Negotiating requires knowledge, skills and attitudes. To achieve success in a negotiation, prior preparation is necessary, among whose main aspects are: defining the objectives, aspirations and barriers; outline the strategy, tactics and techniques to apply; establish the limits of the negotiation and its possible variants; know the legal framework in which the negotiation will take place; characterize the counterpart, its negotiating group and the people that comprise it.
For this, the formation of the negotiating group is of vital importance, since the success of the negotiation in question will largely depend on its preparation.
The approach that is exposed here about the negotiating group, applies and recognizes the usefulness of the dynamics of group work, which define the group as a “restricted set of people by constants of time and space, in mutual contact, articulated by their internal representation and that a task is proposed –explicitly or implicitly–… ».
Thus, the negotiating group can be seen as a task-focused group characterized by the execution of a specific negotiation task, for which the previous framing of the group is required for a better performance of the different roles of its members. Another of its characteristics is the definition of a leader (coordinator) and the existence of centrifugal communication networks (from the group to the environment) and centripetal (from the environment to the group) in their dynamics.
The preparation of the negotiating group is essential, so that it can direct the negotiation towards its objectives and take advantage of the opportunities that appear in its development.
During the negotiations, the tasks that the negotiating group must face are dissimilar, therefore, and as mentioned above, it is necessary to assume different roles by its members.
Role is an organized model of behavior that defines the position that an individual must assume. In the negotiating group, the roles are determined in advance, according to the strategy to be followed in the negotiation and its objectives. Among the most important the author considers:
- Driver (Leader). He is in charge of the formation and preparation of the negotiating group. You must take responsibility for the team during the negotiation even when you are not the boss at other times. It is not essential that it be the highest ranking, it could even be a tactic that is not.
He is the one who opens the negotiation session, speaks and gives the floor to the members of his group; detects and indicates obstacles presented by the task; analyze the functionality of the roles; closes the negotiation session and reports to higher bosses.
- Synthesizer. He is in charge of asking questions, making clarifications, summarizing generalities, buying time in the negotiation in favor of his group or his driver. Clarify the proposals. It is an auxiliary driver.
- Observer. Your fundamental job during negotiation is to listen, record signals, pick up on subtleties and nuances, "read" the general atmosphere, and analyze reactions, readiness, and relationships between members of the counterpart.
- Emergent. It can be anticipated or come up in negotiation. Responds to the interpretation of a specific situation. It helps the climate and the dynamics of the negotiating process.
It states or transmits something as its own but that at all times corresponds to the interests of the negotiating group and the objectives of the negotiation. Different pop-ups may appear in different situations.
- Scapegoat. It is a special type of emergent to which certain negative aspects are assigned in the negotiation. This creates an unfavorable image for the counterpart and is often removed from the negotiating group after fulfilling his role.
To conduct the negotiating group, certain methodological guidelines must be followed. First of all, the task must be defined, the objective of the group, answering the question for what? Next, the content of the sessions, the topic to be addressed, which must answer the question what? They follow the procedures to carry out their activity, that is, the negotiation techniques that will be applied, which answer the question how? All this requires coordination to guide the group process and the ways in which the task will be carried out: dynamic.
Methodological GUIDELINES to conduct the negotiating group
1. Task: Group objective. for what?
2. Theme: Content of the sessions. than?
3. Techniques: Procedures to develop the activity. how?.
4. Coordination: Guides the group process.
5. Dynamics: Ways to carry out the task.
Homework
The group's objective is to prepare and carry out a given negotiation, an activity on which the task will focus. The diversity and complexity of the negotiations often requires that the group be made up of people from different specialties (business, lawyers, economists, psychologists, etc.).
Mastering the task allows greater clarification, understanding, acceptance and mobility of the roles that each of the group members must play.
Thematic
The content of the group's work sessions is grouped into two stages: one prior to the negotiation and the other for the development of the negotiation.
In the stage prior to negotiation, the content of the sessions will be aimed at clarifying the task and looking for all the necessary information that allows its control by each of the members of the group. At this time it is important to define the roles of each of its members in the later stage.
During the development of the negotiation, the content will be determined by the progress made in the negotiations and the skill with which the different techniques are handled and applied. All the previous work is revealed in this staging in which there is not always time to consult and sometimes the results depend on the skill of the team members and their agility of action and response.
Techniques
Techniques are often confused with dynamics. Both are elements of great importance. Negotiation techniques are diverse and must be mastered by the group in accordance with the assigned task and the strategy to be followed. Both the techniques and the strategy should be discussed with the group, never imposed. In this way the group will be more committed to that task that must be seen as theirs.
