COMMUNICATION
Reduced to its essence, negotiation is a form of interpersonal communication. Communication processes, both verbal and nonverbal, are critical to achieving goals and to resolve conflicts. However, one of the fundamental questions that researchers in communication and negotiation have examined is, what is communicated during negotiation? The researchers found that 70% of the verbal tactics that buyers and sellers used during negotiation were integrative. In addition, buyers and sellers tend to behave reciprocally-when one party use an integrative tactic, the other tended to respond with integrative tactic.
Most of the communication during negotiation is not about negotiator preferences1.although the blend of distributive and integrative content varies as a function of the issue being discussed, it is also clear that the content of communication is only partly responsible for negotiation outcomes2.
FIVE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF COMMUNICATION
Offer, counteroffer, and motives.
Information about alternatives.
Information about outcomes.
Social account.
Communication process.
METHOD OF COMMUNICATION IN NEGOTIATION
While it may seem obvious that how negotiators communicate is as important as what they have to say, research has examined different aspects of how people communicate. The different methods of communication during negotiation are as follows:
Use of language.
Use of nonverbal communication.
Make eye contact.
Adjust body position.
Nonverbally encourage or discourage what other says.
SELECTION OF A COMMUNICATION CHANNEL
Communication is experienced differently when it occur through different channels. We may think of negotiation as typically occurring face-to-face-an assumption reinforced by the common metaphor of the “negotiation table “but the reality is that people negotiate through a variety of communication media: over the phone, in writing, and increasingly through electronic channels such as e-mail, instant messaging, and teleconferencing’s systems. The use of network-mediated information technologies in negotiation is sometimes referred to as virtual negotiations.
HOW TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION IN NEGOTIATION
Given then ways that communication can be disrupted and distorted, we can only marvel at the extent to which negotiators can actually understand each other. Failures and distortions in perception,cognition,and communication are the paramount contributors to breakdowns and failures in negotiation.Reseach consistently demonstrates that even those parties whose goals are compatible or integrated may fail to reach agreement or reach suboptimal agreements because of the misperception of the other party or because of breakdown in the communication process.
Three main techniques are available for improving communication in negotiation:
1.The use of questions-questions are essential elements in negotiations for securing information; asking good questions enables negotiators to secure a great deal of information about the other party’s position, supporting arguments; and needs. Questions can be divided into two basic categories: those that are manageable and those that are unmanageable and cause difficulty3.manageable questions cause attention or prepare the other person’s thinking for further questions, get information, and generate thought. While unmanageable questions cause difficulties, give information, and bring the discussion to a false conclusion.
2. Another technique is listening. There are three major forms of listening:
Passive listening-involves receiving the message while providing no feedback to the sender about the accuracy or completeness of reception.
Acknowledgement-is the second form of listening, slightly more active than the passive listening. When acknowledging, receiver occasionally nod their heads, maintain eye contact, or interject responses.
Active listening is the third form. When receiver is actively listening, they restate or paraphrase the sender’s message in their own language4.
3.Role reversal –this occur when there is continual argument for one particular position in debate lead to a “blindness of involvement,” or a self-reinforcement cycle of argumentation that prohibits negotiators from recognizing the possible compatibility between their own position and that of the other party5.
SPECIAL COMMUNICATION CONSIDERATIONS AT THE CLOOSE OF NEGOTIATIONS
Avoid fatal mistakes.
Achieving closure.
Having carefully examined the importance of communication in negotiation, it is then highly imperative that parties, during negotiation manage communication effectively in order to avoid failure to reach an agreement and breakdown in negotiation.
Endnotes:
1. Carnevale, Pruitt, and Seilheimer, 1981.
2. Weingart, Hyder, andPrietula, 1996, Olekalns, Smith, and Walsh.1996.
3. Drolet and Morris, 2000.
Reduced to its essence, negotiation is a form of interpersonal communication. Communication processes, both verbal and nonverbal, are critical to achieving goals and to resolve conflicts. However, one of the fundamental questions that researchers in communication and negotiation have examined is, what is communicated during negotiation? The researchers found that 70% of the verbal tactics that buyers and sellers used during negotiation were integrative. In addition, buyers and sellers tend to behave reciprocally-when one party use an integrative tactic, the other tended to respond with integrative tactic.
Most of the communication during negotiation is not about negotiator preferences1.although the blend of distributive and integrative content varies as a function of the issue being discussed, it is also clear that the content of communication is only partly responsible for negotiation outcomes2.
FIVE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF COMMUNICATION
Offer, counteroffer, and motives.
Information about alternatives.
Information about outcomes.
Social account.
Communication process.
METHOD OF COMMUNICATION IN NEGOTIATION
While it may seem obvious that how negotiators communicate is as important as what they have to say, research has examined different aspects of how people communicate. The different methods of communication during negotiation are as follows:
Use of language.
Use of nonverbal communication.
Make eye contact.
Adjust body position.
Nonverbally encourage or discourage what other says.
SELECTION OF A COMMUNICATION CHANNEL
Communication is experienced differently when it occur through different channels. We may think of negotiation as typically occurring face-to-face-an assumption reinforced by the common metaphor of the “negotiation table “but the reality is that people negotiate through a variety of communication media: over the phone, in writing, and increasingly through electronic channels such as e-mail, instant messaging, and teleconferencing’s systems. The use of network-mediated information technologies in negotiation is sometimes referred to as virtual negotiations.
HOW TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION IN NEGOTIATION
Given then ways that communication can be disrupted and distorted, we can only marvel at the extent to which negotiators can actually understand each other. Failures and distortions in perception,cognition,and communication are the paramount contributors to breakdowns and failures in negotiation.Reseach consistently demonstrates that even those parties whose goals are compatible or integrated may fail to reach agreement or reach suboptimal agreements because of the misperception of the other party or because of breakdown in the communication process.
Three main techniques are available for improving communication in negotiation:
1.The use of questions-questions are essential elements in negotiations for securing information; asking good questions enables negotiators to secure a great deal of information about the other party’s position, supporting arguments; and needs. Questions can be divided into two basic categories: those that are manageable and those that are unmanageable and cause difficulty3.manageable questions cause attention or prepare the other person’s thinking for further questions, get information, and generate thought. While unmanageable questions cause difficulties, give information, and bring the discussion to a false conclusion.
2. Another technique is listening. There are three major forms of listening:
Passive listening-involves receiving the message while providing no feedback to the sender about the accuracy or completeness of reception.
Acknowledgement-is the second form of listening, slightly more active than the passive listening. When acknowledging, receiver occasionally nod their heads, maintain eye contact, or interject responses.
Active listening is the third form. When receiver is actively listening, they restate or paraphrase the sender’s message in their own language4.
3.Role reversal –this occur when there is continual argument for one particular position in debate lead to a “blindness of involvement,” or a self-reinforcement cycle of argumentation that prohibits negotiators from recognizing the possible compatibility between their own position and that of the other party5.
SPECIAL COMMUNICATION CONSIDERATIONS AT THE CLOOSE OF NEGOTIATIONS
Avoid fatal mistakes.
Achieving closure.
Having carefully examined the importance of communication in negotiation, it is then highly imperative that parties, during negotiation manage communication effectively in order to avoid failure to reach an agreement and breakdown in negotiation.
Endnotes:
1. Carnevale, Pruitt, and Seilheimer, 1981.
2. Weingart, Hyder, andPrietula, 1996, Olekalns, Smith, and Walsh.1996.
3. Drolet and Morris, 2000.
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