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The following article was published in the Charleston Post & Courier's Business Major, a featured monthly column in the Business Review Section on January 17, 2000. Negotiating strategies for career successBy DOROTHY P. MOORE Special to The Post and Courier In the business world, difficult negotiations are inescapable. People negotiate for jobs, for promotions and salary increases, for business opportunities, for support - the list is endless. For this reason, learning the negotiation process is a must. Understanding the process is necessary not only for entrepreneurs but also for people working in organizations. The changes in company structures over the last two decades have removed layers of managerial authority. As the old reporting relationships disappeared, the buffers, rules, policies and procedures that kept the interactions structured in the organization went with them. In today's flatter organizations, managers find themselves dealing directly or through communications media with many other people in a variety of organizational positions at varying distances. Wherever you are, negotiating skills are critical. If the issue under negotiation is important to you, the interaction requires research. This is necessary for two reasons. Obviously, you want a solution ideal from your point of view. But you seldom get everything you ask for. Therefore, you need to decide what outcome you will accept if the pot of gold is out of reach. You also must decide what is a minimally acceptable solution, and understand that this is the point where you will walk away rather than take anything less. As Diane Harris, CEO of Hypotenuse Enterprises, advises, "Better to lose a deal than have a bad deal. It's as important to be able to walk away from a deal as do a deal." Coming out well in negotiations depends on two things. The most important component in negotiation is power. Who has power and chooses to use it influences the outcome, even when the choice is to compromise or accommodate. Assess negotiating situations carefully. Make a realistic appraisal of where the power lies. Suppose you are a skilled, hard-working and valued employee, but fed up with something and feel ready to tell the boss you are leaving if you don't get what you want. Run through your mind the scene where, after hearing you out, the boss stands up, offers a hand, and wishes you good luck in whatever you do next. Without another job, are you ready for this outcome now? Or would you be better off lining up a new job first and then having the conversation with the boss? The shift in your power is considerable. A business owner balances her power and her interests. Rebecca Smith operates a large construction company. "I find myself leading and managing men 99 percent of the time," she says. "Even some of our clerical staff are men. The men are all different ages and intellectual levels. How do I do it? I think that the key to my success is the fact that I don't ask them to do anything that I wouldn't or couldn't do myself, and they know it. There is a tremendous power in knowing that you can walk out onto a job site and fire anyone in the company and do their job." What about women and power? The fact is, women do not prove to be nicer, softer or less effective negotiators than men. But the sex-role stereotype of the American woman as passive and compliant can create a dilemma for women handling complex business negotiations, as can a "feminine" approach to business dealings. In addition to power, successful negotiation also requires knowledge, self-confidence and perseverance, not necessarily always in that order. It is important to know when to take advice or act on information provided by others and when to trust your judgment. In emotionally charged situations it can be important to back away before reaching a settlement, to take time to reflect on what is happening. Entering a negotiation, each person brings business and personal goals into play. Strategies, the environment, parties, issues, personal styles, preferences and other factors influence outcomes. As a negotiator, how issues are framed has powerful effects on bargaining and the interpretation of the outcomes. Framing the negotiation is important. Framing is the art of defining issues in terms that are advantageous to you. Think of it this way. Much like placing a painting in a frame helps to accentuate its beauty, making it easier to sell, framing your side of the issue in a negotiation makes it more marketable. Assume a beautiful painting done by an artist who is competent but not particularly outstanding. The painting has been placed in an elegantly gilded frame and hung in the Louvre with guards all around and precautions taken for its safety. Now think of that same painting in a beaten wooden frame hanging over a cold, darkened fireplace in a run-down tavern on a dirt road on the outskirts of Paris. Are the images anything alike? Does the painting have the same mystique and appeal in both settings? Work on the frame before you get to the negotiation itself. The person whose frame is accepted as the foundation for the negotiation is already in a position to strongly influence the outcome. During the negotiation, remember that frames can be directly related to immediate events and therefore can change. As a rule of thumb, the greater the difference in how the parties to the dispute frame the issues in the beginning, the more likely the two frames will converge as the negotiations go on. For this reason you should understand that both the outcome and the process are under continuous negotiation. Reframing may be necessary. In a complex negotiation, new information, influence by the other party, any ineffectiveness of your strategy, a change in style by the opponent or any number of other things can require you to re-evaluate. If the original frame is not working, review and re-evaluate. Throughout the negotiation, remember to walk in the shoes of the other party as well as your own. For Questions/Comments about this site, contact dot.moore@comcast.net. Site designed by Jackye Cocoros. |