On Monday we covered Positional Bargaining and followed up on Tuesday with Interest based bargaining techniques. Today we wrap up the “Art of Negotiation” series by comparing the two, delving into the psychology behind negotiation and talking about what you should do post negotiation and how this can help you become an all around better negotiator.

Positional vs’ Interest Based Negotiation Styles

Let’s start up by looking at both types of negotiation techniques and the process that each method passes through.

So what about the psychology of negotiation, where does that come into play. Well from the above we can identify that the mentality of a negotiator is based on the style of negotiation he will utilize to attain his goal. However, to strictly put this as a mentality from the side of the goal seeker is wrong. Mentality changes throughout the negotiations process, and is adversely affected by where the individual sees himself at any given moment.

For example an individual will always be more affected with what he will lose over what he will gain in any situation, people are afraid of losses, and these losses affect their psyche much more adversely than winnings. Therefore, it is necessary when negotiating to convince the opposite party that they are getting a better deal than they really are, a person with low self-esteem will trend to push negotiations too far and to allow his own ego to dictate the course of negotiations. In negotiations with such an individual there are basically two alternatives (other than giving in and getting a raw deal), firstly try and get rid of that individual, and the best method is to stand up to him (and his bullying) in such a way that he (and its not always a he) loses face in front of his colleagues, and the second way is to convince the individual that he has been given a much better deal than may strictly be the case, he can present this as a major victory. The weakness of such a person is that his colleagues probably do not like him and will not always give him the full support in negotiations that he needs.

Anyways, in any complex negotiation it is a necessity to understand the other party, their personality, their wants and needs, knowing these attributes one can use psychological knowledge to affect the course of the negotiation. One other thing that can be used in negotiations is neuro-linguistic programming, which allows the person skilled in it, to read the body language of the other and adjust his strategy based on the reactions of the other party.

This also coincides with the politics of negotiation where each party is looking for.

Post Negotiations Strategies

After the negotiation is completed it is important to sit back and reflect on what occurred during the negotiation phase. Some questions that a negotiator should ask himself are. What did I come into the deal wanting? What did I wind up at? What was my offer, and target? How close to the walk away was I? Did I bundle things correctly, use what I had intended to as leverage factors? All these questions are necessary to assess the negotiation between the two parties, and this is one of the most important steps in the negotiations process, reflection. It identifies where the negotiation went wrong, or positively, and what was it that made it turn in that direction.

But the above questions only reference the material outcome of the negotiation, it is also important to consider such attributes of the negotiation as psychology. Did I involve my feelings in the process? Is the outcome of the negotiation really what I wanted, or was I simply made to believe so? And, as a disputant were there occurrences where I would have been able to utilize the opposing party’s emotions to achieve a more favourable outcome. All these questions are pivotal to understanding the post negations outcome, and should be utilized as strategies for learning, for future use when negotiating.