Artykuły dot. negocjacji

Negotiation types

Negotiations are present in many aspects of life. Personally I specialize in trade negotiations. These can be business (purchasing, contract) as well as non-business (high value purchases, especially real estate). In this article we will take a look around the commonness of negotiations. The most important thing is that being aware of the diversity of negotiations broadens our cognitive horizons, giving us access to a wider inventory of tools and styles which we can then use during our negotiation challenges. Below I will outline the types of negotiations and point out what is special about them (by that I mean what one has to master in order to practice them or what can be learnt from people who already practice them). Let us  keep in mind that the set presented below is open to extension. There is so much richness in negotiation types that it would be too much information to include everything in an article like this. In general, negotiations can be grouped into three main types: business, judicially-diplomatic and non-business.

  1. Business – negotiation in the name of a commercial organization or between its members.
    1. Trade – concerning buy/sell transactions of a good or service. Communication and an ear for listening to needs is highly valuable.
    2. Strategic – usually go on for months or years. The key aspect is negotiation strategy. Building trust over time can prove to be the tipping point of success.
      1. Fusions
      2. Mergers
    3. Internal – between members of the organization. Bosses need to agree on management strategies. Employees need to deal with the rat-race and things like fraud. Salary negotiations, contract terms etc. Social competencies are highly valuable.
  2. Judicially-diplomatic – negotiations typical for the government sector.
    1. Court – negotiations based on normative acts. Negotiators must be familiar with the judicial system, within the boundaries of which everything takes place. Powerful logic and argumentation is highly valuable in the court room.
    2. Police – one of the sides represents the authorities and most usually there is an element of danger. A police negotiator must be familiar with psychology since he will have to handle people with disorders or socially not adapted. It is critical to remain cool and be resistant to fear and pressure.
    3. Diplomatic – negotiations in the name of a nation. They are held in a multicultural, multilingual and often also multi-faith environment. In order to make their way through, diplomats must be open to understanding the differences between mindsets and behaviors as well as show respect toward other cultures.
    4. Politic – one of the sides is a person of politics. The other side may be another politician or a group of citizens. In the latter case, it may be a challenge to reach people from different parts of the society structure. A skilled politician will have high competencies in adjusting the communication in respect to the receiver.
  3. Non-business – we negotiate as private individuals.
    1. Trade – an individual can save some money in their pocket thanks to negotiations while buying a house, yacht, luxury limousine etc. The same goes for selling your goods. It is helpful to know the market situation of the good being the subject of transaction.
    2. Family – reaching agreements within a family can be a real challenge, because it is a very specific group in terms of sociology. It is helpful to be able to step out of a personality typical for family relations. Nota bene conflicting heritage issues will not qualify as family negotiations if they are taken to court or a mediator steps in.
    3. Friends – looking for agreements within a group of people bound by casual relationships. Usually you can learn how to talk with people thanks to the quantity of time spent with them.