Effective Negotiating And Why It’s Important
Negotiation is a part of life. It’s not simply used when you’re buying used cars or bartering for some souvenirs in a market stall - it’s an art that is used more often than you know. For IT professionals, it’s an overlooked skill to possess, and the better you are at negotiating, the more effective you’ll be at your work. What Is Negotiation? Negotiation is the procedure of discussing a result with another person or group of people, each with assorted targets on a single issue, with the goal of reaching an outcome that is good for each party. Take a car sale for instance - you may negotiate the cost with the owner to produce a price you are both able to pay. At work, negotiation is conducted in many areas - negotiating when setting deadlines for projects, priorities for work, utilization for team members, budgets, and plenty of other areas. Why Negotiate? The objective of negotiation is to create a win-win position - a scenario which everyone is pleased with. The majority of situations that need negotiation and agreement aren't quickly accepted by the other party. That's where a discussion or negotiation is required - to come to an agreement on an issue. If we didn’t negotiate, significantly less would get done and relationships wouldn't be made as easily between people. Do Your Research Before starting any negotiation, perform a little research on the other party, regarding the issue at hand. Find out what their motivators are. Why are they not agreeing to your original terms? What’s their intention regarding this situation? If they're not pleased with the project schedule you've prepared, for example, determine why. Determine whether they have a busy schedule of work, or lack resources throughout the lifecycle, or other factors. Decide On Your Lowest Position One more thing you’ll want to do prior to starting the negotiation discussion is to determine what your lowest position is. This is a point that represents the most you will provide the other party, or the lowest point you will go on a price/time/terms. This is the least beneficial to you. It’s not the point where you begin, or the point you should be aiming to get to. It’s the point that you won’t go any more on. Determine The Point Of The Negotiation When you begin the operation of negotiating an outcome, highlight the point of the negotiation. Even if this may seem obvious, it’s best if you mention it at the start. For instance, you might say. “We’re here to come to an agreement on the budget necessary to implement a new software system”. This is an effective negotiation strategy and is used to make the issue clear to both sides. Make Your Proposals Gradually You’ve figured out your lowest position, but you shouldn’t start at this point. You will need a position in mind which is more favourable to you. Speak about your proposal to them (budget, time, resourcing, an idea, whatever you’re suggesting) and ask if they accept those terms. Otherwise, they would make another offer back to you, which can be more beneficial to them. At this point, don’t rush directly to your lowest point. Make moves gradually to their favour, and at some point you should reach an answer. If you jump straight to your lowest offer, then they either accept it (which is good for you, but could be better) or they decline it (which means you have no more room to move). A Win-Win Result Is The Aim Of Effective Negotiating The aim of effective negotiating is to find an outcome that each party are happy with. This might be close or far from the initial proposal, but as long as all parties are relatively happy with the result, it’s a good negotiation. Try to keep it professional - attempt to avoid let your emotions become involved. Don't forget, what you’re negotiating at work is probably a professional or business decision and not an emotional one. Know When To Walk Away At some time, you might reach a stalemate or a dead-end in the negotiation conversation. Regardless of how effective your negotiating has been, there might just be a point where no additional action can be taken. The other party won’t budge, and you won’t change your offer. This is the time when you may need to consider walking away. Make them a clear offer on the issue, and say it’s up to them to accept or refuse. Ensure that it stays professional - not making an agreement could be better than deciding on something that is unfavourable to you and that you can’t deliver on. Be Respectful You need to keep it professional all the time through the negotiation, and really should be respectful of the other party. Don’t get emotional throughout the negotiation process, keep your thoughts on the outcome and respect the other party’s requests and their issues. This is a good way of getting a win-win result for both people concerned. Putting a number of these effective negotiating tips into practice during your next negotiation will ideally help your chances!