The techniques (how?) Must respond to the theme (what?) And validate the task (for what?).
Coordination
The group coordinator should be a facilitator of communication and actively participate with the group. It has, among others, the following functions:
1. Maintain and sustain the frame.
2. Create, encourage and maintain communication.
3. Facilitate the bond and the task.
4. Detect and point out the obstacles that arise in the task.
5. Promote inquiry and discovery of new contributions.
6. Detect emerging situations: opportunities and threats.
7. Analyze the functionality of the roles.
8. Reflect on the relationships of the members.
Dynamics
The theme is related to the central task, its clarity and objectivity. The dynamics with the ways of carrying out this task (how?), The movement of roles and the climate or environment that surrounds that group space, understood as the space generated by the individual-group interaction in the process of its developing.
The thematic and dynamic elements must be balanced so that they contribute to the best development and unfolding of the task without generating tensions among the members of the group.
It can be said that no two negotiations are the same, so that the same negotiating group will face each negotiation in a creative way, even when it involves the same product and the same counterpart, the negotiation will have different characteristics, since the environment in which it will take place not the same as the previous one nor will its participants be exactly the same Knowing how to negotiate, mastering these techniques and doing it in a cultured way contributes to giving a good image of the entity.
The preparation of the negotiation is an internal activity of the negotiating group that is developed through work sessions aimed at clarifying the task, mastering the topic of negotiation, seeking the necessary information and defining the roles, so that each of the team members know the general aspects of the negotiation and the particularities of their participation, in order to achieve greater coherence and integration of the group.
No two negotiations are the same; they are as diverse as the range of products, services, activities and actions that the different institutions and companies involved in this type of function provide and develop.
For a successful negotiation preparation, the following elements should be taken into account:
1. Location of the group in the negotiation task:
- What is to be achieved. Why it is intended to achieve. Conflicting interests. Coincidence of interests 2. Negotiation objectives: What has to be achieved. What would you like to achieve.
3. Information about the counterparty:
- Members: positions, cultural level, style and background. Power of the negotiators. Strengths and weaknesses Attitudes in sustained communication with the negotiating group. Forecast of your negotiation objectives: order of priority. Forecast of the results to be achieved: order of importance. Definition of the information to be provided. Estimate when misinformation will work.
4. Planning:
- Preparation of the action plan (strategy) to achieve the objectives. As well as concrete measures (tactics). Decision of the general approach to the negotiation: attack, wait, lean on power, etc. Decision of the position to keep and initial offer. Flexibility level. Setting the scene: environment that favors the desired tone of the negotiation; place, attentions, services, etc., that help create an environment according to the selected strategy, the level of negotiation and the image that is intended to be projected.
5. Definition of the Work Agenda:
- Meeting place and time, conditions, context Agenda: issues to be discussed in order of importance Desired results in order of priority.
6. Roles:
- Definition of the roles of the team members for the beginning of the negotiations. Review at the end of each work session.
information
The preparation of the negotiation depends, to a large extent, on the organization of the entity's information system. This must be based on the structure, mission and possibilities of the entity. Among the main information activities, the following stand out: the gathering of internal and external information on the object of the negotiation, the counterparty and its negotiators, as well as the evaluation and analysis of this information and its dissemination to the members of the Negotiating Group and others involved..
Knowing this information allows:
- Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the counterpart and identify your own with respect to the object of the negotiation. Get to know the opinions of the other party. Knowing opinions about it Reduce uncertainty and avoid surprises Prepare proposals and their variants Recognize and face changes in the development of the negotiation.
Communication
Communication in negotiation is important, because the entity's management is expressed through its forms and the image of its organizational culture is projected, hence its importance in the preparation of the Negotiating Group.
In this way, negotiating is also a form of communication between two or more parties with common interests and with opposite interests. Points of view are provided during negotiation; Others are received, which are exchanged, to arrive at suitable solutions and reach a compromise acceptable to all.
As the management personnel, specialists, vendors, promoters and others of the entity, they frequently participate in negotiations with clients, suppliers, distributors or other people related to the activity, the communication that is established in the preparation of the negotiation and during it, creates, maintains and develops human relationships, which sometimes are more important than the achievement of an isolated agreement.
Ways of communication
In negotiation, the forms of communication can be diverse: written, verbal and non-verbal.
Through the written form, messages are exchanged that could contribute to the preparation of the Negotiating Group and its information regarding the subject of negotiation or its counterpart, also to establish or maintain relationships and create a climate of mutual trust.
