Eight critical mistakes in negotiation

The Marana Consulting Group, in partnership with the Institute of Public Administration Australia NSW, has identified eight critical mistakes that are commonly made in negotiations.

Interestingly, several of these mistakes are the reverse image of Howard Raiffa’s 34 characteristics of an effective negotiator. For example, Raiffa cites planning and preparation as the number one characteristic of a successful negotiator and here, inadequate preparation is listed as the #1 critical mistake that can be made.

‘Talking too much and listening too little’ and ‘impatience’ are listed as critical mistakes while Raiffa lists ‘patience’ and ‘listening skill’ in the top 10 of his effective negotiator characteristics.

The two lists definitely highlight some common characteristics to employ and some to avoid the next time you enter into a negotiation.


Eight critical mistakes in negotiation

1.       Inadequate preparation

Preparation provides a good picture of your options and allows for planned flexibility at the crunch points.

 

2.       Ignoring the Give/Get principle

Each party needs to conclude the negotiation feeling something has been gained. 

3.       Use of intimidating behaviour

Research shows that the tougher the tactics, the tougher the resistance. Persuasiveness not dominance makes for a more effective outcome.

4.       Impatience

Give ideas and proposals time to work. Don’t rush things; patience pays.

5.       Loss of temper

Strong negative emotions are a deterrent to developing a co-operative environment and creating solutions

6.       Talking too much and listening too little

“If you love to listen, you will gain knowledge, and if you incline your ear, you will become wise.” – Sirach

7.       Arguing instead of influencing

Your position can be best explained by education, not stubbornness.

8.       Ignoring conflict

Conflict is the substance of negotiation. Learn to accept and resolve it, not avoid it.

To read the complete list of Howard Raiffa’s 34 characteristics of an effective negotiator click here.

To find out more about the training courses offered by the Institute of Public Administration Australia click here.

Thoughts about the 34 characteristics of an effective negotiator

Generally when people think of a negotiation they think of two people taking extreme positions and then compromising until they reach a point somewhere roughly in the middle. This is true of most negotiations in business in Australia. In order to be effective in this type of negotiation, the two parties generally need to be able to postulate and engage standover tactics to make their opposition whimper into submission. Interestingly, in Howard Raiffa’s 34 characteristics of an effective negotiator from my last post, the willingness to employ force, threat or bluff ranks right down the bottom of his list.

Not surprisingly, the ability to persuade others ranks in the top ten at #8; however previous negotiating experience ranks at #19. Open-mindedness ranks at #21 and this too is something that shows the stand-over tactics most commonly employed in boardroom negotiations may not be the most effective way to approach these types of discussions.

The ability to think clearly and rapidly under pressure and uncertainty makes it into #3 and I agree with Raiffa on this point. I do find it interesting though that status or rank in organisation is down at #27. It may serve some businesses well to realise that their ‘top dog’ may not be their best negotiator and this could also be a confidence boost for the ‘underdog’ in a negotiation to know that their rank in the hierarchy of things really isn’t that important.

Raiffa’s list made me reconsider the characteristics of an effective negotiator that I previously held in high esteem. If this list was more widely reviewed then perhaps boardroom negotiations might be more successful then they currently are.

34 Characteristics of an Effective Negotiator

I stumbled across this list of characteristics while I was doing some research on how to be a better negotiator. It seems the fellow who compiled the list of traits, Howard Raiffa, knows what he’s on about. Howard has been the joint chair of the Harvard Business and Harvard Kennedy Schools and has been awarded several honorary doctorates (including one from, you guessed it … Harvard) for his lifetime contributions to the field of decision science and his work in conflict resolution.

The list appears in Howard’s book “The Art & Science of Negotiation”. At first glance, it’s interesting to see how particular characteristics out rank others that would usually be considered more effective skills for a negotiator. For example, debating ability is listed at #24 while integrity is at #7. I realise that a review of the traits themselves probably requires it’s own blog post so for now I’ll leave you to peruse and ponder the list below. For your reading pleasure…

1.     Preparation and planning skill

2.     Knowledge of the subject

3.     Ability to think clearly and rapidly under pressure and uncertainty

4.     Ability to express thoughts verbally

5.     Listening skill

6.     Judgement and general intelligence

7.     Integrity

8.     Ability to persuade others

9.     Patience

10.  Decisiveness

11.  Ability to win confidence and respect of opponent

12.  General problem-solving and analytical skills

13.  Self control, especially of emotions and their visibility

14.  Insight into others’ feelings

15.  Persistence and determination

16.  Ability to perceive and exploit available power to achieve objectives

17.  Insight into hidden needs and reactions of own and opponent’s organisation

18.  Ability to lead and control members of own team or group

19.  Previous negotiating experience

20.  Personal sense of security

21.  Open-mindedness (tolerance of other view points)

22.  Competitiveness (desire to compete and win)

23.  Skill in communicating and co-ordinating various objectives within own organisation

24.  Debating ability (skill in parrying questions and answers across the table)

25.  Willingness to risk being disliked

26.  Ability to act out skilfully a variety of negotiating roles or postures

27.  Status or rank in organisation

28.  Tolerance to ambiguity and uncertainty

29.  Skill in communicating by signs, gestures and silence (non-verbal language)

30.  Compromising temperament

31.  Attractive personality and sense of humour (degree to which people enjoy being with the person)

32.  Trusting temperament

33.  Willingness to take somewhat above-average business or career risks

34.  Willingness to employ force, threat or bluff