When we hear the term “negotiation” it conjures images of boardrooms, conflict and tension in the air. It seems like something to be avoided at all costs. Yet negotiation is, far from that negative image, a skill that can empower in many ways.
Definition of negotiation
Bargaining, joint decision-making, making a deal, haggling, trading. All these terms could be used to describe negotiation. But all these terms give rather a one-dimensional view of what it truly is.
Negotiation expert Steven Cohen describes negotiation like this: “(It is) the process of two or more parties working together to arrive at a mutually acceptable resolution of one or more issues, such as a transaction, a contract or a deal of any sort.”
He goes further in saying that negotiation is a give-and-take bargaining process that, when conducted well, leaves all parties feeling good about the result and committed to achieving it. He stresses that when parties are not working together, negotiation does not take place.
Eggert and Falzon point out that negotiation usually occurs as a means of resolving conflict when both parties are dependent upon each other, have different objectives and have the power to cause each other frustration.
Why we need negotiation skills
Cohen believes that negotiating is a process that is fundamental to life and he sees negotiating skills as a very important life skill. He says people find themselves in situations every day where they need to negotiate on some level, whether it is to make a business deal, to ask someone for assistance or even to decide where to have supper!
The process of negotiating also offers participants the opportunity to learn to understand each other better and to build relationships with positive outcomes.
Our Employee Wellbeing Programme (EAP) is available 24 hours a day of you want to know more about negotiating skills.