The Process

During any business negotiation, there is a process that should be taken to make sure you are effectively negotiating. According to watershedassociates.com, the five steps to the negotiating process include preparing, exchanging, bargaining, conclusion, and execution.

To prepare, you will want to start getting information and leveraging yourself. According to WA (Watershed Associates), they feel the first part of preparation is determining if this negotiation can be a collaborative effort to have the best strategy. Also, identifying interests and figuring out what kind of relationship you want to build is key in understanding which way you want to approach the negotiation.

Second, the information exchange is the part where the two sides begin to figure out what each other’s interests are. Four key things WA believes you determine during the information exchange stage is trustworthiness, competency, likeability, and alignment of interests. These are all very important because I think most people would want to do business with someone who possesses these important qualities.

Bargaining is the next step in the process of negotiation. WA says this is the part of the process where the “give and take” happens. This means the negotiation has begun and those involved are determining how both sides can both fulfill their interests while also being respectful and maintaining a good relationship. Having very good communication skills is critical when bargaining because WA thinks to create value, execute trades, and capture value you should make sure your communication skills are finely tuned. I would agree with WA because I believe if you want to find a solution that satisfies everyone’s needs, having good communication skills is a good way to find these solutions.

The conclusion is when both sides reach agreement. The website says one of the most important parts of this stage is to figure out if the side you are negotiating with has the capacity to follow through with what they said they would do. Lastly, the implementation of the agreement is the execution stage which ensures you follow through on promises that were previously made. These five steps are important to the negotiation process and executing the five steps will ensure you build this soft skill the most effective way possible.

Citations:

(n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2017, from https://www.watershedassociates.com/learning-center-item/negotiation-stages-introduction.html