{"id":3819,"date":"1986-07-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"1986-07-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\/"},"modified":"2022-11-27T02:39:49","modified_gmt":"2022-11-27T02:39:49","slug":"vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation","status":"publish","type":"rbc_letter","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\/","title":{"rendered":"Vol. 67, No. 4 &#8211; July\/August 1986 &#8211; The Art of Negotiation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"layout-column-main\">\n<p class=\"boldtext\">Humans have found a way to resolve                     their differences without fighting. We do this constantly                     at work and at home. But how do we go about negotiating effectively?                     Here we examine the fundamentals, and offer some tried-and-true                     advice&#8230;<\/p>\n<p> Everybody negotiates &#8211; or at least everybody who is not                     a babe in arms. As soon as they can talk, toddlers try to                     get their way by making bargains. They will ask: &#8220;Can I stay                     up after bedtime if I&#8217;m good?&#8221; Their parents may want a more                     specific concession: &#8220;Okay, if you put your toys away.&#8221; Thus                     a classic negotiation is concluded &#8211; classic in that it meets                     the wishes of all concerned.<\/p>\n<p>From that age on, people proceed to negotiate their way                     through life &#8211; with their parents, friends, mates, employers                     or employees, business contacts and colleagues. Some become                     professionals at it: not only diplomats and business agents,                     but many lawyers and executives, and a multitude of people                     in sales. Most of us remain amateur negotiators, but there                     are times when we are all called upon to assume that role                     when buying or selling things, dealing with marital or family                     problems, asserting our rights, or seeking compensation. At                     such times it helps to consider what negotiation is all about.<\/p>\n<p>Fundamentally, it is a way of settling differences with                     a minimum of strife. It is an exclusively human activity.                     When the other creatures of the earth come into conflict,                     they must either fight or run away. Our ability to communicate                     ideas has given us another choice. We can use our jaws for                     purposes other than to maim or threaten our adversaries. This                     means that the physically weaker members of our species have                     a chance to assert their interests on an even level with the                     strong.<\/p>\n<p>Negotiation, then, is the antithesis of the application                     of force. It is a process of coming together in an agreement,                     and agreement must be based on consent. But it is often mistaken                     for precisely what it is not, mostly because of what we hear                     &#8211; and therefore think &#8211; about it. The news tells us of diplomats                     &#8220;winning&#8221; points or &#8220;giving away&#8221; concessions in arms or trade                     negotiations. Management and union representatives sit down                     to &#8220;fight it out&#8221; at the bargaining table.<\/p>\n<p>Our perception of the negotiation process is clouded by                     a cultural preoccupation with winning and losing. We live                     in a society of gains and losses at work and at play. We see                     our favourite sports teams attain victory or go down to defeat.                     In business, we try to &#8220;beat&#8221; the competition. It is therefore                     difficult for us to conceptualize a form of competition in                     which it is possible for everyone to win.<\/p>\n<p>This has partly to do with the arithmetic logic we learned                     as children. If you have two marbles and one is taken away,                     you are &#8220;down&#8221; one marble: you have lost it, in other words.                     But that does not apply to all of life: for instance, you                     cannot subtract an idea. If two persons exchange ideas, neither                     has lost anything; both have added an idea to those they already                     had.<\/p>\n<p>If that seems confusing, so does the fact that negotiation                     is both competitive and co-operative. In his book <em>Fundamentals                     of Negotiating <\/em>(Hawthorn Books, New York, 1973) Gerard                     I. Nierenberg, president of the Negotiation Institute, explains                     how this can be so. He writes: &#8220;Competition that permits each                     man to measure his competence or means against the other&#8217;s                     &#8211; and to be rewarded proportionally &#8211; is really a co-operative                     achievement.&#8221; Though the interests of the parties to a negotiation                     are bound to differ, they should &#8220;always be on the alert to                     convert divergent interests into channels of common desires.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the real world, negotiations are often tough and nasty                     because no thought is given in advance to what objectives                     the &#8220;opposers&#8221; (this term is used by some negotiation consultants                      because the word &#8220;opponents&#8221; suggests confrontation) may                      have  in common. People tend automatically to assume a                      belligerent  stance when they line up on sides.<\/p>\n<p>It is natural enough to take sides at the start, but it                     should be kept in mind that the purpose of all the talk is                     to bring the parties around to the same side &#8211; that is, to                     consent to an arrangement. If people refuse to move figuratively                     around the table, they are left with the choice of the jungle:                     to fight or run away.<\/p>\n<h3>The first objective is to make the                   agreement stick<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes what appears to be a negotiation is actually no                     more than a bloodless fight in which the stronger party beats                     the weaker into submission. One side is forced to make all                     the meaningful sacrifices. Having done so, the loser has no                     incentive to abide by the terms of the settlement. This means                     that it cannot be expected to last in the long run.