Communication and Personality in Negotiation

Over the years, negotiation has been a tactic used for different situations whether personal or professional. In theory, negotiation concepts and terms have been used to understand and analyze the purpose of negotiation by evaluating different characteristics. To better understand the concept of negotiation, the roles of communication and personality in negotiation and how they contributed to or detracted from the negotiation is analyzed.

For example, a scenario is used further into this paper demonstrating these roles in the area of sales, using the different processes of negotiation in a win- win situation. In the process of negotiation, two parties usually resolve a situation using the process of perception to connect in their surrounding environment. However, negotiation is the bargaining between two parties who are trying to attain or win a situation, utilizing the key concepts of managing interdependence, engaging in mutual adjustment, creating value, and managing a conflict.

Although these key concepts are the stepping stone in the function to negotiate, communication and personality roles in negotiation usually determines the different areas of communication and personality that analyzes different non verbal communication levels, communication channels, listening, and the five big personality factors in negotiation. Thus conflict also plays an important role where decisions and goals are perceived.

The communication role. In the role of communication, the acceptable functions of questioning, active listening, positive eye contact and body language, and non polarizing language usually encodes and decodes messages that are been carried from one party to another which then results in a positive or negative feedback. Hence, the function of questioning in negotiation is used by an arguing party when they are trying to find out the sole purpose of the other parties goal in order to reach an understanding.

This function questioning, is communicated through eye contact when a question is been asked, head nods to reveal understanding, and gestures to demonstrate the question. Also, questioning can take place face to face, on the phone or even through e-mail. These levels of communication described may be known as non verbal or different communication channels used in many functions of negotiation. On the other hand, active listening is perceived when a receiver in the arguing party restates or paraphrases the sender’s message in their own language (S. B. Lewicki , 2005). Positive eye contact and body language, and non polarizing language illustrate the negotiators’ feelings, reactions or thoughts for interpretation. The personality role An individual’s personality evaluates factors of that individual when in negotiation. A person who is in a negotiation may attain the factors of extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability. A person who has the personality trait of being extroversion is more relaxed and very confident, but needs stimulation to express emotions (extraversion, 2002).

Agreeableness as a personality is one trait that comes out when both parties can agree on the similarities of a situation to close their bargaining. Conscientiousness displays emotion at its best when an individual is trying to get over on someone, but does not care because they are the one who will come out on top at the end of the situation. Moreover, emotional stability can be described as an individual who keeps a poker face in any situation. This personality trait is perceived by others as power.

Conflict. Conflict in negotiation usually arises when two parties are negotiating for different goals. There are four levels of conflict; intrapersonal conflict that happens within a person, interpersonal that happens between two individuals, intergroup happens within a group, and intergroup that happens between groups. On a whole, conflict is what leads to negotiation in regard to solving a problem for a win-win situation. Scenario As mentioned in the above, negotiation has been a tactic used for different situations whether personal or professional.

In this scenario, a sales representative at ADT security Systems was contacting a previous ADT customer who has an inactive alarm in their home. In addition, when the customer was contacted, the sales rep asked the customer if they wanted to be reactivated for free as a part of a special promotion that ADT was offering. As a result, the customer was very perceptive because of constant bad experiences with ADT as a security service provider.

This customer’s bad experience was based on equipment not working, alarm keep on going off when there wasn’t anyone breaking in, and having low battery all the time. Because of these poor happenings, the customer went to the competition of ADT which is brinks as a security service provider. Furthermore, the customer told the sales representative that he would go back to ADT if he could get a credit towards a new alarm system or a lower monthly than what he is currently paying with brinks. The customer pays $25. 99 with brinks based on just monitoring.

Being in sales, the sales representative asked the customer if maintenance was included in the monitoring charge (maintenance is an extra charge for malfunctions of systems where the company comes out and fix for free) the customer said no. In contrast, the sales representative told the customer that she can offer him a monthly plan that includes maintenance and an extra two months free. The customer began thinking because he had never had that offer with brinks, but he was also persistent because the monthly was $8. 00 dollars higher than brinks.

On a negotiated aspect, the customer started declining, saying that was not enough and wanted more, so the sales representative began offering him free equipment in exchange for him paying the monthly that she was offering. Thinking is what the customer was doing, he eventually caved to the sales representative terms, got his free equipments, and the sales rep got her sale at a higher monthly than what the customer was paying for brinks. By contrast, this situation was a win-win situation for both the customer and the sales representative at ADT security systems.

Negotiation occurs when there are conflicts to be resolved. These conflicts may arise when two parties cannot agree or when two parties needs to resolve a problem. The process of negotiation has been used for many years covering the areas of sales or contracts. Some negotiations are of win-win situations and some or not, depending on the dilemma. Is it necessary to negotiate? Yes it is. Why? Negotiation brings out characteristics in situations to decode messages that are perceived the wrong or right way. Negotiation is the tool of effectiveness to get the problem solved efficiently.

References

S. B . Lewicki , 2005. Negotiation chapter 5, the McGraw Hill companies 2005. Retrieved on September 30th, 2009, from https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/content/eBookLibrary2/content/DownloadList. aspx? assetMetaId=9ef17708-1ddf-4b07-b135-33c10b621f8e&assetDataId=42d4c19a-d69c-4c0c-99ad-e443574b3e01 Extraversion, 2002. Extraversion. Retrieved on September 30th, 2009, from http://changingminds. org/explanations/preferences/extravert_introvert. htm