capacities of the other by seeking information directly or indirectly (Secrets).
2. Ensuring good preparation for the negotiation by organizing these information networks.

In international trade, we talk about the Seller’s point of agreement (How much am I willing to concede?) and the Buyer’s breakpoint (On what terms am I willing to buy?)

Particularities in an international context have enormous consequences on the progress of a negotiation. :

• Stereotypes
• The fundamentals of the cultural interface
• Polychronic (flexible) / monochronic (planned) time
• Strong/weak cultural context
• Explicit / implicit communication

Barriers to negotiation

Know how to manage these barriers and find the appropriate solutions. Negotiation brings together people who never have exactly the same culture, the same training, background, vocabulary…

These differences in “education” lead to a series of difficulties which it is essential to be aware of in order to succeed in the negotiation. These roadblocks slow down and can even go so far as to definitively block a negotiation.

You have to be attentive at all times to perceive any blockages and intervene before the barrage becomes impassable. Mainly, the “value system” barrage.

The semantic barrier

Semantics is the study of language from the point of view of the meaning of words. When the meaning of words and sentences is not identical for everyone and leads to misunderstanding, especially internationally when one or more interlocutors use a language that is not their mother tongue or when they are not perfectly bilingual.

The same words do not have the same meaning for everyone, which can cause the receiver to give the sentences, the words heard meanings totally different from those of the sender. These language misunderstandings can go as far as a definitive break in the negotiation.

The semantic barrier can be raised by asking for clarification of the words or phrases used. Requesting clarification will never be considered an offence.

• What are the words used by each of the negotiators?
• Do they have the same vocabulary, are the acronyms used clearly identified and identifiable by the other side?
• Do the sentences hold several proposals?
• Does the sentence contain complex wording?

It is important to note that all of the above inaccuracies and difficulties leads to ambiguity. Ambiguities can give rise to conflicts where we will accuse each other of bad faith, of treachery. Remember that the negotiations take place orally.

Are you sure at all times to pay attention to everything your interlocutor says?

The organizational barrier

It happens when the internal organization of the negotiation has been badly prepared, badly designed and when the external organization (imposed from outside) has created constraints that are difficult to overcome.

This barrier represents the way the negotiation is organized.

At the internal level: Shape of the table, layout of the negotiators, turn to speak, main “animator” of the meeting with positive or negative affirmation for the synergy of the group.

At the external level: Did the customers, the support functions provided the necessary information? Was this information given in time to be a real asset for the negotiators?

To solve the organizational barrier, check that everyone has all the information they need :

• How is the negotiation organised?
• Who participates in the negotiation?
• What is the legitimacy of each of the participants?
• Have the objectives of the negotiation been clearly defined?
• Is there an agreement on the procedure to be followed?
• Do those responsible for the negotiation have the qualities of facilitator to move the negotiation forward?
• Do we know how to eliminate unimportant details?
• Do we know how to silence the deviants?
• Do we know how to make the necessary summaries as the conclusion progresses?
• Do we know how to make a clear conclusion summarizing the achievements of the negotiation?

All these organization mistakes can create a detestable climate that risks tensing up the negotiators and bringing the two camps towards a situation of rupture.

The value systems barrier

This is an individual barrier. Values have been forged by the influence of values conveyed by parents, school, religion, friends, society and your own experiences.

These values structure our frame of reference (our beliefs, our ideas, our opinions, our feelings) and guide our life, our way of behaving. When the values conveyed by the other are so different, they give the impression that we will never be able to come to an agreement.

This barrage is due to the differences in values conveyed by the negotiators. Each of us refers to a system of values integrated since childhood which pushes him to react in such and such a way in front of such and such a fact or situation.

This is undoubtedly the most difficult barrier to manage because the one where our affects, our beliefs are the most affected. It touches us personally. If the negotiator feels attacked in what he holds dearest – his beliefs – he tends to block himself, to want to counter-attack violently. The value systems are perceived by one and the other as totally antagonistic.

Value judgments are then issued: “What you say is absurd, you are ridiculous”.

Reconciliation becomes impossible and the negotiation goes straight to failure…

It is necessary to put oneself in a situation to understand the other (active listening) and to avoid value judgments! Avoid clashes over value systems by presenting the appropriate semantic and organizational solutions.

“The value systems of those with access to power and of those far removed from such access cannot be the same. The viewpoint of the privileged is unlike that of the underprivileged.”

Aung San Suu Kyi