Time to Negotiate
Steve Adubato, Ph.D.Living in these difficult economic times, there is a greater need to more effectively negotiate than ever. Agreements and contracts that we thought were locked in place now appear to be open for “renegotiation.” Governor Chris Christie is asking teachers as well as other public employees to reopen negotiations, but he’s not alone. It’s happening in business, the non-profit sector, in higher ed, and at every level of government that has a need to balance its budget with shrinking revenues.
Negotiating and renegotiating are not options these days. It’s a fact of business life and those who are better at it than others will wind up in a stronger competitive position over time. Those who fail and/or refuse to negotiate well will wind up on the sidelines looking in, wondering what happened and why they are no longer in the game.
Much of effective negotiating comes down to superior communication skills. With this in mind, consider the following tips and tools that will help you negotiate or renegotiate with key stakeholders in your professional world:
- Great negotiators are great listeners. You don’t have to do a lot of talking. Instead, focus on asking smart, open-ended questions and then pay close attention to the response you get.
- Don’t respond right away. Take the time to really think through what you are hearing as opposed to having a knee-jerk reaction that tends to be adversarial and argumentative just because you think that’s what you are supposed to do.
- Consider the other person’s point of view. Great negotiators work hard to see the process as an opportunity to help someone else accomplish his or her objective. Don’t be obsessed with your myopic goals while ignoring those of the other party. In most negotiations, if the other person sees you as someone who is at least considering their agenda, there is more potential that they will be flexible and cooperative in helping you meet your needs.
- It’s important to know exactly what you want, but when communicating in a negotiation, don’t do it with your feet in cement. If you have no room to move, your communication will be rigid, stiff and inflexible. This will likely not produce a desirable outcome.
- When negotiating, define “winning” from three or four different perspectives. The more you can create a “win-win” situation for all parties involved, the more likely you are to get more of what you want. If me “wining” means you “losing,” things won’t go well.
- You can’t PREPARE enough when going into a negotiation. Anticipate the objections you are likely to get from the other party and then prepare for how you are going to respond. One of the worst things that can happen in a negotiation is being blindsided by the other person’s communication. Of course, there will be some surprises, but they shouldn’t be ones that are so major that you become paralyzed.
Steve Adubato coaches and speaks on communication and leadership and is author of the new book "What Were They Thinking? Crisis Communication: The Good, the Bad and the Totally Clueless" (Rutgers University Press). Write to him at The Star-Ledger, 1 Star-Ledger Plaza, Newark, NJ 07102, visit his Web site at www.stand-deliver.com, or e-mail him at sadubato@aol.com.