The verb form is the primary one in the development of the negotiation and defines its course and successful completion.
The non-verbal form is used during the negotiation. It is made up of gestures and actions that act as signals or signifiers and can be used independently or in combination with the verbal form.
In all these forms of communication, attention must be paid to ensuring that the message to be transmitted reaches and is understood by the receiver.
Negotiating is also a particular form of semiotic communication that, due to its confluence of codes (administrative, legal, technical, artistic language, etc.) acquires specific characteristics because, in this communicative process, each party emits messages intended for understanding by the other. Remember that in the act of communication they intervene in a kind of chain: sender, receiver, message, code, referent:
- The sender is the one who elaborates and issues the message.
- The receiver is the one who receives this message. (Knowledge of the receiver and its codes contributes to a better design of the message).
- The code, in turn, is the system of conventional signs necessary for communication, the knowledge of which is essential to elaborate and understand the message. Knowledge of the code (technical or artistic, or knowledge of the language in which it is developed) is necessary for the performance of a specific negotiation. The negotiator must know these codes and know how to use them in communication.
- The referent, for its part, is the subject or object that is referred to in the message.
Elaboration of the message
Conventionally, communication is explained as a process by which a sender, based on certain codes, elaborates a message that transmits through a channel, which when received is decoded by its receiver, who will give a response that may consist of a return message, in an attitude, a decision or a behavior.
Now, the elaboration of the message is also a process, only that it is carried out in an inverse way: It begins by defining what the desired response of the receiver is, based on the knowledge of the codes of this receiver, the most convenient channel is defined and that best suits the message you want to broadcast. Then, the message is elaborated with the codes (language) used. In this way, the response that is achieved has a better chance of corresponding with the expected response.
The message can have two types of fundamental meanings: direct and indirect. The direct meaning expresses the right sense of what is expressed. Its most frequent manifestation is verbally. The indirect meaning expresses a sense between the lines, sometimes metaphorical.
All the variety of meanings that can be received in a message point to the complexity of the communication process and the need to analyze each of these factors in order to better understand the meanings of the messages received and emitted during the negotiation.
Framework
The interpretation of a message depends on the codes that are recognized. This is what is called a frame of reference. To the extent that the frame of reference between sender and receiver is different or similar, communication will be favored or not.
As the culture of the individual plays an important role as it characterizes and defines their behavior, in the frame of reference this conditioning factor must be taken into account for the elaboration of the message and to estimate its understanding. When it comes to senders and receivers from different cultures, the process can be more complex.
It should not be forgotten that the individuals who receive a message usually relate it to the social imagination and to the experiences of the social groups to which they belong. They will judge the message, they will consider it negative or positive; acceptable or condemnable, depending on how it helps or gives value to their social group. This frame of reference constitutes a kind of “filter” of the information since different groups can assimilate the manifest content as implicit content and vice versa, or they can also transform the manifest content into its opposite.
Barriers in communication
Very varied can be the barriers that are in the communication during the negotiation. One of them is the different perception that the parties or their members may have in relation to a problem or aspect of the negotiation. This perception depends on the professional training, culture, experiences, codes and language of the individual.
Another barrier can be the lack of control of emotions. Anger, defensive attitudes, fear or shame, which can cause unnecessary conflict.
Although language is the means of communication par excellence, together with it, the influence of body movements, dress, gestures and facial expressions communicate significantly during certain negotiation situations if the observer is attentive. The knowledge of this allows us to notice when there is no correspondence between verbal and non-verbal communication, if so, it is that a communication barrier has obviously arisen.
The distrust is another barrier that exists mutual ignorance of parts, however, can be overcome in the development of negotiation, or even better, at the stage of its preparation.
As has been stated, all the work of preparing the negotiation is revealed during the development of the negotiation and its work sessions, these constitute a kind of staging (without rehearsal), in which there is not always time for consultations and that generally achieve results that depend on the ability and agility of action and response of the members of the negotiating group.
Bibliography
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Lesiker, Raymond V. "A General Semantics Approach to Communication Barrers in Organizations" in: Organizational Behavior: A Book of Reading. NY. Mc Graw Hill. 1977.
Masvidal, Mario. Lectures in the "Culture and communication" module of the Master's in Cultural Development. ISA. January 2000.
Paoli, J. Antonio. Communication and information. Theoretical perspectives. Ed. Trillas. Mexico, 1989. 138 pp.
Roy Lewicki and Josepth Litterer. Negotiation and Negotiator. reedings, exercises and cases, Homewood III. Irwin, 1985
