I used to be quite reluctant to negotiate. In those days, being a psychology student, I started to look into why this might be and where it could stem from. After I had considered – and ruled out or worked through – things like maybe unconsciously I didn’t think I was worthy of receiving, maybe I was afraid of ‘losing’, maybe it was part of my personality style (and the list goes on)… the penny thankfully dropped… I simply didn’t understand the art of negotiation fully and I lacked certain skills. Once I learnt how, it became easier and easier. Let’s take Key Steps this week to get you started on the journey to…
Negotiate Your Way to Success… by avoiding these traps!
Next week I will share some ‘Do’s’ with you. But before we jump the gun, let’s focus on some important ‘Don’ts’ and use this week to explore the traps you need to avoid:
1. Seeing negotiation as confrontational: Negotiation need not be confrontational. In fact, effective negotiation is about the parties involved working together to find a solution. Keep in mind that the attitude that you take in negotiation (e.g. hostile versus cooperative) will set the tone. If you are confrontational, you will likely end up with a fight on your hands and everyone could walk away losing.
2. Wanting to win at all costs: If you ‘win’ there must be a loser and that can create problems down the line. The best perspective is to try to find a solution where both parties have as many of their needs met as possible. This is critical if the relationship is going to be long-term.
3. Getting emotional: Displays of emotion are inappropriate; they undermine the rational basis of the negotiation and bring a manipulative aspect to them. Despite this, emotion can be an important subject of discussion because people’s emotional needs must be fairly met. If emotion is not discussed where it needs to be, the agreement reached might only be temporary. Remember to be as detached as possible when discussing your own emotions – discuss them as if they belong to someone else.
Join us on 24 & 25 October 2013 to ‘Negotiate Your Way to Success’ and you will identify the traps you might fall into and learn the skills to overcome them. Don’t miss out, book now… (Early bird offer: If you book before 25 September 2013 you pay only R 1,700.00 ex. VAT per person per day instead of R 1,950.00 ex. VAT per person per day) and take Key Steps to…