<\/p>\n<p>History provides many examples of imposed settlements which                     eventually backfired with disastrous effects. After World                     War I, for instance, the Allied Powers exacted ruinous reparations                     from Germany. Twenty years later the Germans attacked them                     again under a leader who exploited their instinct for revenge.<\/p>\n<p>The mistake made by the Allied diplomats is likely to crop                     up in human relations of all kinds. They seized a short-term                     advantage without regard to their own long-term best interests.                     They ignored the basic fact of life which is at the core of                     all negotiating strategy &#8211; that people can never get 100 per                     cent of what they want.<\/p>\n<p>The corollary is that people must give in order to receive.                     This does not mean that one must give away the whole store                     in a negotiation. But shrewd bargainers always ask themselves                     what short-term advantages they can concede to meet their                     long-term objectives. The very first objective must be to                     arrive at a settlement that can be relied upon &#8211; one that                     is satisfactory enough to the other party that he or she can                     be expected to live with its terms.<\/p>\n<p>But effective negotiation is more than a matter of straight                     give and take. The swapping of advantages without reference                     to the context in which it is done is likely to result in                     an unsatisfactory quantitative splitting of differences. When                     people think in terms of points to be gained or given away,                     they are inclined to be possessive. They become overly concerned                     with minimizing the things they will have to surrender.<\/p>\n<p>By concentrating on what they stand to lose, they enter                     into negotiation as if it were a debate in which their task                     is to prove the rightness of their cause by outwitting or                     overpowering the opposition. As consultant Fred E. Jandt                    writes  in his <em>Win-Win Negotiating<\/em>, {John Wiley &amp; Sons,                    Toronto,  1958} &#8220;Positional bargainers articulate certain                    demands (their  &#8216;positions&#8217;), and they measure their success                    in terms of those  demands to which their opponents accede.                    In positional bargaining,  either I win or you win; either                    the majority of your &#8216;positions&#8217;  prevail, or the majority                    of mine do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Demands are but symptoms of underlying                   problems<\/h3>\n<p>This type of bargaining carries the danger that the position                     itself may become more important than the ultimate objective.                     The bargainers are apt to get stuck in the positions they                     have staked out. The longer they defend them, the farther                     away they are from the point where they can meet their opponents                     in a mutually beneficial deal.<\/p>\n<p>Negotiations frequently become bogged down on a single issue                     which has little to do with a party&#8217;s original aims. For example,                     a union may refuse to sign a contract unless the management                     reinstates some of its members who have been suspended for                     refusing to follow instructions. Reinstatement becomes the                     issue, instead of the package of pay and benefits the parties                     set out to negotiate.<\/p>\n<p>The alternative to positional bargaining is what the experts                     call &#8220;interest bargaining,&#8221; meaning that it takes into account                     the full range of both parties&#8217; interests. This approach is                     based on the rule that it is better to negotiate problems                     than demands. When, in an industrial or international dispute,                     a mediator is called in, the first thing he or she does is                     examine the underlying problems.<\/p>\n<p>Long before they reach the mediation stage, conegotiators                     should examine their mutual problems together on the theory                     that demands are merely symptoms of problems. The least such                     an examination can accomplish is to establish the feeling                     of being in the same boat.<\/p>\n<h3>Good negotiators listen a lot more                   than they talk<\/h3>\n<p>If there is one theme that runs through the writings on                     negotiating techniques, it is that what people want and what                     they <em>say <\/em>they want are often different. &#8220;Practitioners                     of interest bargaining,&#8221; writes Jandt, &#8220;investigate the <em>real                     <\/em>&#8211; as opposed to the stated &#8211; desires of opponents. [They]                     then seek ways to satisfy their opponents&#8217; desires &#8211; by, among                     other approaches, offering desiderata that they themselves                     control in exchange for desiderata that their opponents control.&#8221;{Desiderata                     is defined as &#8220;things lacking but needed or desired.&#8221;}<\/p>\n<p>People may not be conscious themselves of their underlying                     needs and desires when they first make their demands. Say                     an employee asks for a transfer. It turns out that she does                     not want to be transferred at all; she wants to be relieved                     of having to telephone late-paying customers because she is                     bashful. Her manager negotiates a compromise in which she                     trades a certain duty with an employee in the same department                     who is bored by that aspect of what he is doing. The manager                     keeps a valuable worker, and everybody is satisfied all around.