Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People - Book Report/Review Example

Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People Negotiation is the process that involves dialogue between two parties who wish to mutually benefit from an agreement they will reach or benefiting one of the parties in the negotiation. The process is highly interactive requiring the participation of all parties involved to ensure the interests of all participants are taken into account before reaching an agreement. According to Shell, the author of Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People, negotiation is a process that requires personal skills of the negotiator to be able to interact effectively with the other party. Establishing a good interpersonal skill is important to gain a stand in the negotiating table. Negotiation requires bringing out the personality in the negotiators to be able to create a relationship enabling them negotiate effectively. It is about creating a good relationship where there is animosity. Being an effective communicator will lead to achievement of desired goals. After creating a relationship with the other negotiating party, most negotiators are faced with the dilemma as to the decision to make now that the grounds are favorable. The author also believes having pre-set goals is very important as they guide the decisions made by the negotiators in line with the goals. To have the best goal in mind, serious preparation before the negotiation is required. The preparations the author recommends include taking time to come up with exactly what u desire is the first step without much consideration to the monetary benefit and cost since money is just a means to an end and not an end by itself. Being specific and optimistic on target is another important step to take when setting goals. Vague general goals are of little help when faced with slightly different options. Finally, maximize on the commitment to the goals by putting them in writing and having them in the negotiation table to keep you focused on your target. Therefore, a combination of personal skills and specific goal setting is the first step to successful negotiation. Moreover, the author states that it is important to pay attention to standards and practices acceptable in the field of negotiation. In most cases, the best price is the price that the buyer is willing and able to pay while the seller is also willing and able to sell at the same price. As much as creating a good relationship using interpersonal skills is relevant, the relationship should not be above or below standards. Incorporation of the opponent’s preferred standards may be necessary as long as they are part of the normally recognized standards. When necessary, have practical evidence on the standards by collecting data and information on the expected standards in the particular negotiation. The author also affirms that maintaining a professional relationship in the negotiating table is very important in reaching a reasonable agreement. As standards are being set, it is always important to consider the take of the other party in the negotiation process. All these need creation of a good relationship with the other party without necessarily mixing personality with business. Create a good working relationship by being reliable and trustworthy to the other party. It is important to give credit where it is due, for example by being fair to those fair to you in a negotiation. It is also good to be open and frank to the other party so as not to have a negative attitude towards them for example expressing dissatisfaction when not well treated. Being open keeps your mind clear of any extra activities during the negotiation as there is no dissatisfaction or ill-feeling about the other party. Furthermore, the writer is keen to note that negotiation is not all about you but also involves the other party. There is a reason as to why the other part is at the table negotiating with you. The presence of the other party at the table is a clear indication that they also have vested interest in the process and would like to have them addressed. It is not obvious to have conflicting interest with the other party in a negotiation. Therefore, always try to find out the interests of the other party. You may be surprised to find out that you have shared interests with the other party making the negotiation process easier. In addition, as the writer indicates, knowledge of the other party’s expectation is important to help you understand their reasoning and possibly guide your steps in the negotiation process, as it will be easier to make a move in your interest that also coincides with the interest of the other party. After meeting common grounds, it is easier to start on the areas where the two parties are conflicting greatly since they already have an ongoing conversation and have established a good relationship. When it comes to the areas of conflict, the problem of leverage comes in. Improving your leverage should be the target to get the desired outcome in a negotiation process. The other advises you consider what you have to lose from the deal before taking a stand. To get an upper hand in the leverage is by taking control of what the opponent desires to have so as to put them in a compromising position to enable you get your way. Be careful of the other opponent since letting them control what you desire most putting you in a compromising position. The practice of good preparation before a negotiation process is well justified in the actual field of experience. It is said that failing to prepare is as good as preparing to fail. What leads people into a negotiation process is the need to access a resource held by another party or another party in need of the resource held by you. In case another party is in need of a resource held by you, there is a need to get a fare reward in exchange of the resource. Fair remuneration either monetary or non-monetary needs to be earned thus the need to prepare in advance the reward to ask for and the extent to which you can adjust your requested reward. When it is you in need of the resource held by another party, it is important to prepare in advance the reward you are able and willing to remunerate the other party in exchange of the resource. It is good t do a research about the other party and learns their weak points to help you gain an upper hand in the negotiation. Having the correct information will inform moves made in the negotiation process and guide decision making. Insufficient information will lead to misguided decision with the party having extra information getting an upper hand. In actual practice of negotiation, absence of information asymmetry is the order of the day. Honesty is not a common practice in negotiation going against the practice discussed above of considering opponent’s goals to get a balanced decision. Most negotiators target to maximize their benefit at the expense of the opponent thus they tend to conceal vital information from the opponent to gain an added advantage. Relationship building is another good practice recommended by the book coupled with the use of personal skills to establish a good ground for negotiation. This is a good recommendation if well practiced in the field in good faith. However, some negotiators do not have good interpersonal skills. This affects their negotiation skills, hence affecting the entire negotiation process. The use of personal skills can affect the negotiation process negatively if the party to the process does not have good interpersonal skills leading to increased aggression between parties. The more the parties disagree, the lesser the chances of getting a reasonable agreement in the negotiation. Building a good relationship has both positive and negative effects to the current negotiation and future negotiations. Good relationship affects current negotiation positively as the parties are able to interact well in the process and reach a reasonable agreement. However, in future, if the two parties are engaged in another negotiation process, one of the parties may tend to compromise on the details of the process due to the good relationship, giving loophole for the mischievous party to take advantage. Not all parties usually have good intention when starting a relationship; one party may be genuine while the other may be having malicious intentions. Therefore, it is important to always be careful about the parties involved despite forming a good relationship; it is important to always follow due procedure and avoid overtrusting others. That is where the importance of standards to be observed as discussed in the book come in. observing standards and procedures in every progressive process is important for a successful process. Work Cited Shell, G. Richard, Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People, 2nd Ed. New York: Penguin, 2006 Print. Read More