Negotiation techniques
A frequently asked question with us is: What negotiation techniques are there? Because if you want to learn to negotiate, you often think about improving your technique. But what do we actually mean by negotiation techniques ? If we continue to ask this question, we get different answers.
Two main lines in negotiation techniques
One is looking to improve his skills at the table, the other mainly wants a format to do his preparation more disciplined and in the same way every time. Another wants to learn how to deal with all kinds of games at the table, and another actually wants to know whether there are different negotiation techniques and to choose from a number of supposed ways of negotiating.
Broadly speaking, you could say that there are two negotiation techniques: approaches that are different from each other, and sometimes both must be able to be applied to increase your negotiation technique, your skill, in order to be agile and apply situationally:
The transactional approach: often recommended as a negotiation technique to learn to serve your own interests well. being able to be assertive, being able to convince the other person of your approach/right, being able to get the most out of it, and not being averse to games in order to get as much as possible in the 'transaction'. Perhaps you have the pleasures and the other the burdens? This often involves a short-term focus, but even if the long term and the relationship are important, there are many people who assert themselves in this way. And this too. You could say that this is one of the negotiation techniques that stems from the 'fixed-pie principle'. There is a pie that needs to be shared and you want to have as much as possible, even if it could be at the expense of the other person.
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At the other end of the spectrum of negotiation techniques is the constructive negotiation approach . Where you want to come up with solutions together with others that certainly serve your own interests, but where you realize that if you want to create a sustainable solution that can take a beating, then you have to want to share the benefits and burdens together. divide. You then want to work on both the relationship and the substantive deal and first try to enlarge the pie before dividing it. Then you both get more. This does not always work, and you do not always want this, but if the long term is an interest you still want to manage the relationship and the content well.
You could consider the above dichotomy as a vision of negotiation. With this you can answer the question: which negotiation techniques exist and in which approach would you like to become proficient. And as already indicated: you will often want to work situationally because, for example, if you have a position, and you only want something from the other in the short term, it is reasonable to be sharp in the game and especially after your own interests. to watch.
There are also candidates who are looking for training where they want to sharpen their negotiation techniques themselves. In our approach (which pays particular attention to the second way of negotiation) we want to help participants to become agile and robust negotiators who are able to increase their influence in a complex world.
A skill never stands alone. Because from what kind of framework (see above) do you trade? And which situation do you encounter, and which approach is best suited to serve your interests.
We want to help participants to be sharp about the content in every situation they encounter, to deal with the relationship with respect and to be able to organize and follow the process efficiently and effectively.
We therefore pay attention to:
Relational component: we help you to deal skillfully with the communication between the different people. Develop firmness to deal with dominant and assertive 'opponents' so that you can 'make' them into fellow players. Games learn to see through at the table and in the corridors (away from the table). And to build or restore trust so that you can restore it even if the relationship is under pressure (conflict management).
Substantive approach: we help you to focus on the actual case. To see through when facts are being twisted or people are pretending to be better than they are/selling the solution better than it is. We help you to get your interests well served, to bring creative solutions to the table and to get the benefits and burdens fairly distributed.
Process approach: based on a clear format, we help you prepare the process in a disciplined way, set up the process properly and make interventions to accelerate the process. This allows you to add more value in projects, processes, collaborations, deals, etc. The approach can also be used to accelerate your learning about and from the negotiation.
This provides a substantive answer to the question of how you can improve your negotiation techniques.
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So if you are looking for a training to improve your negotiation techniques, you could think about what you mean by the above. What you want to improve:
Do you want to get more out of your approach: improve your results
Do you want to be able to act smarter, tactically and strategically?
Do you want to be more agile with difficult negotiators?
Do you want to know whether you actually achieved a good result?
Do you want to be able to handle the different players who play a role in the playing field in a more complex playing field?
Do you notice that you are sitting at the table with a lot of stress and effort and do you wish it could all be a little more convenient and easy
Do you notice that it is difficult for yourself to get all players in the game with you in a structured way and to intervene if necessary
In a world where many people are often involved in complex issues, many interests are involved and the process is complicated, we want to help you sharpen your negotiation techniques.