<\/p>\n<p>To uncover what the hidden issues are, one obviously must                     ask the right questions. The ability to draw out information                     is among a good negotiator&#8217;s most valuable skills. Professionals                     in the field write down their questions in advance, sometimes                     running them past a third party to ensure that nothing has                     been forgotten. They also ensure that their questions are                     phrased in such a way so as not to antagonize an opponent                     or impugn his honesty. No matter how rude and aggressive an                     opponent might be, you cannot go wrong by being polite and                     composed.<\/p>\n<p>Questioning serves no purpose, however, if one does not                     pay attention to the answers. Since every word counts in a                     negotiation, extraordinary efforts must be made to follow                     and absorb exactly what is said. A skilful negotiator is a                     skilful listener {See Royal Bank Letter, January 1979}. Much                     of the confusion that arises in the course of bargaining is                     the result of one party missing the meaning of the other&#8217;s                     words &#8211; usually because the first party&#8217;s mind is occupied                     rehearsing what he or she will say when his or her turn comes.<\/p>\n<p>Successful negotiators generally do more listening than                     talking. The only time when they may say more than their opposer                     is when they periodically summarize what has occurred to keep                     track of the concessions made and to confirm that it has all                     been mutually understood. One of the most serious faults a                     negotiator can have is talking too much. It can wreck one&#8217;s                     strategy by revealing intentions and feelings prematurely.                     For example, a couple looking at a house to buy who enthuse                     over its attractive features put themselves at a disadvantage                     when they come to negotiate the price.<\/p>\n<h3>It is easier to change &#8216;no&#8217; to &#8216;yes&#8217;                   than vice-versa<\/h3>\n<p>The most critical time to keep quiet is when there is nothing                     more to be said. How many times have you been in an argument                     which seemed to be settled, but which flared up again because                     someone insisted on getting a final crushing word in? Often                     the hardest part of a bargaining session comes in closing                     it. One simple proven method is to say: &#8220;I think we know everything                     we need to know to agree, don&#8217;t you?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Negotiation is not, of course, under the control of one                     party. You too will be asked questions, and objections will                     be raised to your case. It is advisable to prepare in advance                     for the challenges you will encounter. Get a colleague or                     your mate to cross-examine you, trying to anticipate every                     possible question and objection. From this exercise you can                     develop a list of the facts you will need on hand to support                     your case. Thorough research is important. Incomplete or faulty                     information can gravely detract from your bargaining power.<\/p>\n<p>For many of us, the most difficult word in the language                     is &#8220;no.&#8221; A skilful negotiator must be prepared to say it frequently,                     putting aside the desire to be agreeable so as to be liked.                     You should always reply in the negative when you have the                     slightest hesitation about what is being proposed. It is always                     easier to change a &#8220;no&#8221; to a &#8220;yes&#8221; than the other way around.<\/p>\n<p>Negative replies also help to give yourself time to think.                     Usually when we come away dissatisfied with a deal, it is                     because we have been pressured into a decision. Professional                     negotiators call frequent recesses and request that difficult                     points be bypassed so that they may deliberate them and come                     to a decision later. They refuse to be rushed.<\/p>\n<p>The prime rule is to negotiate patiently. This not only                     protects your interests, but produces better long-term agreements.                     In his book <em>Give &amp; Take <\/em>{Thomas Y. Crowell, New York,                     1974) Chester L. Karrass, director of the Center for Effective                     Negotiating in Los Angeles, writes: &#8220;Patience gives an opponent                     and his organization time to get used to the idea that what                     they wish for must be reconciled with what they can get&#8230;                     It gives [opposers] time to find out how best to benefit each                     other. Before a negotiation begins it is not possible for                     either to know the best way to resolve problems, issues and                     risks. New alternatives are discovered as information is brought                     to light.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A sure sign of less-than-sincere negotiating is revealed                     when an opposer seems to be in too much of a hurry to close                     a deal, attempting to impose an arbitrary deadline (&#8220;I can                      only keep this for you till Thursday&#8221;) or making a &#8220;final                       offer.&#8221; Assuming you really want what he has, what do                       you  do then?<\/p>\n<p>Rather than being stampeded into terms, you should first                     point out what he has to lose by coming to an impasse. In                     his <em>Power Negotiating <\/em>{Addison-Wesley, Don Mills, 1980)                     consultant John Illich recommends the&#8221; It&#8217;s-a-shame-to&#8221; technique,                     as in: &#8220;Look, we&#8217;ve resolved three out of the four most important                     issues. <em>It&#8217;s a shame to <\/em>make that much progress without                     resolving the remaining issues&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. <em>It&#8217;s                     a shame to <\/em>give up without giving it a sincere try.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Illich writes that this tactic is designed to justify the                     reason to keep negotiations alive without pleading, begging                     or capitulating. Still, there is always a chance that the                     person making a &#8220;final offer&#8221; means exactly what he or she                     says. If so, the best course is to break off the talks; better                     to fail than to be stuck with a bad bargain. In many cases,                     though, it could be a bluff. If you stand your ground, you                     will find that the final offer was not so final after all,                     and the deadline was not as rigid as it was purported to be.<\/p>\n<h3>Leave the opposition a face-saving                   way out<\/h3>\n<p>When calling a bluff, you should always think of a means                     to allow your opposer to climb down gracefully. No matter                     what the situation, from a marital disagreement to a billion-dollar                     merger, negotiation is essentially an interaction among human                     beings. Hence emotions are involved &#8211; specifically pride,                     or &#8220;face,&#8221; as the Orientals call it. If you back your opponent                     into a corner with no face-saving way out, he or she has no                     choice but to fight.<\/p>\n<p>Although charity seemingly has no place in bargaining, a                     little of it is sometimes necessary to allow others to preserve                     their dignity. It is not the only old-fashioned virtue involved                     in negotiating effectively. Tolerance and understanding both                     have a part to play in this important arena of human relations.                     These are civilized qualities, and they are all directed toward                     the same eminently civilized end &#8211; to resolve the differences                     that are bound to arise among human beings in an atmosphere                     of peace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"rbc_letter_theme":[],"rbc_letter_year":[73],"class_list":["post-3819","rbc_letter","type-rbc_letter","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","rbc_letter_year-73"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Vol. 67, No. 4 - July\/August 1986 - The Art of Negotiation - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vol. 67, No. 4 - July\/August 1986 - The Art of Negotiation - RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Humans have found a way to resolve their differences without fighting. We do this constantly at work and at home. But how do we go about negotiating effectively? Here we examine the fundamentals, and offer some tried-and-true advice&#8230; Everybody negotiates &#8211; or at least everybody who is not a babe in arms. 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We do this constantly at work and at home. But how do we go about negotiating effectively? Here we examine the fundamentals, and offer some tried-and-true advice&#8230; Everybody negotiates &#8211; or at least everybody who is not a babe in arms. As soon as [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\/","og_site_name":"RBC","article_modified_time":"2022-11-27T02:39:49+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\/","name":"Vol. 67, No. 4 - July\/August 1986 - The Art of Negotiation - RBC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"1986-07-01T01:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-27T02:39:49+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/","name":"RBC","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Vol. 67, No. 4 &#8211; July\/August 1986 &#8211; The Art of Negotiation","url":"http:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/about-us\/history\/letter\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":""},"articleSection":"Uncategorized","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"amandeepsingh"}],"creator":["amandeepsingh"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"RBC","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"1986-07-01T01:00:00Z","datePublished":"1986-07-01T01:00:00Z","dateModified":"2022-11-27T02:39:49Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Vol. 67, No. 4 &#8211; July\\\/August 1986 &#8211; The Art of Negotiation\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/about-us\\\/history\\\/letter\\\/vol-67-no-4-july-august-1986-the-art-of-negotiation\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"\"},\"articleSection\":\"Uncategorized\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"amandeepsingh\"}],\"creator\":[\"amandeepsingh\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"RBC\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"1986-07-01T01:00:00Z\",\"datePublished\":\"1986-07-01T01:00:00Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-27T02:39:49Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rbc.com\/p.js"},"featured_img":false,"coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/author\/amandeepsingh\/","display_name":"amandeepsingh"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 40 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on July 1, 1986","modified":"Updated on November 27, 2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on July 1, 1986 1:00 am","modified":"Updated on November 27, 2022 2:39 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","tax_additional":{"category":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/category\/uncategorized\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Uncategorized<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Uncategorized<\/span>"],"slug":"category","name":"Categories"},"rbc_letter_theme":{"linked":[],"unlinked":[],"slug":"rbc_letter_theme","name":"Themes"},"rbc_letter_year":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/year\/1986\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">1986<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">1986<\/span>"],"slug":"rbc_letter_year","name":"Years"}},"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter\/3819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rbc_letter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter\/3819\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3819"},{"taxonomy":"rbc_letter_theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter_theme?post=3819"},{"taxonomy":"rbc_letter_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_letter_year?post=3819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}